Countess of Desire (The Young Ancients Erotic Moments Book 1) (9 page)

"Morning
love!" A big kiss hit her cheek, getting her to smile, a little
petulantly.

"Go 'way.
Sleeping."

She was ready
for the half hour of her refusing to get up, being tickled and eventually
tugged from the sheets, but Pet put something on her bare neck. An amulet.

Once it was
activated, she felt a slight tingle, and she was suddenly awake. Not like a
drug had hit her system, just some complicated magic that made it so Maria was
up
.
Sitting, she took the thing, holding it in place.

"All
right. This is amazing. What is it?"

Taking it back,
which didn't lessen the feeling at all, Petra held it in her own hand, still
on. Then she passed it to her brother, who smiled.

Only after that,
did she explain.

"It's a
thing that Ali Baker made. She's one of the best when it comes to mind magics,
you know. Using this a few times a day you can stay up for nearly five, and
barely feel it. Eventually you'll start to hallucinate anyway, but you won't
feel tired until then. That isn't great for you, health wise, but if it comes
up, it can be a life saver. I got this from the store on Harmony. The
main
magic shop. They have four of them now."

Maria stood,
and looked impressed.

"I need to
get a list going, of things to get from there. So, shall we go and collect
Debbie up? Marvin, have you seen to that? She spent the night, didn't
she?" That would make sense, but her loving husband shook his head,
slowly.

"No. I
invited her to, but I think she feels it would be indiscreet. Since she isn't
married yet, that would only be to save your feelings, but she holds you in
very high regard. Which is proper, no doubt." He smiled, and held her
closely for a bit, his huge arms going around her all the way. She found
herself picked up a bit, onto her toes.

"Ah?
That's sweet of her. Anyway, let me get cleaned up, and then..." Well, she
needed to get to her day, didn't she? They'd want food first, but after that,
she needed to just be off to space.

Even thinking
the words seemed like a dream though. Here she was, blithely going off to the
stars, or at least the Moon, without so much as batting an eye over it. Taking
the baker from down the way too, because that was the way of the world now.
Anyone could do amazing things, if they tried hard enough and knew the right
people.

She, however,
needed at least a shower. Holding out her hand to her husband she whispered, so
as to not be rude to Petra. Oh, the other woman could hear her, but she could
pretend not to, which would make things less awkward.

"Come with
me, love? I won't be long. We can... Talk?"

She didn't need
to really speak about anything, but it was common for Marvin to wake up
aroused, and she did like for him to have a pleasant start to his day. If
they'd shared a bed she would have rolled over, eventually, and done some
things for him, but with Pet there, his own sister, she needed to move to a
different room.

That didn't
take long to arrange, the bathing chamber being just down the hallway. The
shower had a warming amulet, which was a luxury for a non-magical house like
theirs. She stripped, and took her amulets off, setting them on the metal hook
only a few feet away, letting the chains, mainly gold, swing a bit. Marvin used
the second, higher one, so that they wouldn't confuse which set of amulets was
their own. He had some weapons too, which got set on a small wooden shelf,
directly to the left of the water spigot.

Then, because
he loved her, her wonderful husband got the water set to the right temperature,
and helped her get clean. Her hair was held up, since getting it wet at the
moment would be a chore, but he soaped the rest of her carefully.

Giant hands
started at her throat, gently making small circles, then hit every portion of
her that could be cleaned, all the way to the bottom of her feet. It was done
well, and so cautiously that it was clear he feared hurting her. She was so
little, compared to him. Over six feet tall, but tiny and delicate by
comparison. It left her feeling a bit vulnerable. Safe though. He always took
great pains to be careful with her.

When that was
finished, she reached for him, her hands, a soft tan color, finding his darker
skin, at just about the level of his navel. She made contact there, and pulled
her fingernails down gently, his large manhood raising then, matching his
heart. It was almost like pulling a lever, how well that tricked worked with
him. By the time her hands found him, she was almost ready.

There was a bit
of oil near where the soap was kept, and she used that on him without asking if
it would be needed. She loved Marvin, and
was
turned on by him, but he
was so large that a bit of extra lubrication would be very useful. She used
both hands to do it, marveling at his size again. He was nearly as thick as her
own wrist, which was, she could allow, too much, really. She was used to him,
but it paid to be careful that way.

She stroked
him, using the oil, starting from the base of him, near his body, and moving
upward to the tip. Then, not being shy at all, she reset the oil, filling her
palm and setting the small glass vial back on its shelf near the soap with her
other hand. Then she pushed it inside herself, liberally, using two fingers.

