empress of storms (21 page)

“Threw my wine in his face. By that point my brain had caught up with the situation. I believe I jumped to my feet and started screaming at him as well. He got up, spluttering, and insisted that I loved him, that he’d read the poetry that proved it. I told him he had no right to read that, and that it wasn’t about him in any case.”

The unpleasant memory sent prickles of unease across her skin. “That’s when I learned that hurting a man’s pride was far more dangerous than hurting him physically. Pelas drew himself up, looked down his nose at me, and said that consorting with a viper who was willing to kill her own father to gain the throne was far too dangerous for any sane man and he was sorry he’d even considered it.”

Her hands twined together on her desk, picking at the nails. “If I’d been a magistra, I would have challenged him to a duel right then and there. As it was, I flung my goblet at him. It hit him square in the nose and broke it. Everyone in the building could hear him roaring in pain as I stormed out of there.” Her lips pursed. “I think Lis Herself must have been guiding my arm.”

Ife had been listening to the story quietly. Now she nodded. “I wish I could say that I’m shocked at such behavior from a fellow mage, but that would be a lie,” she said. “Power has a tendency to be misused by those who shouldn’t be wielding it in the first place.”

“So I’ve noticed. In any case my lessons stopped and a state of undeclared war existed between us from that point onward. You and Darius are the only ones who know what he did.” She remembered her twin sputtering with fury, offering to have the grand magister gutted in some back street. 

“Haven’t you told Matthias?”

“No.”

“For the gods’ sake, why not?”

Danaë spread her hands. “What can he do, magistra? He’s not a mage, and while he is a king the Grand Synod has a tendency to protect their own against outside interference. And the last thing I want is him losing his temper and trying to beat Pelas to a pulp. The little toad may be slimy as his namesake, but he’s very skilled and I don’t want him taking his vengeance out on Matthias.” She shook her head. “I’ve made a good start on spiking Pelas’s political influence in Hellaspont, and I’m working on making things very uncomfortable for him on a variety of other fronts. With luck, I can squeeze him out of Hellas within the year.”

Ife didn’t seem convinced, but finally nodded. “Just be careful, my dear. Polyps have a tendency to go poisonous when squeezed,” she cautioned. “Don’t put yourself in a position where the backsplash will fall on you.”

“Magistra, you’ve just described the life of a ruler.”

****

Dinner was served for the royal party in the captain’s cabin, and was the equal of any fine meal Matthias had ever enjoyed in Hellas. His stomach had taken some time to settle once the ship got underway, but after an hour or so he felt well.

Unfortunately, the same couldn’t be said for Schrader. The lieutenant commander had turned a distinctive shade of green once he felt the first rocking motion, and raced for the railing to lose the bulk of his breakfast and lunch over it. Matthias wasn’t sure if he should offer his sympathies or ignore the man’s distress and salve his pride.

In the middle of his retching Darius had ambled up on deck, a goblet in one hand. “There’s always one,” he said, joining Schrader at the rail. “Drink this. It’ll help.”

“Please tell me it’s poison,” Schrader muttered, wiping his mouth. 

“It’s mint tea with a few additional ingredients. Unless you enjoy bringing up chunks of your gut, I’d advise you to drink it.”

Schrader snatched the goblet from the Hellene prince with a glare, taking a cautious sip. He grimaced a little, but when it didn’t immediately come back up took another sip, and another.

“Good,” Darius said. “I’d say go down below and rest, but I know you’re going to ignore me. So go find a place to sit out of the way of the sailors and take deep breaths.”

Schrader glared at him. “You’re worse than my mother.”

“No, I just don’t want to listen to you vomit all the way to Hellaspont.” The prince winked and headed back below deck.

Not surprisingly, Schrader hadn’t shown up at dinner despite an invitation. Already at table, Darius smirked when Matthias mentioned it. “There’s only so much mint brew can do for a mainlander. It’s best if he eats plain gruel until we get home.”

Danaë stopped eating, putting her fork down. “Who are you feeding mint brew to?”

“Schrader. He spent the afternoon spewing chum.”

One dark eyebrow went up at that. Matthias caught the undertone between the siblings, but didn’t understand it. He resolved to ask Danaë about it when they got back to their cabin later.

