Page 55 of Blackwarden
I did as I was told, swallowing large gulps, as she pulled my head back and poured the contents of the glass down my throat. It overflowed past the corners of my mouth and rolled down my neck and her tongue followed, lapping the wine from my skin.
“Delicious,” she said against my neck as she traced a hand down my spine to my backside.
The drink made me lightheaded, and the room seemed to warp and tilt. I no longer felt I had the strength to push Bevgyah away. I no longer knew why I would want to. She ran her hands over my silk dress, and I suddenly needed those hands on my skin. I leaned into her, wanting nothing more than to kiss her plump lavender lips. Her hands were in my hair, holding my head in place as she explored my mouth with her tongue, sending sparks of fiery need through me.
Strong arms wrapped around my middle, the warmth of the Blackwarden’s hands on my backside seeped through the fabric of mydress. He’d pushed his queen away and held around my waist tightly, pressing his cheek to my stomach. So much decadent heat from his chest burned through the silk and I wanted more. I needed more.
“Not this one, my Queen. Please,” he said between breaths.
He looked up at me, and I was frozen in place, those devilish silver eyes devouring me entirely. I squeezed my own eyes shut, trying to clear my mind, my fingers weaving into his hair. It was so soft, so delectable as I dragged my hands down the length of it to the bare skin of his shoulders. So good. He felt so good beneath my fingers. Like the most amazing dream. Firm and soft and warm. When I looked at him again, he’d closed his eyes, a pained expression on his face.
“Another of your maidens, but not this one,” he begged, his voice trembling.
Bevgyah yanked him off me, throwing him back down to the futon. “You can pretend to push her away, Blackwarden, but I can see your desire hard between your legs.”
His chest heaved with each breath, the muscles in his stomach taut as he tried to sit up and couldn’t. The room was still spinning, and I took a step closer, unsure what to say or do. My vision was failing me because it looked like shadows oozed up from the ground and wrapped around the Blackwarden’s arms and throat.
“Tesanna.” Bevgyah’s voice was a song. I was drawn closer to her as she coaxed me to my knees. “What do you most desire?” she asked as she leaned closer, bringing her lips to the shell of my ear.
The question hung in my head, another half memory. I’d been asked a question like this before. I blinked a few times but couldn’t clear away the fog. The room wouldn’t stop spinning, and my entire body was on fire with terrible desire. I didn’t push her hands away when they pulled my silk slip up slowly, the fabric sliding over my skin felt like butterfly wings and I needed more. Her fingers found their way between my legs, groping for the edge of my undergarments. I pressed myself against her hand, and I wantedmore. I needed more. She kissed my neck, her tongue tracing the line of my jaw until her lips were on mine again.
I felt like I couldn’t catch my breath. Like I needed the heat of her body on my own.
And yet.
I didn’t want this. I never wanted this.
I was floating outside my own body, helpless to stop her, as she eased my undergarments down around my knees.
“No,” I whispered against her lips. She pulled back, her expression one of bitter judgement.
“You would deny your queen?”
I glanced down at her Blackwarden as he struggled against what looked like black shackles around his wrists and throat. Had she restrained him with shadows?
“Bevgyah, she doesn’t—”
“She will speak for herself,” she spat at her Blackwarden, her tone severe.
“I don’t...I don’t want this.” My words were more confident this time, as if his voice had helped me find my own.
“But don’t you wanthim?” she asked, as she sank to the ground beside him, her pale violet hands contrasted against the dark skin of his stomach. A flash of jealousy squeezed my throat as her fingers meandered over the ridges of his muscles.
I couldn’t answer her, because the truth was, I did. I very much did. And I knew I shouldn’t. Her fingers danced at the waist of his pants, pulling them down far enough to expose him entirely, opening a chasm of shame inside me as I struggled and failed to rip my gaze from his nakedness.
His eyes were clear for the first time as they held mine. All the drunkenness of a moment ago was gone, replaced with a terrible fear in his expression that burrowed deep into my chest, banishing the blazing fire that had ignited between my legs. He squeezed his eyes shut, his head falling back as she stroked him, leaning her face down to take him into her mouth.
He moaned as he struggled against the shadowy bindings. It wasn’t a sound of pleasure. It was the sound of agony. The muscles in his neck and shoulders grew taut as he fought to free himself. I didn’t know how to help him. It felt like everything I did or said had to pass through layers of sticky honey. I was still on my knees, half dressed, half coherent. An anguished scream was building in my chest, ready to burst free, but I couldn’t find a way to let it out. And I never got a chance. Bevgyah lunged at me, her hands slipping over my hips to my stomach and up to cup the lower curve of my breasts, her thumbs rubbing over my nipples.
“Don’t you want to be touched, Tesanna? To touchhim?”
I pushed against her shoulders, squeezing my eyes shut, begging to be somewhere else, anywhere but here. The room continued to tilt in on itself until I lost my balance and sprawled out on my backside. She towered over me, a wicked smile turning up the corners of her lips as terror completely replaced the desire running through my veins, leaving me cold.
“Leave us then, unless you’d rather watch,” she said with a dangerous seduction in her voice. “He’s so much more delicious when he’s restrained like the monster he is.”
I scrambled to my feet, yanking my undergarments up as she crawled toward him like a predator in heat.
I was useless—nothing more than a lowly maiden in the queen’s harem. I couldn’t help him like he’d helped me so many times. He fought hard against the bindings, his muscles shaking from the effort, head lolling back as he struggled. I was frozen in place as she kissed him, down his throat to his chest as she straddled him.