"Pick me
up?" That was one of his favorite things to do in the bath or shower. It
involved him holding her the whole time, large hands under her ass, thumbs on
the front of her pelvis. He did it then, going slowly, letting her stretch
around him.

The head of his
rod pushed at her, slippery from the oil. Entering she felt herself move around
him. It didn't hurt, but felt very full after a few moments. Then, slowly, she
started to move. The friction of it causing her body to tighten, squeezing him
inside of her. She wouldn't have an orgasm that way, but he would, so she
milked him, using her inner muscles each time he pushed her away from him. She
didn't go all the way down his length either, and he was good enough not to
slam against the inside of her, even as he picked up speed.

That was a part
of having sex for him, being huge, as he was. He could never just thrust as he
wanted too, but rather had to see to the care of his partner all the time. Or,
rather, he
could
have done whatever he wanted. No one would say anything
if he used them to the point of damage, after all. He was Count Ward, and in
his own territory. He could have left a string of sore and even crippled women
and men in his wake and no one could even protest that it left them sore.

Marvin didn't
do that however. He didn't take pleasure in other’s pain, and made certain that
his wife at least had a chance to enjoy herself.

That meant he
used her, but did it with her delicacy in mind. There wouldn't even be bruises
on her hips when they were done. They held to the one position, for a while,
with him moving in and out of her carefully. Finally though, she hugged his
neck, pulling herself against him, letting him touch the deepest part of
herself.

"Here,
let's use the bench? From behind?"

That was
tighter, and she'd feel it even more, but so would he. Maria walked to the
wooden thing, which was connected to the floor tiles, so it couldn't tip, and
stood on it, her hands against the wall beyond, as he slid back into place. It
was a bit awkward, but she was able to reach down and start pleasuring herself
with her left hand, even as she rocked toward the wall with each thrust. He
started to hit her, inside, just a bit. Not painfully, but as he got closer to
his own reward, it would be harder for him to control himself, she knew.

So she worked
her hand on herself, fingers almost vibrating, as he rocked her again and
again. For once, just as he shot into her, she cried out, contracting against
him strongly at the same time. Not even faking it. She always did that, when
they had sex, so that he wouldn't feel bad about her not reaching orgasm with
him. He really was good, it was simply that he was so large his body couldn't
rub against hers in the right places for that act to be enough for her. Her own
hand worked for it this time however.

Kissing her
from behind, as she still contracted around him, he thrust in a bit.

"That was
different. We should try that again, soon." Gentle stroking against the
skin of her back came then, soothing her. Letting her know that she was really
loved.

"Agreed!
Now, we should get cleaned up again and see about getting on with the day.
Food, Debbie... That should do it. This is just a day trip." She tried to
sound efficient, but laughed at the end, as he pulled out. It didn't tickle,
but it did feel good.

That got them
underway, and unlike most mornings, she didn't have to wake up for three hours
first before being useful. That meant they'd eaten, and were actually flying
off to Harmony by nine, and made the jump and then landed about twenty minutes
later. It was so quick that Petra and Gerent actually had two homes. One in
Lairdgren County on the other side of the Kingdom, and one in Harmony. That one
was outside the city a bit, and had its own private docking system. They landed
there, the place not looking like much from the surface.

It was all
underground, of course. Everything there really was.

Gerent had
hinted that they had enough space, but once they were out of the ship, and
walking around, Maria got a feel for it. It was nearly as big as the villa.
Truly a fitting place to keep her friends. The decorations ran to more inlaid
carvings and stone benches placed directly into the walls than major paintings
or tapestries, but there were nice carpets along the hallways.

Petra winked at
them.

"We have
rooms here. You can come and stay for a while, if you want? We can go and see
about bothering people, too. Just down this hallway is the front door. It's
about six miles into the city itself, but we can use our Tor-shoes here without
anyone thinking it's too childish. One of the nice things is how casual
everyone is about things like that. I... Don't know what you want to do
first?" This was said to Maria, but there was a glance for her brother
too. "It's my day off, so I can go visiting with you?"

Right, because
she was in on the fact that Maria wasn't a traitor, but she didn't know for
certain what Marvin would know. For that matter, he really thought it was a
pleasure trip, and so, most likely, did Debbie.

It was time to
come clean then.