It took longer than he expected, but he couldn’t complain considering the quality of the cuisine Andros’s cook provided. Danaë and the captain carried on a detailed discussion about the fishing fleet and how local weather was affecting it, with occasional comments from Darius.

Finally, Danaë pushed away from the table. “Thank you for your hospitality, captain, but I suspect I’ll burst if I eat another bite.”

Andros looked pleased at the comment. “It was my honor, majesty. I should make my rounds in any case.”

“Then we won’t keep you. I bid you all a good night.” With a nod for the other diners, Danaë stood and Matthias followed her, taking her hand in his as they left the captain’s cabin.

“Does the man eat like that every night?” he asked once they were in their own cabin.

“His cook is a treasure, but I think he saves the feasts for when the royal family is on board,” Danaë said. “I told Flavia I wouldn’t need her for the rest of the evening. Would you mind undoing my laces?”

“Not at all.” Matthias stepped behind her, helping her undo the complicated fastenings that bound her bodice close to her body. She slipped out of it and let it drop to the deck, then turned to him and wound her arms around his neck.

Matthias kissed her, running his hands over the long muscles of her back. Her skin felt moist and warm through the thin fabric of the chemise. He wanted to strip it off and touch the delicate wings of her shoulder blades, trail his fingers down to her waist. He loved the way her hips flared out like an amphora, fitting the curve of his hands like they were made for each other.

“If you’re tired we can sleep,” he offered. “The gods know it’s been a long day.” He had any number of questions about what had been in the report on her desk, not to mention what was going on between her brother and his cavalry officer, but he sensed they would be better asked tomorrow.

She looked up at him, blue eyes dark in the flickering light from the oil lamps. “I am tired. But I know our time together is limited, and I don’t want to waste any of it.”

“Time with you is never wasted,” he said, and found he meant it. “I’m happy to hold you in my arms and let you sleep.”

“Matthias.” Her voice was low and laced with something he recognized, a weariness that had nothing to do with the physical. He knew from decades of experience that being a good ruler wasn’t all about wearing crowns and waving to the populace. It was a difficult and time-consuming job, juggling the well-being of a people with the attendant issues of finances, politics, the devising and passing of laws, the defense of the realm, and doing one’s best to make sure that one left an appropriate legacy for the next generation. He’d been doing it for over twenty years and couldn’t claim that he’d mastered the role. Danaë had only been doing it for a year. Her fatigue was palpable to him.

She needed the chance to relax, to hand over the responsibility of her position and simply be.

He pulled her closer, feeling himself rouse at the warmth of her body. “Danaë,” he murmured. “Let go. For tonight, let me take the burden from you and make the decisions. I promise you, you won’t regret it.”

Her eyes grew even darker, pupils expanding and compressing the blue into thin rings. “I don’t know.” It wasn’t a disagreement so much as a tremor in the elemental pull between them. He could sense her need to yield to him, if only for one night. He knew what it took to give up control.

He bent down to kiss her, savoring the softness of her lips as they opened to admit his tongue. He could taste wine, salt, lemon, fish, and something underneath that was Danaë. She moaned into his mouth, clinging to him as if she would slip to the deck without his arms around her. He explored her, mapping every ridge and soft spot with care and precision. 

When their kiss ended he could see the spots of high color along her cheekbones, and the pulse beating in her throat. He stroked the flushed silk of her cheek. “Let me do this for you, little bird. Let me give you this ease.”

After a long moment, she nodded.

“Good.” His cock throbbed at the spiced honey scent of her desire, the ripeness of her breasts and hips. He wanted to pull her to him, ravish her against the bulkhead, mark her as his own. But this wasn’t about his desire. Tonight would be about her and what she needed.

“The berths are only big enough for one person,” he said, “but if we pulled the bedding out and put it on the floor we’ll have enough room to lie together.”

She let him unwind her arms from his neck. He moved to the berths, tugging out the blankets and mattresses and spreading them out. The pillows were last, tossed to the head of their impromptu bed. With that done, he returned to her and rested his hands on her shoulders. “If you want me to stop, say so. But unless I hear that, I’ll do what I want.”

