Fortune's Fool - Mercedes Lackey [51]
Now what did she want to do about this?
The sensation of his hands on her body made her tingle, made her skin feel alive, made her feel entirely wanton. Which was perfectly fine for someone like her, all of her brothers and half of her sisters had taken lovers already and no one had second thoughts about it. Things only got complicated when the lover was someone who would then try to use the relationship to gain influence from the King. So far, that hadn’t worked, and the lesson had been learned by the sibling in question so it never happened again.
Magic creatures were like that. Humans thought they were fickle, when in fact, it was a matter of knowing that for a creature of magic, there were lovers and there was Love, and an emotion as powerful as Love tended to get all tangled up in the magic and make for complications.
But for ordinary folk, the humans of the Drylands, there were a hundred thousand social codes and religious considerations and things they thought of as “moral behavior,” never thinking or knowing that one group’s “moral behavior” meant nothing to a different group. The question was…where was Sasha in all of this? How would he look at her if she—
Then, mentally, she shook her head. She was what she was. He would love her as she was, or there was no point in continuing this. She moved a little and put her hands on either side of his face and kissed him.
“Hmm?” he murmured, his arms tightening around her. Then he opened his eyes and looked at her blankly. “Uh—”
“Good. You’re awake. Are you completely awake?” she asked, her mouth quirking in a little smile.
“Uh—” he flushed bright red, and she felt something hard and insistent stirring against her leg.
“Very good.” She kissed him again, this time letting her lips part, teasing his with the tip of her tongue. She could feel his indecision; whether to respond or not, and ended the kiss.
“Um…Katya…your father is going to kill me—” He was bright crimson. “I want—I mean—you’re wonderful and—but—”
She chuckled. “My father has never interfered in the lives of his children that way,” she said. “We’re not like you, we sea-people. My father concerns himself only where matters of the Kingdom are concerned. We don’t make alliance marriages. He would not care if I had a dozen lovers so long as I was discreet…and it did not interfere with my doing my duty.”
We don’t barter virginity for a higher seat at the table. And he’ll only care if you hurt me, she thought, but did not say.
“Um…” He hesitated a moment longer, then bent his head down to return her kiss.
It was inexpert, but so was hers. She had only the benefit of her mother’s advice, and surreptitious watching of her sisters and some of the other women, young and not so young, of the Court. But he wasn’t impatient. He moved very slowly and carefully, despite the hardness she could feel pulsing against her thigh. She nibbled and licked at his lips, he slipped his tongue into her mouth, and she met it with hers, as his hands moved down along her shoulders, then hesitantly, one hand cupped her breast. His thumb brushed her nipple through the thin fabric of her blouse, and she gasped as it sent arrows of sensation to ignite a fire at her groin. Her legs parted without thought, and her hands moved to his buttocks and pulled him against her.
She threw one leg over his, and insistently tugged at the buttons fastening the collar of his shirt. He had it easier, one pull at the drawstring of her blouse and it slipped down over her shoulders to her waist, and he began kissing his way down her neck, both hands now on her breasts, thumbs circling the hardened nipples as her breath came faster and the fires raced through her entire body. Then he moved his mouth farther down and began to trace the same circles around her nipples with his tongue, while one hand pulled her skirt up and the other unfastened the front of his trews.
She knew what was there, and she wanted it, her insides cried out