"Right.
Yesterday Baron Klepter passed me a note, from the rebellion. They want us to
help kill the King." That got a gasp, from Debbie, who went wide eyed and
seemed a bit scared. Maria took her hand. "Marvin and I are working
for
the King, so I went with Petra last night and set things up so that I can get
back in to 'kill' him later. In a week."

She shrugged
and dimpled at her loving husband a bit wickedly.

"We both
sucked him off, so that I can claim that honestly when they question me later.
He actually has decent bedroom manners, for a King." Meaning he hadn't
taken advantage of them or hurt them out of bestial crudeness. It was true,
after all.

Her husband
didn't smile over that, but nodded, looking concerned. He wouldn't be jealous
after all. He was a lot better looking than King Richard, and knew it. Everyone
with eyes
did
.

"So the
journey here?" He gave her a knowing look, and then glanced at Debbie.

It made sense,
trying to protect her, but it was getting a bit too late in the game for that.
The woman was well and truly tied to them, and anything that could take them
down would be a risk for her now too. She'd served Kedrin pastries with her own
hands, acting as hostess, more than once.

Probably
suspecting that she'd end with a noose around her neck for it, but doing it
anyway, out of love for them.

 Maria gave
them both the whole plan then.

"So, I'm
here to beg a weapon, a special Truth amulet, and to send some notes. You two
can go and actually see the sights and visit? As soon as I finish however, we
need to be getting back. A week isn't a long time for this kind of thing, and
if I take too long arranging things for them, the rebellion might start to get
clever. We want to stop that. This is all about finding the right names, if
possible. So that the King can have them taken in, finally. There aren't so
many left willing to do anything that the land will go to war now."

That was the
hope at any rate.

Marvin held her
for a bit, as Deborah and Petra stood by, nervously.

"You are
most brave. It should be my risk, not yours."

Maria just
nodded at that, no one in the world would question her husband's bravery, after
all. Not if they held even common sense.

"But this
task is mine. Don't worry, husband. Love. I can make this work."

She kind of had
to, if she ever wanted a real life again.

Floating, about
four inches off the concentrated glass like rock that everything was made of in
Harmony, Maria traveled down the tunnel toward the main city. It wasn't that
she hadn't been there before, but this was a very different direction to be
coming from. At first it was simple enough, since there was only the one. It
was a very long tunnel. At least forty foot wide, meant only for traveling
through. Eventually however, she noticed doors in the sides of it, and a few
shops. Things that had large glass fronts on them, to display their wares. It
was all free, but some of them were so fascinating that Maria wanted to stop,
and spend some time just looking.

She didn't need
much, but these things had arrays of lights, little shows to attract attention
and in one case, several people dancing inside. Just to call to the greedy
Countess within her. She resisted, knowing that it was too important for her to
get to her real task that day.

The Countess
was in a nice, very voluminous gown, which moved as she traveled, the lace and
silk making a rustling sound. It was a brilliant red and black thing, meant to
catch attention and inflame passions, though she didn't know if that would help
or hurt her cause there that day. There was no real need for Tiera, the Queen
of her own world, to even involve herself in the affairs of King Richard. Much
less should she bother helping, or even
seeing
, Maria Ward.

It would be a
trick, getting in to meet with the woman then.

That being the
case, Maria decided not to try and hit her with requests directly, but rather
to go and see if Patricia would help her first. They were lovers, or had been,
and the woman was even still supposed to be her girlfriend, meaning she might
well help her out in a pinch. Even better, she was Richard's niece, and liked
her uncle well enough to want him to remain unharmed. Hopefully. There had been
rumors to the contrary, but Maria kind of figured that was all part of a ruse
too. If not...

Well, then that
would be another friend gone, when things were all over, most likely.

She didn't know
exactly how to find her though. The first thing she tried was going to her
home, and simply pressing the button that made a loud bell chime inside.
Nothing happened, even after doing it several times and waiting for about ten
minutes. That probably meant no one was inside. After that... Well, she had no
clue what Trice did with her days, did she? Shopping seemed likely, given the
availability of things there, but doing that all the time would pale soon.

No, she'd find
some work to keep herself busy. Perhaps in the whore house? That was free there
too, and open to all, which made it both popular and less looked down upon than
in many places. Once the transactional portion was taken away, it was really
more or less just people meeting up to have fun. Here they just didn't force
everyone to work as hard to make that happen as back home.

It seemed
likely enough, so she headed that way, trying to float along as she could, but
landing in the main hallway, since everyone walked there, except a few
children, who were scolded gently by some of the adults. Little pale people
wearing black. Those from Tellerand, Maria thought.

