The Shrinemaiden (The Maidens) (22 page)

“It is a pleasure to finally meet the shrinemaiden I’ve been hearing about,” he said gamely, lifting her hand to his lips. Adelai, who had recognized his voice as one of those she had heard through a wall only some days before, curtsied lightly toward him and gave nothing away. So this was Nemar, Daken’s friend and one of the rebels in the city he met with.

“I thought they were all your friends,” Adelai whispered to her hostess, after they had moved away.

The woman’s cheeks dimpled. “There are friends, and then there are
friends
. Don’t let my spitefulness distract you, my dear - everyone I have villified have reasons to be, and it’s best that you remember that. Shrinemaiden as you are, you’re still quite inexperienced in Sarcopian ways, so take these as fair warning. Some people would use you to further their own ends, and hurt you in the process. At least the worst I shall do is throw parties on your behalf! I wish Lady Maestre would have attended the ball, but it seems there is trouble at home. I warrant that her handsome slave has been very stubborn again, and that she’s taking certain measures to reel him in.”

“I was surprised when she bought General Khalid at the auctions,” Adelai said, remembering the tall, pale woman who had confronted the imprisoned general. “She did not strike me as a woman who would keep slaves.”

“She doesn’t, which is why her purchase came as a surprise to most,” Rebecca chuckled. “The general indirectly caused her father’s death, did you know? I suppose this is her way of exacting revenge. Personally, I would have poisoned that old man’s drink, had I been his daughter. The poor girl has been horribly mistreated by him over the years - I know for a fact that he was very abusive toward the help, and it’s likely that he’d harmed her in the same way. Why, I visited her once, and the poor woman had marks on her arms up to the shoulders. I’d asked her to leave her father and stay with me on numerous occasions, but she’d always refused. Always been too proud, the Maestres have, some worse than others.”

There were other shrinemaidens attending the ball, and Lady Wilchestrom was quick to introduce them as well. Laeticia was a stunning brunette with wide violet eyes and pale skin. She had been purchased by Lord Antleby five years ago, and had remained in his company ever since. “I heard about your bidding price,” she admitted, not without some honest envy, “and to be favored by King Belair himself! I would say that I am jealous, that I wished I were in your place, but…” Her eyes drifted to her patron, and smiled. “It would be a lie to say I am not happy where I am right now.”

The second shrinemaiden, Caera, was a bubbly and cheerful blonde, and had been purchased by the General Kazer, much to Adelai’s surprise. If the man was as cruel as his reputation had proclaimed, the young girl was surprisingly merry about it.

“There is one more person I would like you to meet before you’re completely worn out, my dear. Adelai, I would like to present to you Captain Thornton Altfyre, Sarcopia’s captain of the guard.”

Adelai froze. Standing before her was the man she had risked nearly everything for, looking down at her, unsmiling. His own gaze was still unbending, and it helped her remember to keep her own mask at bay. “Milord,” she said, proud that her voice didn’t quaver or break.

“Milady,” His voice sounded almost bored. “It’s a pleasure to finally meet the shrinemaiden who’s taken Arbentide by storm.” Like the others before him, he lifted her hand to his mouth, and Adelai felt his lips linger a little longer than was required. “How have you been, Lady Wilchestrom?”

“Fantastic as always, Captain,” the woman purred. “I’m so glad you were able to attend. You have always turned down most of my invitations in the past.”

The captain smiled them, and it was a slow, dangerous smile. “Simply assuaging a curiosity.”

“Isn’t he delicious?” The woman murmured, after he had taken his leave. “He’s quite a charmer when he sets his mind to it, though he would much rather walk around with a scowl than not. He’s always away on missions by the king, which I find rather strange. It’s a wonder he even made it here.”

Adelai was too dazed to listen to the many other introductions that took place after. She barely remembered the other guests she’d been introduced to, and Lady Wilchestrom eventually sensed this. “I must be tiring you,” she apologized.

“Oh, I’m alright.”

