Steamlust (27 page)

An inferno builds inside me, banking higher with each thrust of tongue against tongue, each glorious, aching caress, but one moment blurs into the next until I am blindly rushing toward a goal I long for, and dread.

It is Ruiz who stops me, holding my arms down on the bed above my head, one immovable thigh trapping my writhing form.

“Shh,” he croons, “
amada,
there is time.”

“No,” I cry, bucking against restraint, “No, quickly, before—”

I cannot articulate my fear but he seems to understand, bending to kiss me once more, resisting my frenzy, gentling me with the slow, tender sweep of his tongue. Fury abates and then, only then, do I truly feel.
Everything
.

The heat of his body on one side, Angelique’s on the other, the smoothness of his lips and her hands, the crisp hair of his chest and press of her nipples, the hardness of his erection on my hip. The scent of our bodies mingles with the arousal tingeing the air, and above the thudding of my heart I hear the harsh rush of excited breathing.

He lifts his head, stroking my breast, teasing the already tight nipple, and the sensation of that calloused digit echoes through my veins.

“Yes,
geliefde.”
Angelique’s lips find my ear, softly tracing the inner curl, and I arch at those simple, irresistible pleasures.

Freeing my wrists, Ruiz kisses the side of my mouth and then down along my neck to my breast. Angelique follows on the opposite side, and I tangle my fingers in their hair, holding them to me. The hot slide of tongues, the nip of teeth, the long, firm draw of mouths are amplified over and over, until I shudder with each gasping breath, already nearing climax.

Fingers pull my thighs wider apart, travel up, caressing the trembling flesh until finally slipping between the lips of my cunt. I cannot curtail my cry of bliss, the way my hips lift to greet the penetration, the swirling on my clitoris. Just those touches take me to overwhelming, devastating release. Something cracks inside—in the darkness where loneliness lives—liberating me, giving me strength and courage and hope.

Now we flow together, finding each pleasure point on each other’s bodies, tasting and discovering in all the ways that lovers can. There is nowhere I am not caressed, nowhere I dare
not stroke or lick, and the only rush is that of desire finding its natural culmination, over and over again.

Curled around his body, I explore the texture of Ruiz’s cock with my tongue, the heft of his sac with my hand, glorying in his deep, agonized sounds of passion, and in the knowledge they are made against Angelique’s cunt. Then he and I share those wet, blushing folds, making her cry out with the lashing of our tongues, the double incursion of our fingers.

I hunger for them, feast on them and am feasted on in return. Lying between Angelique’s legs, sharing kiss after kiss, Ruiz buried deep within me from behind, I once more feel the inescapable twist of desire. Each powerful thrust of his hips drives his cock into me with devastating pleasure, propelling me, in turn, against Angelique’s clitoris. Reaching back, I grab his buttocks with one hand, the other braced on the headboard, holding us all in place. Angelique begins to spend, arching into me, and the beauty of her moment of bliss inspires my own, which in turn carries Ruiz to completion.

He slumps, holding his weight above us on shaking arms. I am surrounded by them, whole in a way I never was before, and I don’t realize I’m crying until they untangle us and begin to kiss the tears from my cheeks.

“Ah, Bea, please,
amada,”
Ruiz sounds broken, as though my tears bring him pain even greater than my own. “Don’t cry.”

I am Beatrix Morgan I remind myself, the Duchess of Palisadoes, scion of the great Henry, whose daring and vision created his own private country, and whose son had the courage, after the earthquake of 1692, to take his wicked city skyward. I do not snivel and weep like a baby. Gathering the threads of composure, I look from one to the other of my loves.

“I don’t want you to leave,” is all I can manage before covering my face with my hands, and weeping inconsolably.

“Leave?” Angelique sounds both frightened and outraged. “Why would we leave?”

“I don’t know,” Ruiz pulls me closer, as though to emphasize his words. “I have no wish to go.”