She didn't
smile at them, but didn't frown either. If the rule was that people walked in
this part of the city, it was their duty to see to it. They all smiled as the
children landed.

"Sorry
ma'am." One of them, a tiny dark girl spoke to the woman that had waved
them down, her tone polite.

"Good
enough then. This be the walking portions." It was said kindly enough, and
no one scowled over it, or yelled at the children for trying to have fun.

So she walked,
on the right side of the large hallway, looking hard to the left, to see where
the place she wanted ahead was. That meant she walked right into a tall man,
both their shields activating as they bumped, preventing it from being too
hard, but sending her back a step.

"I beg
your pardon. I wasn't looking where I was going." She smiled upward, into
the face of the man, who was about seven and half feet tall.

At first she
didn't get it, since he was wearing a red outfit that was a bit darker than her
own dress. The clothing was nice, and clearly magical, but everyone there wore
that sort of thing. It was his face that got her to go silent however, when her
mind finally understood who it was.

"Tor?"
She knew she seemed hesitant, even if they were supposed to be friends now.

He looked down
at her, but not that much, and nodded.

"Maria! I
haven't seen you in years. How are you?"

That was the
kind of thing that people said, wasn't it? She took a deep breath, and didn't
let herself get defensive, looked around and then shrugged.

"I'm well
enough. Are you busy right now? I could use a chance to talk to you, actually,
if you have a few moments?" There was no reason for her to put off her
groveling, was there? If he was presented to her like that, it was clear that
she was supposed to make up with him sooner, rather than later.

Not that it
wasn't late enough already.

She expected
him to make a polite excuse, really. He had no reason to be alone with her, and
while groveling had its charms, he couldn't know that was what she had in mind
in regards to him, did he? Not unless he was reading her mind.

He nodded a
bit, smiling.

"Sure? I
was just going to head home, but I can spare a bit of time. Do you need
someplace private? We could go to my shop. Not that it's really mine anymore,
but Danny, the man who runs it now, still doesn't kick me out when I try to hang
out in the back, for some reason."

That was
different. The last she'd heard he was practically running the whole operation
by himself.

"Are you
doing something else now? I know that you and Alyssa moved to a space station
out by Mars..."

That got him to
start walking, his hand coming over to her back, calmly. Like they really
were
friends.

"I teach
classes here. Building and meditation. Mainly for people from Vagus, since I'm
working with them now. Some from other lands too however, and a few kids from
here. Have you thought about building? A lot of people that are a bit past
school age have been taking it up, lately. Even learning to make your own
copies is useful, and it wouldn't hurt to have a push for that back home, too.
Sara wants to set that up, but having a Countess on our side for the effort
isn't a poor plan. King Richard is in on that. You two aren't getting along
though?" He kept his face calm, but it was clear that he, at least, was in
on the whole thing. Then, she knew that, having talked with him about it once.
He was too good at knowing things to miss something major like that.

How Petra
had...

Then she
realized that the girl probably hadn't missed anything at all. No, she was just
that good at playing her role. That got a smile from Maria, and she didn't
speak, since they were walking through the bake shop then. Tor waved a now
large hand at the man behind the counter.

"May we
use the back sitting room, Dan?"

He answered,
his voice holding a slightly thick Printer accent.

"That's
fine, Master Tor... Countess Ward." He didn't stare at her, just bowing a
bit, as if he really knew who she was on sight. That she didn't recognize him
was a bit odd though. She bowed back, going deeper than she would have back
home. Tor had said this was his shop, and it was a different world. Her being a
Countess meant slightly less than shop owner did here, she was willing to bet.

The man stood
then, smiling hugely.

Tor didn't
wait, walking her down a fairly comfortable, but small, walkway. It led into a
tiny room, about ten feet by ten, with a ceiling almost as high. The corners
were all rounded however, leaving no sharp lines anywhere. Not even where the
walls met the floor and ceiling. There were soft pillows all over though, some
of them large enough to be used as chairs, or beds, and a low table in the
middle of the space.

Tor picked the
largest one, which made her blink. On Earth, in polite circles, that would have
been an invitation to sit next to him. If he hadn't wanted that, he would have
picked one of the smaller, single person arrangements. She nearly took one of
those anyway, not wanting to press him, but smiled and then looked him directly
in the eye, still standing.

