Steam Guardians 01 - A Lady Can Never Be Too Curious (22 page)

Pain punched her budding tender emotions. It didn’t make any sense, but she wasn’t thinking, only feeling. The man was always too happy to be done with her. She shouldn’t care. No, not a bit.

Yet
you
do…

***

“A risky gamble you took, my friend.”

“I’m well aware of that,” Darius answered as Lykos emerged from the lengthening afternoon shadows. Both men stared at the palace and the dinner that the king was hosting to welcome Janette. A meal neither Lykos nor Darius had been invited to share. Instead, one of the island women had brought them supper before departing to return to the women’s side of the compound.

“My options weren’t plentiful with the way Agapitos arrived. Kallias might have gray hair, but she is still as sharp as ever. I knew she’d understand what I meant when I told her to send a message,” Darius stated.

The older Illuminist from the library had been a mentor for years.

“Odd that Grainger dismissed her so easily when she stood up to his men.”

Darius nodded. “Another oddity. I’m becoming very curious about those charges against Janette’s mother and just who lodged them.”

“As am I,” Lykos agreed. “Of course, we now have to survive and pry Janette away from a king. Considering we weren’t invited to dinner, I get the feeling Kamehameha is planning on making that a difficult task.”

The house was lit with the use of Deep Earth Crystals, and Darius could see the crystal sparkling on the table. There was all manner of finery inside the palace, forming a sharp contrast with the huts surrounding the stone building. The moonlight shone down on the palms used to cover the roofs, while only a few lights shimmered from inside their walls.

“Kamehameha might decide to keep her.” Darius voiced what they were both thinking. “But I prefer him to Agapitos at the moment. Negotiations with him will be far more straightforward.”

“At least his mistrust of Janette’s arrival will provide us with time,” Lykos remarked, but the Hawaiian guards watching the gate so silently drew his attention.

“Which means naught if we can’t get a message out of this compound. Still, I’ll rest easier tonight.”

Lykos chuckled softly. “So would I, if I had such a delight to enjoy when the lights were extinguished.”

Darius lifted the drink in his hand to his lips but didn’t take a sip. He wasn’t interested in brandy. No, what he wanted interfering in his clear thinking sat inside the palace. Through the window, he could see Janette was doing a fine job of charming the king. Darius smiled because Decima was digging her fingernails into her skirt beneath the table. Not Janette. She was poised and full of confidence as she batted her eyelashes.

He hoped she realized just how important her performance was. But for the moment, he was going to have to trust in her ability. It frustrated him, was threatening to drive him mad, but beneath both emotions was something else.

Appreciation.

He admired her, in spite of the dire circumstances. Damned if she wasn’t holding it together. Locked beneath the delicate exterior was a spirit he was growing too attached to.

Lykos slapped him on the shoulder. “Don’t look so horrified, my friend. Love isn’t a fate worse than death.”

“I didn’t say I was in love with her.”

His friend shook his head. “No, but your eyes do.”

“We don’t have time for nonsense.”

Lykos sighed and drew a long sip from his brandy. “So Decima persists in telling me. But for once, I believe I am the only member of this group being honest.” He offered Darius a toast before finishing his drink.

“Care to join me in an escape later tonight?” Darius asked. He was changing the subject, but his tender feelings wouldn’t matter if the king maintained control of Janette. The man could easily have every Illuminist put off his compound, just as he was keeping them in the dark while Janette sat at his dining table.

Lykos grinned, but it was a savage sort of expression. “I thought you’d never ask.”

“Bion is still clinging to Agapitos’s heels.”

Another interesting fact. Darius took one last look at Janette. She was as secure as possible, but she wouldn’t be staying safe if he didn’t get to the Illuminists in the area.

But it still tore at him to leave her.

***

“Come, lady…come.”

The native women had no concept of personal space. They reached for her hands and all the way up her arms in their attempts to lead her. Four of them clustered around her the moment the king left the table. Decima wasn’t faring any better.

