Burning Ceres (5 page)

Chapter Eight

Dinner was silent. The clink of cutlery on fine porcelain was the only sound. For once in her
life
Ceres had nothing to say.

“Do you remember the time you left the palace and ran to the
Roja
Festival because you wanted to watch the dancers?”

She had been eighteen and had just finished a heat. She had wanted to see how normal women in the villages attracted mates without their family’s intervention. The dances at the
Roja
Festival were one of the methods.

She had gotten dressed, wrapped herself in a cloak and crept out the secret passageways past the guard. Once out, she had hired a skimmer and gone to
Roja
.

“Yes, I remember.”

“Then you remember that you took your place among the young dancers and tried to pass the first stage of the competitions.”

“How did you know that? I
didn’t
tell anyone. The guard came and hauled me off before I could take the stage.”

“Who do you think called the guard?” He pushed away from the table and crossed his arms. His black shirt made his skin glow and his eyes were embers as a remembered irritation flowed through him.

“You were there?”

“Yes, I followed you out of the palace. I watched as you changed into a
Roja
dance costume and as you signed up for the dances with a false name.” His fingers drummed on his upper arm. “What were you going to accomplish?”

She hugged herself, her arms pushing her breasts against the fabric of her gown, “I just wanted to be a normal woman of
Nyal
for one day.”

“Do you know what could have happened to you?”

“Yes. A male may have taken me home and rutted with me, or tried to arrange a more formal agreement.” She shrugged, “I was young and stupid. I just wanted to be wanted for myself, not my rank or properties.”

“Did you really want a normal life so badly that you would have risked your life and virtue?”

“At the time, yes.
It was all I wanted.” She thought about it and then voiced her thoughts, “Since I couldn’t have you, I wanted anyone. It doesn’t make much sense, but there it is.”

He was dumbfounded. “Are you saying that you wanted me then?”

“I had asked my father to consider you as a potential mate when I was sixteen. He told me that I was being foolish, and that a male as pretty as you had plenty of pure blooded women to choose from.”

His lips twitched, “He called me pretty?”

“Or attractive…pretty was my word.” She rose and went to look out onto the gardens that
had been lit
for the evening that was swelling around them. There was too much.
Too much information, too much time, too much everything.

He came to stand behind her and placed his arms around her, a feeling of protection and warmth stole through her and they just stood there together, bodies still and minds touching lightly.

Hours passed and the lights in the garden became hypnotic. The flaring drew her and the moons rose as they stood and watched them. Big and little sister traveled together, big sister taking the lead and little sister following, falling further and further behind.

“It’s almost
Roja
festival, isn’t it?” She rocked slightly in his arms and he gave her a light squeeze.

“It is.
In three days.
Would you like to go?” His murmur was hot in her ear and she shivered. It was different from the insistent hunger of her
heat,
it was more of an attraction and less of a compulsion.

She turned in his arms, and wrapped her own around his neck. “I would love to go. I never did get to see the whole festival.”

He smiled and his head moved close to hers, “That is just something we will have to remedy.” He paused and she tugged his lips down to hers.

A chuckle broke from both of them and the laughter quickly stilled as the kiss went from silly to serious. A slow and deliberate touching of tongues took place as she stroked his and he took possession of her mouth with a harsh groan and hands that held her head still for him.

Each merging of their mouths was simply a seeking of contact, not the harsh burn of lust, but the slow warming of pleasure.

“Would you care to try and make love without your body shrieking at you?” The gold in his eyes was burning her. No, not burning, melting. A distinct dampness was occurring between her thighs.

“Is it different?” He was nipping a strand of kisses down her neck and across her cleavage.

“As night to day.”
The other side of her neck got the same treatment and her head moved to grant him full access.

“Then I think we should try it.”
Her own
hands had taken to roving lightly across his chest and to the fastenings of the trousers. The bulge beneath her hand throbbed gently and she smiled up at his narrowed eyes.

With a sharp
motion
he grabbed her and flipped her over his shoulder. She squealed with laughter and received a sharp slap to the buttocks for her efforts.