“No, you’re not. Lord Bewilt is a pompous, long-winded ass, and you’re right not to listen.” Adelai laughed despite herself. “Come on, the dancing will start soon. I’m afraid you’re going to have to dance with a couple of people, but I’ve taken great pains to limit it to three dances tonight, at the most. I think you should rest until then, Adelai. There’s a small drawing room here that I almost never use, and it should afford you some privacy. I shall make sure no one will bother you until then.”

“You are too kind,” Adelai said, grateful and eager for the respite.

“Don’t be, I’m the one who snagged you into agreeing to all this. Sometimes I forget I have enough energy for three men, and expect my friends to have the same.”

The drawing room was smaller than the main one often used to receive guests, but it was clean and freshly aired. There was also a small open terrace leading into the back of the gardens. Once she was left alone, Adelai found herself drawn to the large windows, liking the feel of the cool air against her face.

Now that she was here on her own, she had more time to pull herself together. The shock of seeing Thornton there had been great, and she had no idea how she was able to hide it from everyone. She had hoped for a longer meeting, but knew the futility of such a hope, knowing that the captain of the guard would have no real reason to linger with a shrinemaiden.

She was still too wrapped up in her own thoughts to notice another new presence in the room, until he was standing directly behind her. She gasped out loud, but he was quick. A hand covered her mouth to prevent her from crying out. At the same time a husky, familiar voice sounded by her ear. “
Adelai
.”

She turned, found herself being kissed almost immediately, as Thornton’s mouth ravaged hers with an urgency that more than matched her own. His hands burrowed into her hair even as she melded herself against his body, seeking to take in as much of his warmth as she could. “How?” She managed to ask, when his mouth finally lifted from hers.

“Not through the door, where your little lady hound is guarding,” he kissed down her neck, pushing the front of her gown to reveal her breasts, which he cupped in his hands. Adelai moaned at the touch. “I saw you leaving. I have visited the Wilchestrom manor enough times to know about this terrace.”

Any questions Adelai might have had was lost for the moment, when Thornton’s mouth captured hers again. She melted into his kiss, her hands around his neck even as he pushed her dress further down, a callused thumb grazing at her nipple. He forced her close to him, letting her feel his hard arousal pressed against her leg, before lifting her up into his arms with ease. Adelai bit back a louder cry, fearing they might attract attention, even as he carried her across the room to press her against the wall. He hiked her skirts up, paused to free his breeches. Adelai knew that this would be a quick, fierce, mating. They had gone too long without the other for her to think otherwise.

She wrapped her legs around his waist as he pressed his member against her entrance, already wet and eager for him. He shifted her up, angling her hips and bending to align her with his cock, so he could enter her with one smooth thrust. He did not stop until he was fully sheathed in her passage, and the familiar feel of him nearly made her weep with joy, her eyes falling shut. She had never remembered ever feeling so full before.

She started to move, impatient and already bucking her hips, but his hands on her waist stilled her, and she whimpered.

“Look at me, Adelai.”

She opened her eyes. Thornton was staring down at her, his face a mask of desire that easily mirrored her own. He leaned forward and bit her lip, tongue exploring her lips before plunging past them into her mouth. He kissed her hard again, swallowing the cries she was making, and began to fuck her; deep, rough thrusts that sent her moving a few inches up the wall behind her from the force, clinging to him for dear life as he pistoned into her pussy again and again. She felt her wetness flowing out, helpless to stop as it dripped down and coated his shaft, allowing him even slicker entry. His lips left hers, this time found a pebbled nipple, and Adelai lifted a hand to bit down on the back of it, muffling her cries as an orgasm tore through her, her body wracked with small explosions as she spent lustfully on his cock. Her cunt walls contracted around his, almost painfully, and it triggered his own release, his seed spurting up inside her.

For a few minutes neither of them moved, Adelai too overcome to do anything else but remain clinging to him even as he supported her weight. When some sanity returned, she was all too aware that he was still hard inside her, throbbing and flexing and re-igniting her own desires.

Thornton’s blue eyes were a mystery. She could see desire there, but also a realization of his unmanning, at allowing his emotions to take the better of him inside this crowded manor. And there was something else, a look Adelai couldn’t quite define.

