QueensQuest (5 page)

“Ahhh…” I stretched out over him, caging his head in my
hands, and kissed him. He wrapped his arms tightly around me, one hand at my
hips and the other in my hair. Our mouths and bodies melded, generating enough
fire, I feared, to ignite the dry duff beneath us.

He scrabbled for my jodhpurs’ waistband, loosening it, and
his hand slid into my pants, seeking my pussy. One long finger snaked along my
slippery folds and nestled against my clit. I moaned, and Kaldir rolled me
over. He crawled down my body and tore off my breeches, stopped only by my
boots. He lifted my legs high. My ankles were trapped by my pants, my thighs
squeezing my quim, the air cool on my arse.

He tugged my thighs apart and tongued my core, giving me
long laps from back hole to clit, swirling around the pearl of my desire with
little flicks and nips that made me want to scream—so scream I did, shouting
with ecstasy. He probed my slit with a finger, rubbing the ceiling of my
channel. He found the most hidden, sensitive spot, proving he knew his way around
a woman’s body. Pleasure flooded me as my sex juices drenched his hand, and he
put two, then three fingers inside me.

“More,” I begged. I writhed with need, desperate to come.

“I don’t want to hurt you.”

“You won’t.”

He rotated his hand and his knuckles opened me wide while
his thumb pushed my clitoris. I convulsed, wailing as my orgasm tore through
me. He rolled me onto my hands and knees and I knew he wanted to fuck my pussy,
but alas, as much as I wanted to feel his big, hard cock inside me, I could not
let that happen.

I spun while he was pulling up his robes and I reached for
the drawstring of his trousers. “I want to taste you too,” I said, my voice
husky with desire.

“Yes!”

Kneeling in front of him, I tugged at the drawstring and the
cloth fell away, revealing a thick, dark pole, with a sac the color of plums
beneath. He was magnificent, and I leaped to take him in my mouth, first
licking the shining drop at the tip. Viscous and thick, it coated my tongue. I
wrapped my lips around his cock head, taking it in while I pumped my fist
around his shaft.

He clasped my head in both hands and fucked my face as I
grabbed his tight buttocks for support, enjoying the clench and bunch of his
muscles as he drove in and out of me. I slapped his bottom.

He cried out, sounding surprised, and pulled away. “What was
that?”

I leaned back, resting my elbows on the leaf-strewn ground.
“Did it feel good?”

A crinkle appeared between his brows. “It felt…unexpected.”

I giggled. He dropped to his knees, his head near my crotch,
and went for my pussy like a starving man, as though he had not brought me to a
screaming orgasm with his tongue just a short time before. My jodhpurs impeded
him but he put a palm on my mound and pressed upward, exposing my clitoris. I
hugged his hips and again took his gorgeous rod in my mouth.

His soft lips massaged my pulsating clit again, gently, as
though he knew that I needed gentleness after I had come so hard.

I took him as deeply as I could, until I felt the ridge of
his cock head nudge the hard bone of my palate. My eyes drifted shut and I
swallowed, knowing that the muscles of my mouth and throat would take him
higher. I cupped his sac, tenderly juggling the rounds inside it. The sac
crinkled, drew tight in my hand.

He groaned and croaked my name as his penis swelled,
spurting hot jism into my mouth and down my throat. He tasted spicy and I
delighted in swallowing every drop. As I sucked and licked his shrinking cock,
he continued to softly moan with pleasure, his hands convulsing, digging into
my rear.

On a whim, I opened my eyes, hoping to look into his and see
the same desire that possessed me.

Lifting my head, I saw that he was watching me. His gaze was
not abandoned to pleasure as I expected, but instead seemed cool—observant
rather than involved. Inside me, my heart jolted. I also was not captured by
the unstoppable lust I would have expected from the torrid sex we’d shared.

Something was missing and I wasn’t sure what it was. Yes,
Kaldir was sexually skilled, but I did not have the sense that he would
willingly give himself to sensuality. Was I also holding back because I
believed he was not wholly absorbed?

Perhaps I also missed the bond of trust I experienced with
Parron and Rall. If that were the case, I needed to develop patience. Many
starturns would elapse before I would completely trust a new lover. Kaldir and
I were royals, ruling over rival lands. Would it always be so?