“What did you tell her, Ruiz, to make her rescue me?”

For a moment the only sound in the room is my sniveling.

“Once she said she would grant me any favor, so I asked her to,” his voice is hushed. “I wasn’t sure the truth would suffice.”

I push him away so hard he almost falls off the bed and I sit up to glare at him.

“What truth, de Cortez?”

Angelique’s hand on my shoulder soothes some of my ire, but I cannot relent until I know all.

“He has always loved you,
geliefde,
pined for you all these years. He didn’t think you would want him, not with all you now have.” Angelique’s voice is soft, but it cracks like a whip against my heart. Ruiz’s face tightens, and he looks away. “I think,” she continues slowly, “he came not only because he cares for me, but because he knew we love each other too.”

“You knew how I felt about Angelique,” I accuse him, unable to prevent my voice from trembling, “and said nothing?”

“Just as you knew exactly how long it had been since I last came to Jamaica,” he snaps back. “Do you think you are the only one with spies, or who keeps an eye on those they love?”

All I can do is stare at him in disbelief, my mind whirling with possibilities and doubts.

“Will you stay?” I finally ask, looking at them both. For that is the most important question of all.

They smile, as though the answer should be apparent.

“If you wish it, your grace,” Ruiz replies, somehow able to make a courtly bow while both seated and naked.

“Well,” I reply slowly, feeling joy bubble upward like champagne, making me light-headed, “my grandfather kept a harem. I only want you two. Besides, who would dare complain? There has to be some advantage to being head of a sovereign state. But,” I hold up my hand as they both move toward me, “only on the condition you tell me what
geliefde
and
amada
mean.” I shrug, “My education didn’t stretch to languages.”

“Beloved,” they both say together, and I repeat it as a promise when I sink into their arms.

“Beloved…”

VIDA BAILEY
is an aspiring writer who holds those who parent, hold down their day job and still manage to publish stories in infinite awe. She has published stories in Alison Tyler’s
Hurts So Good
and Sommer Marsden’s
Dirtyville
anthologies. You can find her at
heatsuffused.blogspot.com
.

MARY BORSELLINO
writes short erotica, pop culture analysis and punk young adult novels. She desperately hopes that somebody someday writes a steampunk pastiche of Oscar Wilde’s
Dorian Gray
. Her website is
maryborsellino.com
.

A 2009 RITA finalist,
MELJEAN BROOK
is the
New York Times
bestselling author of the Guardians paranormal romance series and the Iron Seas steampunk romance series.
The Iron Duke
is her seventh full-length novel. Meljean holds a bachelor’s
degree in English literature from Portland State University. She lives in Oregon with her husband and daughter.

ELIZABETH COLDWELL
lives and writes in London. Her stories have appeared in numerous anthologies from Cleis Press, Total-E-Bound, Black Lace and Ravenous Romance among others. She can be found at
elizabethcoldwell.wordpress.com
.

Multi-published author
CHRISTINE D’ABO
loves exploring the darker side of romance and passion. She enjoys taking her characters on fantastical journeys that change their hearts and expand their minds. Christine is published with Ellora’s Cave, Samhain Publishing, Cleis Press, Carina Press and Berkley Heat. Please visit her at
christinedabo.com
.

On her own and with coauthors,
ANDREA DALE
(cyvarwydd. com) has sold two novels to Virgin Books UK and approximately one hundred stories to Harlequin Spice, Avon Red and Cleis Press, among others. Her steampunk pornographer persona is named Penny Dreadful.

SYLVIA DAY
is author of more than a dozen novels, written across multiple sub-genres. A wife and mother of two, she is a former Russian linguist for the U.S. Army Military Intelligence. She lives in San Diego, California with her family. Visit with her at
sylviaday.com
.

SACCHI GREEN
writes in western Massachusetts. Her stories have appeared in a hip-high stack of publications with inspirational covers, and she’s also edited seven volumes of erotica, most recently
Girl Crazy
,
Lesbian Cowboys
,
Lesbian Lust
and
Lesbian Cops
from Cleis Press.