He gave her no time to read more. He began to move inside of her, only this time they were short, shallow thrusts that only promised to inflame more than assuage their lusts. He moved them away from the wall, with her still impaled on his rod, writhing for more of what he was refusing to give. Every little step he made caused his cock to bounce slightly inside of her, rubbing against a spot inside her that made her toes curl and her breath come out in ragged pants. “Thornton,” she begged, unable to sound any more coherent beyond that plea.

He continued to hold her this way for a few more minutes, seemingly content to rock himself against her, taking great pains to assault that secret place against her again and again until she began to hump against him, hips seeking to lift herself up and force herself back down more violently onto his rod. He laughed, knowing her actions were futile, but his own breathing was ragged, proof he was just as much affected by this as she was.

Finally, he laid her down on the floor, the wood smooth against her back. Her legs fell open of their own accord even as he brought himself up, to kneel in front of her body, splayed lewdly for him in her exhaustion. In all this time, Adelai realized dimly, she still kept her gown, though her breasts spilled out of the corset she wore, the tips hard against the cool air and begging to be kissed. Similarly, the captain had divested himself of his breeches after that first orgasm, though he still retained his dress shirt.

Thornton bent down and licked each of her nipples, coaxing them into further stiffness, even as she wriggled under him, desperate for more. Finally, his hands found her hips again, pulling her against him. The movement forced his cock to spear deeply inside her cunny, and Adelai clapped a hand over her mouth to stifle more sounds of her excitement.

She was right to intuit this. Thornton shot her a look, the one that told her she was about to receive a thorough fucking, and that she could do nothing about it. He lifted her legs, keeping them suspended in the air and her body almost bent in half, and began to ram repeatedly into her.

It was no tender rutting that she knew he was capable of, no passionate lovemaking. He was rough and bruising, her cunny lips spread obscenely around his cock even as he hammered into her with long, thorough strokes. Now free to move herself, Adelai lifted her hips to meet him, found them pushed back down from the force of his thrusts. Still so sensitive from their previous fucking, vulnerable in her current position, she came almost immediately, biting the back of her hand, but the captain never let up. At the sound of her spending wildly, he only speeded up, continuing to plunder her cunt, forcing what felt like never-ending waves of pleasure through her.

Just when she thought she couldn’t take it anymore, she felt him building up, knowing he was about to do the same. Tenderly, she ran her fingers against his face. “I want you,” she panted, “I want you more than anything I have ever wanted. I dream of you, fucking me like this, every night…” She drew her mouth close to his ear, repeating the promise she had made him all those months ago. “I will
always
be yours, my master.”

He came inside her with a low groan, spattering her womb with steady streams of his seed for what felt like a full minute. With one last shudder, he collapsed on top of her, his head against her breasts. Adelai waited until she had resumed control of her breathing, before allowing her hand to comb gently through the captain’s dark hair.

“This is madness. You’ve bewitched me, Adelai.”

Despite her exhaustion, she giggled. “I could say the same.” He was still inside her, and Adelai could feel a little of his seed leaking out. He had came so hard and so long that it was impossible to keep it from spilling out.

“I must go soon.” Her spirits sank, but she knew he was right. Soon enough, her absence will be noted, and people might talk. She was glad they had not been loud enough for the Lady Wilchestrom to overhear, and now she flushed. They had been careless. The woman could have entered the room while they had rutted, and she wasn’t even sure if she would have noticed.

Thornton’s fingers trailed across her lips. “So it was the earl of Sevrigne who had bought you.” He sounded a little jealous still, but also grim.

“We thought it was the best choice,” Adelai whispered, as he rained light kisses on the side of her breast, “His son, Daken, is fighting for the rebels in the city. There are others, too. I think Lord Nemar is one of them, and he seems to know who the other conspirators are.”

The captain nodded. “So I’ve heard. He knows nothing of me, however. Only three people are aware of my involvement, and I would trust them with my life. Be wary of the earl, Adelai. There have been many suspicions regarding him, but he is too wily to leave evidence.”