"I...
Well, I've been thinking about some things lately. I haven't been the friend
that I should be to you. I know that it might be too late to make anything up
to you, after the way I treated you, all those years ago. I could kneel and beg
again, but would that help, truly? You can't help but hold me in a negative
light, and no one in two, three now, worlds, could blame you for it. Still, I
think we should fix that. Is that... Something you'd enjoy?" She winced a
bit, at the words, since it was so clear that he really wouldn't.

She readied herself
for a tirade, or at least for him to politely excuse himself, but looking up at
her a little bit, the very pretty man, his hair shorter than the last time
she'd seen him, tilted his head to the side, thinking.

"We're
friends. I know that I haven't reached out to you as much as I should, but if
you need me to, I will. That kind of thing is too important to just let go of.
Anyway, I think you were dodging my question about the King?"

"Oh! Not
really. You know that one. Marvin and I are acting as infiltrators into the
rebellion. Actually, I'm really here to see to getting some things for that.
Some of your magical rivers too, for drought relief. I also need to get a fake
Truth amulet from Timon, and see if Queen Tiera will part with one of her
shield stripping wands. I hear they can be quite lethal? I'm supposed to sneak
that into the palace, in order to try and kill the King. There's more to it,
some poisons, and all that." She waited for him to make a face, or call
her evil, but he didn’t, so she went on, explaining. "It's all part of a
plan, of course. I need those things to show the rebels that I can do what I
say. That's so I can get the last evidence we need to break the whole thing
open. So, in a few weeks time, that ugly portion of my life might well be
done."

"Good.
It's about time. I've been worried about Connie and Rich. Varley, too. Thank
you for helping them like this. It must be very hard, pretending to hate them
like that, in order to convince those others of things." If there was
judgment in the words, she couldn't find it. He simply seemed to think it would
be hard, that was all.

She winked at
him, trying to keep the whole friendliness thing going as long as she could.

"Well, I
can't say that it's all
that
hard. I barely know Constance, after all.
Richard is nice enough, and really, he is a good King, isn't he? Kedrin would
do no better on the throne, and I think he knows that. In the end I hope that
he doesn't have to swing for this. Those others clearly put him up to this
whole thing. Promising him wealth and power like they did. Never mentioning how
hard it would be to actually deal with everything." She nodded, trying to
convince herself of that too. It was fun to dream about power, but harder to
manage it than it seemed like in your head. Being a Countess had shown her
that.

Tor snickered a
bit, but sobered quickly enough.

"I... Hope
he lives, too. Really, you should get with Tiera and see if she'll let him move
here, and go into exile? He's a bit of a fool, sometimes, but not a bad man really.
That would be easier for Karina and Alphonse, too. They're pretty worried about
the whole thing. They don’t want their uncle dead though."

She nodded,
then heaved a sigh, looking at him sitting there. He really was lovely. Perhaps
the most glorious person she'd ever seen. Being taller should have made him
seem different, but it had just added a bit more jaw line and sureness to his
face. Before he'd looked almost like a pretty girl. Now he was more clearly a
man. It really worked for him, she realized.

"I don't
suppose you could get me in to see the Queen? Being her brother and all? I'll..."
She nearly implied that she'd be willing to trade sex for that, but shrugged
slowly. The words caught in her throat, since it was too likely that saying
that would ruin everything, wasn't it?

"I... Tor,
would you like to have sex?" It came out in a rush, but she didn't take it
back. "I botched it all, the one time I tried with you, and made a huge
mess of things. We should though, if you want? You can do anything to me,
but... Please? Let’s put this all behind us now? I sit each day, fearing what
I've done to you, and how you'll find some way to bring me down for my crimes.
I deserve it, but... If you aren't going to? Even if you are, I beg you to keep
this between us. No one else deserves to be punished for it."

It was about to
happen, she thought, since his face had gone hard, but after a few second he
shook his head. There was a smile however, which was baffling. It wasn't mean,
but she couldn't tell what it all meant, either.

"Ali keeps
telling me I need to work on things like this. Being open with people that ask
for attention. So... I guess we can? What would you like to do? If we're doing
this to make you happy, so that you'll feel secure, we should do what you want,
don't you think?" There was, it was clear, a cold logic to it, in his
mind.

Maria could
sense that. He didn't want to give offense, and even found her pretty enough,
but it wasn't a thing he would have come up with for himself either, she was
willing to hazard.

So she needed
to draw them closer together somehow. Maria knew that she'd only get the one
shot, and that if she failed to hit the right things for him, he might well
never do anything with her again.