She licked her lips, her breath coming harder now. “All right.”

“Good. Now stand there and stay still.” He unlaced the front of her chemise, pushing it from her shoulders and letting it fall to the deck. She stood before him nude and perfect, the tan of her skin tawny now in the dim light, broken by the shadow of the curls between her thighs and the dusky rose of her nipples. They had pebbled up as her shift fell, and now he bent to one, taking it in his mouth and sucking gently. He felt a tremor run through her body at the sensation, added to it by dragging the flat of his tongue across the hard nub, then tracing around it with the tip.

The tremor returned, moving through her body. He shifted to the other nipple, alternating between swirls of his tongue around it and light sucking. Her breath shortened and she made a soft, hungry noise. Feeling devilish, he nibbled on the ripe tip and was rewarded with a smothered wail.

He could smell her desire now, a salt scent that was perfumed with something warmer and more humid. Kissing his way down the smooth skin over her breastbone, he nipped lightly here and there across her stomach. She twitched but tried to remain still as he ordered. 

Dropping to a knee, he reached up and let his fingers trail across the skin he’d teased as he kissed the spot above her public curls. The scent of her desire was much stronger here. His cock throbbed with the need to push her thighs apart and bury his tongue in her, drinking his fill from the source.

He looked up at her. Her eyes were closed and her lower lip was firmly caught between her teeth, part of her attempt to obey his orders and remain still. “Open your eyes, little bird.”

She did. The blue was the thinnest ring around pupils gone wide and dark as the night sea. 

“I want you to watch me while I kiss you between your legs. I’m going to lick you, savor your sweet flesh, and bring you screaming with my tongue. And when it’s done, I’ll start over again. Do you understand?”

She sucked in a quick breath, swallowing on the tail of it. “Yes.”

“Keep your eyes on me. Watch everything I do to you.”

This time her response was a thin whine. Satisfied, Matthias cupped her hips in a firm grip and pressed his lips to those dark curls, enjoying their springy softness. He burrowed deeper, sliding his tongue out and touching it to the seam of her outer lips. Very deliberately he licked the spongy flesh with the tip of his tongue.

Her taste filled his mouth, salt-fresh and honey, with a rich undertone that made his balls ache. He wanted to pull her onto the bedding and throw her legs over his shoulders, bury himself in the soft sweetness between her thighs. But he would be patient and drive his little witch queen out of her mind with pleasure until the only thing she could think of was him. No politics, no internecine fighting, only him and the ecstasy provided by his lips and fingers and cock.

He licked her again, delicate and teasing, then slid his tongue between her outer lips and touched the small, hard nub hidden there. Above him Danaë let out a muffled sound that sounded like pain. He focused on the nub, dragging the tip of his tongue over it over and over. It swelled under his attention and he felt the tiny hood easing back, exposing the fleshy little pearl to his attentions.

Now he used his thumbs to part her flesh, fitting his lips around the nub and suckling. She was salt and the tang of fruit in his mouth, and he could feel the slickness of her inner thighs against his chin. He rolled his eyes up to see if Danaë was being good and obeying his orders.

She was, the expression on her face rapt and flushed. Her mouth was slightly open and glistened even in the low light as if she’d been licking her lips, trying to moisten them in between pants. Lower, her breasts heaved with each breath, the curved mounds bouncing the tiniest bit on her frame. 

He urged her thighs wider, pressing close so that he could work his mouth over the slick, salty lips. Sucking and nibbling on one, then the other, he kissed her the same way he would have kissed her mouth, working his tongue into that hot, heady darkness and swirling it round.

Gripping her hips, he pulled her hard against his face, thrusting his tongue deep into her. Her inner muscles quivered from the invasion, and a fresh flow of slickness coated his tongue.

He swallowed with relish, fucking her slowly with his tongue. The long muscles in her thighs began to tremble from the strain of holding herself open for him. He pulled back, focusing now on her clitoris as he slid one, then two thick fingers deep into her.

Curving his fingers in a come hither motion, he pressed into her flesh. Her entire body convulsed around him and he looked up in time to see her cram a fist into her mouth to muffle a scream.