Page 91 of Stardust Child

The Empress was prepared to receive him. Tea and a light meal were ready in her solar, already so perfectly appointed, it looked as if she had resided there for years. She was an accomplished socialite and scarcely needed his participation to hold a conversation. Her long, slender fingers were ever busy, serving him food, pouring his tea, arranging the table as she told him how well she was settling into her new home.

“I have assigned my Mistress of Robes, as well as my ladies of the Wardrobe, the Bath, and the Salon,” she said, sipping her tea. She took it strong, with no sugar. “Duke Pomeret was good enough to begin introducing me to your ministers.”

“That was kind of him.” And daring of her, to confess her alliances before him. So House Pomeret had declared for Melun.

“I am anxious to assume my duties, Divinity,” she replied. “The delegation from Daitia should be greeted with all courtesy. I will do my utmost as Empress to ensure the negotiations proceed well.”

The threat was concealed in sweet words and spoken in an exquisitely trained voice, every syllable melodious and perfectly enunciated. She was pushing him. Demanding that he acknowledge her as his wife and Empress in every way.

Fine.

“Come,” he said flatly, setting his untouched tea aside and rising from his chair. “Let’s get this over with.”

She was so veryeagerto be acknowledged.

Her ladies were still busy putting the finishing touches on her bedchamber, but Bastin barely noticed as they curtsied and hastily departed. Tugging at the buttons and laces of his doublet, he let it fall on the floor, then sat down on the edge of the bed to remove his boots. He was uninterested in the details of both this bedchamber and his bride. After today, he never intended to visit either again.

Esmene followed him. She was wearing a light silk gown that laced up the sides rather than the back, easily removed by herself or a man unaccustomed to fripperies. For the first time, she actually looked a little uncertain as she moved toward the bed. Her hands lifted to her hair, tugging out pins and ribbons to let the pale blonde mass fall in streamers around her face.

Bastin measured her from the corner of his eye. She might have been three years older, but she was a maiden still, and would rarely have seen a man without his shirt, let alone anything more. And he had hardly saved himself for marriage. His first sexual experience had been with a pretty chambermaid when he was seventeen, and the girl had been more than happy to educate the handsome young Emperor.Hewas not shy about sex.

Rising, he shoved his breeches off and stepped out of them. He took a certain pleasure in watching Esmene flinch and look quickly away at the sight of his unexcited penis.

“Take off your clothes,” he said flatly, stretching out on the bed. He had no intention of making this easy for her. He would not pretend affection. She was forcing him to do this against his will and he would never forgive her for it. Bastin stared into the middle distance as she slipped out of her gown and then slid onto the bed beside him. She was very long and slender, tall for a woman, only three or four inches shorter than himself. He could smell something cool and flowery on her skin, like tuberoses.

Kneeling beside him on the bed, she waited, two spots of hot color burning in her cheeks. Bastin waited just long enough for the silence to be uncomfortable before he looked at her contemptuously.

“What are you waiting for?” he asked. “You’re the one that wanted this so badly. Go ahead.”

The sight of her eyes widening and the wash of furious color through her face was a balm to his spirit. But she had already come this far, and she was a daughter of House Melun; she would not back down easily. After a moment to get over the worst of her anger and embarrassment, she sat up straight and made herself look at him again, eying the strangeness of his male body as if he were a new musical instrument she was abruptly obliged to play.

“Do not kiss me,” he warned, turning his head away as her face lowered toward him. “Ever.”

It was painful for both of them. She was still unready when she forced him inside herself, and she had to bite her lip to stifle a cry, tears springing to her eyes. It hurt him too, especially when she inexpertly began to move, and her eyes flicked to his face resentfully, as ifhewere being cruel. Had she thought he would help her with this? Did she reallyexpect him to pity her?

He would give her nothing. As she took him into herself, his hate was so great that he wanted to deny her every other conceivable satisfaction. He wanted to slap her hands off him. He could have endured it without making a single sound, and he wanted to deny her that, too, refuse even the most minimal participation in this act. But as he moved painfully in and out of her, he thought of something better that he could deny her.

She wouldneverhave his child.

Bastin grunted. A quiver ran through his body, the muscles of his thighs flexing. He hated it, but this was the lesser of the available evils. Slowly, believably, he let her force sounds from him, and his responses stimulated her enough to give them both a bit of merciful moisture. She was drenched with sweat by the time he groaned and pretended to orgasm, thrusting upward inside her several times.

“Get off me,” he spat when it was over, before she could realize that he was still hard. He doubted her bridal lessons had included these finer points of sexual activity. When he pulled out of her, he was reddened with her blood.

Silently, he dressed, keeping his back to her. When he got back to his own palace, he was going to scrub the stench of tuberoses from his body and then find a woman to wipe away all memory of that loathsome touch.

“I will invite you to my bed again, husband,” Esmene said behind him, the words perfect, melodious, and bearing an underlying steel.

It was a challenge that would set the course of an empire.

* * *

“Cruce Adelan, Your Grace.”

“Jaose Thiraman, Your Grace.”

“Emiset of Giry, my lady. Please call me Emi, if you like.”

“Peritenn Emberoy, my lady. Oh, and you can call me Peri.”

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