The startled faces of several servants passed within her scope, all looking to see what had possessed their otherwise staid and controlled employer. Her giggles followed them all the way back to his bedchamber.

The passed through the anteroom and he locked the door once again.
This time having both hands free by benefit of his method of transporting her.

His hands gripped her waist and he flipped her through the air to arrive with a giggle and a bounce on the bed. His hands stripped off his clothing quickly, and she was only halfway through her fastenings when he dropped naked to the bed beside her.

“Let me help.”

His fingers flicked at the fastenings and her gown peeled open, leaving her bare to the slight draft of air that blew through the room. He tugged the fabric away from her dusky skin and she quipped, “Hey, don’t wrinkle that dress, I like it.”

The dress
was wadded up and tossed across the room as he returned to her with an impish grin
. “I’ll get you another one.”

She reached out her hand to trace the smooth velvety texture of his chest, and he
lay back
to let her explore. “Feeling you was great, but this is going to be so much more fun, now that I can see.”

She straddled him, but this time was not seeking his penetration, simply cooperation. She began with a sweet kiss, an exploring kiss, her hair forming a veil to keep out the world.
Her mouth carefully learned the shape of his lips
,
her tongue stroked them
.

When he would have joined her, she moved her head aside and trailed her lips across his jaw and down the sensitive cords of his neck. Smiling, she bared her teeth and gripped his neck, shaking her head just enough to scrape his flesh,
then
she moved on.

While her teeth had been at his neck, he had held his breath, now that she was trailing kisses and nipping bites across his chest, his breathing became more rapid. Pinpricks of sweat and musk were appearing on his torso, and she ran her tongue down the center of his chest flicking at his navel and moving off as he arched into her mouth.

“Down boy.
I want to know the difference here, between a forced lust and a genuine passion. You have to help me here.” She grinned up at him and he scowled in return. He had just risen up on his elbows when one of her hands wrapped around his cock and began to stroke him slowly.

“Shit!” He dropped back to the bed and flung up his hands in surrender. Another hiss emanated from him as her tongue flicked out to taste him, lapping up the small drop of precum that had formed on the flaring head.

The taste was musky and salty and, curiosity satisfied, she took the whole of the head into her mouth. She sucked his throbbing flesh and moved her hand with time to her sucking. She wanted to see if she could bring him to release just with her hand and mouth.

She kept up her ministrations, going faster as he began to pant and then suddenly slowing. She repeated this pattern until a guttural stream of curses was coming from her hapless victim.
The fact that his self-control kept him from taking over warmed her.
He was committed to her learning what she needed to know.

With a final harsh groan his cock swelled in her hand and a thick spurt of cum began to pump into her mouth. She swallowed quickly as more boiled up from him rapidly. Her hand slowly stroked him now, milking the last few spasms and spurts from him.

At
last
she looked up at
Raanan
and smiled. She crawled up his body and nuzzled against his neck and chest once more. His breathing was slowing and as she snuggled against
him
she heard a sound that almost made her jump. He was purring.

Deep in his chest, there was a low rumble to indicate his pleasure. It was the first time she had heard it. She had almost nodded off to the soothing sound when his hands began to stroke up and down her back and buttocks.

“Was that different for you?” His voice was husky with the groans and shouts of his release.

“It was. It felt nice to please you. Was what I did alright?”

“It was wonderful. Would you like to know what it feels like?”

“Men don’t do that. Do they?”

Another dark chuckle that sent a tiny curl of anticipation through her, “Oh yes.
But
not all women enjoy it. I think you will as well.”

He rolled her to her back and met her gaze for a moment, “You will have to trust me,
nothing
that I do will harm you in any way.”

“Alright.”

He led her hands to engraved bars in the headboard. “If you can’t stay still, pull on these.”

With
that
he took her mouth in a ravaging kiss and bore her back into the bed with his weight. As he broke their
kiss
he nibbled and stroked his tongue across her neck, working to the tight bud of her nipple and suckling with fervent and wet smacking sounds. He worked one breast, then the other and she was gasping and moving with every strong motion of his tongue.