NIKKI MAGENNIS
is a Scottish author and artist who has written erotica and erotic romance for Virgin Black Lace, Harlequin Spice and Cleis Press, among others. Find out more at
nikkimagennnis.blogspot.com
.

ANNA MEADOWS
is a part-time executive assistant, part-time lesbian housewife. Her work appears in
Best Lesbian Romance 2010
,
Best Lesbian Romance 2011
,
Red Velvet and Absinthe
,
Girls Who Bite
, and on the Lambda Literary website.

After living a checkered past, and despite an avowed disinterest in domesticity, multi-published author
ANYA RICHARDS
settled in Ontario, Canada, with husband, kids and two cats. To find out more about her writing, drop by Anya’s website at
anyarichards.com
.

LISABET SARAI
has published six erotic novels, three short-story collections and dozens of individual tales. She also edits the single-author charity series “Coming Together Presents” and reviews erotica for Erotica Readers and Writers Association and Erotica Revealed. Visit Lisabet online at Lisabet’s Fantasy Factory (
lisabetsarai.com
).

CHARLOTTE STEIN
has published many stories in various anthologies, including
Fairy Tale Lust
. She also has novellas out with Ellora’s Cave, Total-E-Bound and Xcite, and you can contact her here:
themightycharlottestein.blogspot.com
.

LYNN TOWNSEND
is a displaced Yankee, mother, writer and dreamer.

SASKIA WALKER
(
saskiawalker.co.uk
) is a British author

Described by
The Romance Reader
as “a budding force to be reckoned with,”
KRISTINA WRIGHT
(
kristinawright.com
) is an author, editor and college instructor. She has edited the Cleis Press anthologies
Fairy Tale Lust: Erotic Fantasies for Women
and
Dream Lover: Paranormal Tales of Erotic Romance
and her forthcoming anthologies include
Best Erotic Romance 2012
and
Lustfully Ever After: Fairy Tale Erotic Romance
. Her first anthology,
Fairy Tale Lust: Erotic Fantasies for Women
was a Featured Alternate of the Doubleday Book Club. Kristina’s erotica and erotic romance fiction has appeared in over eighty print anthologies. She received the Golden Heart Award for Romantic Suspense from Romance Writers of America for her first novel
Dangerous Curves
, which was published by Silhouette Intimate Moments. Her articles, interviews and book reviews have appeared in numerous publications, both in print and online. She is a member of Romance Writers of America as well as the special interest chapters Passionate Ink
and Fantasy, Futuristic and Paranormal. She is a book reviewer for the Erotica Readers and Writers Association, the book club moderator for
SexIs Magazine’s
Naked Reader Book Club and blogs weekly at Oh Get a Grip! (
ohgetagrip.blogspot.com
). She holds degrees in English and humanities and has taught English Composition and World Mythology at the community college level. Originally from South Florida, Kristina has lived up and down the East Coast with her husband, Jay, a Lieutenant Commander in the Navy. They currently live in Virginia with their two young sons.

For more than thirty years Cleis Press has been among the vanguard, publishing books that reflect our mission to help create a world in which we are all free to live our authentic lives.

Whether you’ve been a loyal Cleis Press reader or are just now discovering our list, we thank you for supporting our press.

Your purchase of this book helps us thrive.

Visit us at
www.cleispress.com
.

Copyright © 2011 by Kristina Wright.

Foreword copyright © 2011 by Meljean Brook.

All rights reserved. Except for brief passages quoted in newspaper, magazine, radio, television, or online reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying or recording, or by information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Published in the United States by Cleis Press, Inc., 2246 Sixth Street, Berkeley, California 94710.

Text design: Frank Wiedemann

eISBN : 978-1-573-44741-6

eISBN : 978-1-573-44741-6