“Come away now…”

Their voices were musical, the words coming out in a rhythm. Janette followed, eager to escape the king. Kamehameha was no fool. The man knew more about Illuminist matters than he admitted. It was clear enough in the way he’d watched her throughout the meal—like she was a commodity worth stealing—that he enjoyed a healthy knowledge of the power of Deep Earth Crystals, she was sure of it.

The women took her through the hallways of the palace and out the door into the yard. The night was alive with the sounds of birds and insects. Somewhere in the distance, thunder rumbled. She could smell the rain, but the air was hot and sticky.

“This hut is good.”

The girls pulled her through a low doorway.

“Are there no bedrooms?” The moonlight was filtering through the places in the walls where the palm leaves were laced together. She felt exposed, which wasn’t quite logical, considering the solid wall running around the palace grounds. But inside the hut, the walls were anything but solid.

“Too hot inside stone walls,” one girl muttered as she and her companions began to pull at the lacing of the dress Janette had worn to dinner. The lace-edged silk would have pleased her father with its fan-pleated front and small bell sleeves. Her gloves were gone in a moment, and she couldn’t help but sigh with relief. Perspiration was trickling down her legs.

“No one sleeps inside the palace.”

The dress sagged, and they pushed her forward so they might draw it over her head. The silk rustled as it was taken away. The stiff petticoat went next, but Janette jumped away when they tried to loosen her corset.

“I’ll sleep in it,” she muttered with another look at the flimsy walls. Being daring enough to go without it in her chambers back at the Solitary Chamber was very different from being undressed completely here.

“No.”

There was only a single lamp in the hut, but it cast enough light for Janette to see the wrinkles on her nose. The woman stiffened and shook her head. She was the oldest one among them and the other girls looked to her for direction.

“No good for the heart.” She patted her chest. “The heart must have room to beat, not be kept inside a steel cage.”

The other girls instantly responded by picking at the laces that bound her. It was a relief to feel the steel bones loosen and release her breasts, but it was also slightly unsettling. Her hair was next. Every last pin was pulled, and her braids were undone as well. Someone began pulling a comb through it until it lay just like the other girls’, straight down her back.

“Good…good,” the woman remarked. She and her companions wore only loose-flowing garments that didn’t even look to be sewn, but the edges overlapped and tied around their necks to cover their breasts.

“Come and wash.”

They tugged her outside to where smooth stones were arranged in a small circle. A small water tower was nearby with a piece of large bamboo running out and to a showerhead. The only light was from the moon, and it cast them all in shades of black and silver. The girls seemed at ease in the night, none of them hesitating.

“Come…come…cool water will feel good.”

Someone tried to pull her chemise over her head. “Oh no, really.” Janette hugged herself to keep the last bit of her dignity. Anyone on the compound might see her.

The older woman shook her head once more. “No good, washing with clothing on. Don’t be like the missionaries. They do not smell very good.”

The others laughed and wrinkled their noses. Janette lost the battle to not smile. Modesty might be considered proper, but it did make for more than one smelly matron.

“This is women’s side of palace grounds. No men will come here. Bad luck for warriors to spend too much time with women. Our spirits will drain their strength so we can produce new life.”

The moment she became distracted, the girls pulled her chemise over her head. One of them untied her knickers and pushed them down her legs. Janette let them take her stockings with a tiny sigh of relief. The stones were cool beneath her feet, and they felt wonderful. Her hair floated down onto her bare skin as the older woman nodded approvingly.

“If your God made you in his image, why do missionaries teach children to think their flesh is sinful?”

“Well…that is an excellent question,” Janette responded.

Water began flowing, saving Janette from having to think. It was cool, but the air was remained warm. Still, goose bumps rose along her limbs, and her nipples puckered into hard points because she was thinking about Darius.

Would he like her without a corset to shape her?

In all the erotic texts, there had been nothing but the natural form of the body.

“You are thinking of your warrior.”

The younger girls all leaned in, their faces bright with curiosity. The older woman offered them a knowing smile.

“The eyes…do not lie.”