He abandoned her breasts and nipped at her ribcage, sliding his tongue down to her navel and burrowing within.

His body parted her thighs as he moved backward and she groaned as she began to have an idea of what was about to happen. Her grip on the bars tightened as he blew a stream of air across her short damp curls.

“Are you sure you want to do this,
Raanan
?”

“Oh, I am quite sure.” He lifted her legs over his shoulders and settled on his belly between her thighs. His head moved between her thighs and at the first strong stroke of his
tongue
she let out a squeak.

The first stroke had parted the petals of her sex and exposed her clit to the second, and the third, and soon one of his hands had to hold her hips down with firm pressure on her abdomen.

Each stroke of his tongue was thorough, beginning at her anus and continuing to her clit. Her head was thrashing from side to side, her thighs taut with strain, and then he brought two fingers into play.

His thumb pressed against her rectum and slowly forged his way inside. The other finger slid into her and simply remained their as he licked at her clit with slow lapping strokes.

A fine shivering took over
her,
her body was twisting against his grip and against the release that finally took over her with an ear-piercing shriek.

His fingers began a gentle stimulation to keep her at that peak, and her voice was hoarse by the time she
was allowed
to relax into the sweaty sheets.

He crawled up her and kissed her. She tasted herself on him and smiled. He seemed happy. “Ceres, that was making love.”

“It is quite different from the heat.”

“Yes it is.” He rolled to his side and curled her against him. “And it is what we will do from now on, unless your body demands it.”

“You mean only oral, no sex?”

He began to shake. It burst out of him in a roar of laughter. When he had calmed, “There will be plenty of sex.
But
no longer with that intense frenzy to simply slam our bodies together. We will take the time to take and give pleasure.”

She was drowsy. “That sounds nice. I like that.” She began to
breath
in the slow beat of sleep.

“Yes, so do
I
.” He held her tight to him and as his body relaxed, he began to purr.

Chapter Nine

Raanan
was as good as his word, three days
later,
they were on their way to the
Roja
festival. He had also neglected to mention earlier that he had a complete wardrobe prepared for
her,
it was in the anteroom, which was why he kept the door locked when they were together. He liked her without clothing.

Or
with clothing. It
didn’t
really slow him down much, and she had spent the last few nights listening to his heavy purr as she recovered from their lovemaking. She was glad that she had made him happy, she had no purr, but she knew that his sense of her mind conveyed what she felt for him.

Raanan
interrupted her reverie, “I have to warn you, we will be visiting my parents. And my mother was not pleased with my choice.”

Keona
Adonai
was a formidable woman. She had been an Azon geologist when she met
Salus
Adonai
and fallen in love. She
was well known
for supporting the rights of aliens on
Nyal
, and a proponent of the abolition of the slavery of
Nyal
females.

That her son had bought his mate would not sit well with her. Nor would Ceres being of a royal family be of any benefit, in fact it might make matters worse.

“Great. Remind me that I can’t get drunk because of the baby please.” She covered her face in her hands and the burst of joy in her brain made her aware of her forgetting to tell her mate that their heated coupling was bearing fruit.

“I am sorry
Raanan
,
I meant to tell you earlier. When we were getting ready to leave, but you distracted me.” She looked up into his shining eyes and
didn’t
see any upset in them. He looked delighted.

Ceres moved across the seat and crawled into the arms of her mate, snuggling into his lap. “Are you happy, or upset that it happened this soon?”

He gave her a kiss that curled her toes. “Happy.
Delighted beyond all bearing.
Our little child is in there, growing as we speak.” His warm palm settled over her belly and the heat soothed her.

“Will this give me more or less points with your mother?”

He thought about it, “Let me handle my mother. I will try to never leave her alone with you, alright?”

“Deal.”

The rest of the hour travel in the skimmer
was done
with
Raanan
purring heavily under her ear. It was the most soothing sound that she had ever heard.

She was completely relaxed and ready to face anything when they arrived at the festival.
Raanan
dragged her through the crowds to the vendor stations and had her pick out jewellery, silks, shoes, combs, brushes, clothing,
no
makeup though, he liked her the way she was.