* * * * *

After breakfasting at the inn, we rode back to the castle,
laughing and talking freely as though that moment, that jolt, had not occurred.
And why not? Time would, I hoped, make us good friends even if I did not choose
him as my mate. A DesertDweller ally would always be useful.

We did not ride back to Castle Remarck through the forest
but took a well-traveled route through the town and then along neatly planted
fields bordered by paths and hedgerows. We urged the horses into a last hard
gallop before slowing when we neared the castle’s outer walls. The portcullis
was open, as was our daytime custom, and inside the keep, people had erected
stalls selling food and wares in the expectation that visitors to the
castle—travelers seeking counsel or judgment from me—would purchase their
goods.

A cluster of about a dozen people milled about to the left
of the open gate. They were grouped around a woman holding a small bundle in
her arms, with a beaming man by her side.

“A baby!” Excited, I dismounted, and Kaldir followed suit.
“I heard about this child. She was born to the local greengrocer’s wife perhaps
seven weeks ago.”

He took my reins so I could get a closer look. I advanced
and asked, feeling somewhat shy, “May I hold her?”

The mother gasped and started to curtsey, a difficult task
given her burden.

“No, don’t do that,” I said hastily.

“We are honored by your attentions, Your Majesty,” said the
father. “Thank you for your gifts.”

“I would have come sooner, but affairs of state…” I nodded
at Kaldir, who still stood at the group’s edge, holding the horses’ reins.
Given the rarity of births, the royal custom had long been to visit the homes
of those blessed by a baby, if reasonably nearby, and to dispense gifts. I had
sent presents, of course, but had not visited the home.

“Here you go, Ma’am.” The mother, a chubby-cheeked wench of
perhaps eighteen starturns, smiled proudly at me and deposited the baby, a
sedate quilt-wrapped bundle, into my arms. “Her name is Beryla,” the mother
said. “After the crown princess of blessed memory.”

I pressed my lips together but tears sprang to my eyes.
“Th-thank you. That is so very kind.”

I stared down at baby Beryla, gazing at her closed eyes,
perfect crescents rimmed by soft, dark lashes that rested like evening mist on
smooth, rounded cheeks. She had a red, puckered mouth and a fluff of dark hair.
She was lovely.

I bent my head toward her face and inhaled the divine scent
of clean baby, caressed her impossibly silky cheek with mine. More tears
followed the first ones.

At that moment, something shifted inside me, inside my
heart.

I ached for a baby.
My
baby. This was more than a
politically inspired plan to secure the succession.

I longed for my true king. My pussy longed for cock, yes,
but my womb hungered for a child. This feeling, this craving, had been growing
in me for starturns. I wanted to sniff the special aroma of my baby. I wanted
to nibble my baby’s funny wedge-shaped, fleshy feet, so unique, so special, and
to nuzzle ten pearly toes crowned with tiny shell-like nails.

I wanted a baby. I wanted
my
baby, and I wanted to
share that joy with my mate, my king.

I reluctantly gave the child back to her parents. “She’s
wonderful. Thank you.”

The crowd bowed and murmured politely as Kaldir and I walked
our horses through the raised portcullis and toward the stable. I asked, “Have
you offspring?” I heard a wistful note in my voice.

His mouth twisted. “Um…several, here and there.”

“You don’t know?”

He looked embarrassed. “A man gets around.”

“Oh.” Was that a good sign? I wondered. That Kaldir had so
many children he did not know them all?

I was not sure. I would prefer the royal children—my
children—to be raised by someone more like my father, who had doted on us,
taken an interest in every minute of every day, had been actively involved in
our upbringing. He had taught Beryla and me to ride, fight, fence and hunt. He
had shown her the intricacies of statecraft while I had been the lazy one,
embroidering with our mother, sneaking sweet pies in the kitchen, playing with
Frayn or another friend.

Kaldir and I left the horses at the now-busy stable and
walked to a side door of the castle. Before we entered, he stopped, took me by
the shoulders and kissed me. His lips were warm and soft, throbbing sensually
against mine. “Later,” he whispered.

Releasing me, he opened the door and ushered me into my
castle. I wasn’t sure I liked that. It seemed a little proprietary.

I went to my suite, bathed and dressed for the day. The
massaging hands of my ladies continued to stimulate me, and the wall mirrors
revealed that a sexual flush still pinkened my cheeks, my décolletage.