She waved her hands at her helpers, and soap was worked through Janette’s hair and over her body. They didn’t miss a single inch of her, making her grateful for the darkness because her cheeks were scarlet by the time they rinsed her.

They brought her a length of toweling, and the warmer climate soon had every drop of water gone.

“Now we go, in case your warrior comes.”

The girls all giggled. They helped her into her chemise before they followed their mistress from the hut, but one hesitated near the wall.

“Sleep here, lady. Very nice for night rest.”

What she pulled away from the wall was a net, or at least it looked like one to Janette. The girl smiled and lay back into the thing. It hung between two of the large support beams that held up the walls of the hut. Once in it, the net curled around her, and she swung gently back and forth.

“This is island way,” she said before standing, then offered a nod and left. Janette stared at the net for a long moment before shaking her head.

Adventure. That’s right. She adored it.

The cord the net was constructed of was quite soft. She spread it out, but it wanted to roll back up, so she sat down and felt a tingle of excitement race through her when the thing took her weight. She swung back and forth for a moment like she’d done on the backyard swing in the summertime. A smile raised her lips as she smothered a giggle.

Lying back into it wasn’t difficult. Soon she was nestled in it, the sides curling up to grant her a sense of security.

It was almost as good as Darius’s embrace. But not quite.

“You look like a fae maiden.”

She gasped but wasn’t frightened. She turned to find Darius in the doorway, illuminated by the moonlight. He lingered there, almost as if he was making sure the native women saw him. Janette gasped again, this time shocked because she realized that was exactly his intention.

“Being seen in my bed…um…hut won’t shame me into marrying you.” Her voice was husky and teasing.

“Ah…” He moved forward, and she noticed he wasn’t wearing anything over his chest. Not a single stitch. She could see the tiny strands of hair covering his breast.

“So you have fallen prey to the temptations of the pagan influence of the islands…” He was teasing her. He closed the distance between them, and her heart accelerated with every slow step he took. “Or might I indulge myself in thinking you have fallen to my skill of seduction?”

He touched her gently, just cupping her hips, but she quivered, sensation flowing through her like fine wine. Her chemise was thin, and the heat from his fingers nearly burned her, but she reached for him, laying her hands on his chest and smoothing a path through the crisp hair.

“Perhaps I want to seduce you.”

He chuckled, guiding her closer and leaning over to press a kiss against her neck. “Among the Islanders, you are the flower I am expected to coax into accepting my seed.” Another kiss and she stretched her chin up so he might trail more of them along her delicate skin.

He drew the chemise over her head. “Maybe I’m a fool to have done the honorable thing to ensure we don’t have offspring until you ask me for them,” he whispered against her ear.

Her belly tightened, a crazy bolt of excitement piercing her. It was an Illuminist man’s responsibility to make sure his seed was sterile until his lover decided she was ready to carry a child. When controlled, the current from Deep Earth Crystals could ensure only planned pregnancies happened.

“You could never be anything less than honorable.”

He slipped his hands over the mounds of her bottom and pulled her against his body so that the hard outline of his cock was pressing against her. He delivered another few kisses up her neck until she felt his warm breath against her ear.

“Ah…but you tempt me, Janette…beyond everything I believe I need to be.”

She couldn’t answer him because he kissed her. It was sweet and needy. This time, Darius savored the moment, sliding his mouth against hers in a slow tasting. Her breasts pressed against his chest, the perfect complement to his harder form. Need was nipping at her, centered deep in her belly this time. She reached for the opening of his trousers, fumbling with the waistband before discovering the method of opening them.

His cock was hard and swollen, jutting out the moment she separated the fabric restraining it. He cupped her head, continuing to kiss her while she stroked his length, fingering the smooth skin of his member. He shuddered, proving that her touch caused him the same riot of feelings as his did to her.

For the moment, that was all she wanted to think about. The way they affected each other, like two mirrors facing each other. He cupped her breasts, massaging each tender globe before brushing her hard nipples with his thumbs.