They had brought one of the house servants with them and he spent his time running back and forth to load the skimmer. She
didn’t
know how he was going to take it all home.

She suggested that they stopped for lunch, and his face grew grim.
“This way.”

A great pavilion
had been erected
in the center of the festival grounds. The
Adonai
crest was all over it, and it was time to meet
Raanan’s
parents.

She had of course met them in her father’s court, but never in a casual atmosphere, and never as their only son’s mate.

Inside the
pavilion
Raanan
kept a close grip on her. “Mother, Father, come and meet my mate.”

An elegant Azon female in
jewel toned
robes came forward to greet her son, and his…mate.

A warm embrace was shared by mother and son, and a formal hand greeting by mother and daughter
in law. “Ceres
Avedis
is my mate mother. And she is carrying my child.”

Keona
looked at Ceres with narrowed eyes, glaring at her belly. “Are you sure that the child is yours? She was off world for over a year, she could have slept with anything then.”

“She came to my bed a maiden mother, and I would have you stop your attack on her.” He was almost snarling in irritation and Ceres moved to calm him.

“Even you were surprised to find me still a maid,
Raanan
. It is a logical assumption.” Her hand touched his chest and stroked lightly, her mind opening to him with a calming message.

Keona
paled and Ceres felt a light feminine touch on her mind that swiftly retreated. “I apologies Dame
Avedis
, I did not realize that you had true bonded with my son.” She looked shaken and she retreated to her husband’s side where he was in conversation with another merchant.

“Did she just touch your mind?”

“Yes.”

“Good.
Serves her right.”
He kept a protective arm around her and moved toward his parents with deliberate intent.

His father was much
more friendly
, “So, you are the Ceres that
Raanan
built that enormous house for. Good, I am glad he finally caught you. I like a feisty woman myself. He will have his hands full with you, I can tell.”

“Um, thank you
Salus
. It is high praise coming from so successful a husband and father.” She formally curtsied and
was bemused
when he laughed.

“We don’t stand much on Imperial manners. They just get in the way. So, are you breeding yet?”

“Yes, yes I am.” Her hand went over her belly protectively as his keen red eyes looked at her as if to bore into her abdomen.

He simply stood in stunned silence, then let out a whoop and picked her up to spin her around.
“
Salus
!
Put me down!” He put her down, gave her a bear of a hug and then let her go.

Raanan
was laughing so hard he could barely take a breath. “And you thought my mother would be the problem.” He gasped out as
Salus
announced to everyone in the pavilion and those in earshot outside that Ceres
Avedis
was carrying his son’s seed.

Keona
appeared at her elbow as she looked at her hysterical mate in disgust. “Would you care for tea?”

“Yes, away from these
Adonai
men please.”

Keona
smiled and led the way to a quiet alcove with a tea service and several cushions on the floor. Ceres sat and waited for the tea her
hostess
was preparing.

“So, how long has
Raanan
had you?” The words were blunt and in keeping with
Nyal
tradition.

“A week or so.
I was masked, so I am unsure of the time.”

“He kept you in the mating mask?”

“For two or three days.”

“And removed it before your cycle ended?”

“He said he wanted to see my eyes.” She sipped at the tea and the light herbal scent relaxed her.

“You have formed a mind bond.”

“Yes.”

“It must be very comforting to you, to know what he is thinking.”

“I prefer it when he purrs, then he is both relaxed and happy.” The tea was excellent, Ceres made a note to ask
Raanan
if he could get her some.

“He purrs for you?” Her eyes were wide. She had not been expecting that.

“He purrs with me.
When we are cuddled together, with or without sex.”

“Then I have made a great error in judgment and I apologize. You are truly a woman who can make him happy. I apologize in advance for the rumours that you will here about my objections to your match. My arguments were unfounded, and I would have you know that I regret them.”

This was too strange, and the tea was making her feel a little light headed. “No problem. You couldn’t have known.” She tried to stand, “I don’t feel so good.” Once she reached her full
height
her knees gave way beneath her. She fainted.