My morning adventure resulted in repercussions, of course.
Maia didn’t fail to register her disapproval, grumbling about security risks
and schedules in disarray. Smiling, I assured her that the excursion had been
necessary and swept into my morning meeting with the Ten Ministers with my grin
and good mood intact.

I settled myself onto the Golden Throne, and realized I had
a major management issue when I saw Frayn’s glare. “I trust Your Majesty’s
morning ride was invigorating?” he asked with a barely concealed sneer.

“It was fine,” I said through stiff lips, wondering if he
had planted spies in the stable. The guard? Perhaps he had bedded her. The
stable boy? Only a few coins would secure his allegiance. I didn’t like that.
They were my servants, not Lord Frayn’s.

Frayn turned to Geoman. “The queen was accompanied by
Prince-Scientist Kaldir.”

Geoman leaned into the back of his padded chair, his eyes
lazily perusing my face. His glance lingered on my lips, still swollen from
Kaldir’s scalding kisses. He smiled, the heat of desire lighting his eyes. He
was a most attractive man and I resolved to tryst with him as soon as it could
be arranged. “Your Majesty, have you formed an opinion of the prince-scientist?”
he asked.

I attempted a demure smile, wondering why Kaldir’s jism
tasted so unusually spicy. Perhaps it was the result of his diet. I resolved to
find out. “I have only begun my…research. I feel that the prince-scientist
cloaks a mystery, perhaps even has an unknown agenda which he has not yet
revealed.” I could not rid myself of the odd feeling I had seen Kaldir before.

Parlous sat straighter. “What do you suspect, Your Majesty?”

I frowned. “I don’t believe it is anything that would
threaten us, my lord. But I do wish to know what it is and am determined to
worm the secret from my suitor.”

“You must work quickly,” Lady Mercourie said. “The
delegation from Darkside is no more than a day away. Once Prince Storne
arrives, he will demand your attention.”

Storne. There was something about the name that ruffled my
nerve endings. “Who is this Storne?”

“His clan won the latest spate of warfare for the control of
Darkside. His father is the king, and Storne will inherit the throne upon his
death. If you choose him as King of Shadow, he will rule two-thirds of this
planet.” Parlous’ voice was dry.

“
We
will rule two-thirds of Janus.” I tried not to
sound huffy.

“Thus upsetting the Balance,” Caducia said.

“The Balance is upset whomever I choose.” I shifted
restlessly.

“No,” Kloutt said. “If you choose a Shadowlander, Balance is
preserved.”

“If you choose Prince-Scientist Kaldir, his people will
elect another leader,” Parlous said. “Balance will, again, be preserved.”

“That has ever been true. Perhaps that is why there have
been so few royal marriages with the DarkDwellers,” Geoman said. “We have
feared to disrupt the Balance, but as we have said, mayhap new blood would be
beneficial.”

“And Storne’s clan may not forever hold Darkside’s throne,”
Mercourie said.

“What can Shadow gain from Light?” I asked, tapping my
fingernails on the Golden Throne’s right arm. “We can trade for their
technology.”

“Perhaps the secret that Your Majesty believes Kaldir
conceals will be worth your hand in marriage.” Frayn eyed me. “But I doubt it.”

“So nothing, really, has changed,” Caducia said. “I believe
we should wait for the advent of Darkness’ prince and reserve a decision until
all candidates can be thoroughly evaluated.”

“Agreed?” I asked.

“Agreed,” came a ragged chorus.

Geoman and Frayn exchanged challenging grins, and I pressed
a hand over my mouth to stifle my laughter. I wished that I had started my
search for a mate earlier, as it was providing me with unexpected amusement, as
well as new partners for sex play.

* * * * *

Lord Geoman had not misread my flirtatious glances, and when
at midnight I heard a tap on my door, I knew ’twas him. I had asked Maia to
reject all other callers.

I had been reluctant to tryst with Geoman, though we had
enjoyed each other occasionally before I ascended the throne and had always
been friendly. But now, with my seventeenth starturn approaching, I lost my
fear of misleading him about my intentions. Statecraft had its demands, and as queen,
I had to obey. As the Progenitors had said, ’twas a tough job, but someone had
to do it.