Kushiel's Justice - Jacqueline Carey [210]
"Yes." I put down my fork. "Sidonie, if it comes to it, what if your mother does threaten to disinherit you?" When she didn't answer, I pressed the issue. "Is it worth the cost?”
"Is it to you?" she asked.
"To spend my life with you?" I didn't hesitate. "Yes, of course. But it's not my birthright we're talking about.”
Sidonie lifted her chin, gazing at the ceiling. "Blessed Elua cared naught for crowns or thrones," she mused. "It was your mother who said that, wasn't it? You told me so, once. Melisande Shahrizai may have done a great many bad things, but she was no fool." She looked back at me, her black eyes unfathomable. "If it comes to it, and I pray it doesn't, it would be my choice, my goatherd prince. Not yours. Mine.”
Why it was those words that caught at my desire and aroused me beyond bearing, I couldn't say. There is no logic in love or desire.
It sufficed.
It sufficed to ignite a maelstrom in me.
I cleared the table with a sweep of one arm, sending dishes and platters clattering in a wholly unnecessary gesture. I stooped and picked up Sidonie, cradling her in my arms and carrying her to the bed, neatly remade by the manor house's servants. This time there were no clothes to be disposed of, only robes, easily shed. I laid her on her stomach. She turned her head and watched as I went to fetch a vial of scented oil from the corner where the bathtub stood.
"Everywhere?" I asked softly, spreading a glistening trail down her spine.
Sidonie nodded, wordless.
Creamy skin, young and tight. I worked the oil into it, lower and lower. I pulled her to her knees, spreading her buttocks with both hands. Braced on her elbows, she shuddered when I touched the tip of my tongue to the puckered rose of her anus. Shuddered harder when I slid one oiled finger into her, then two. With my other hand, I caressed Naamah's Pearl. Sidonie cried out, convulsing around my fingers.
"Do you want this?" I slid my fingers out of her and grasped my phallus, slickening it with oil. I positioned the swollen head at her rear entrance, prodding. "Do you?”
"Yes." She gasped. "Elua, yes!”
I eased it into her, slowly. We both caught our breath when the head of it breached the tight ring of muscles. Ah, gods! She was so tight it nearly hurt, but it was so good, too. Inch by inch, I sank into her, until I'd sunk to the hilt, my testes pressed against her swollen nether-lips. Her head was turned on the pillow, her profile clean and clear, her features suffused with unspeakable pleasure.
"So full," she whispered.
I withdrew a few inches, then thrust slowly back into her. She slid one hand between her thighs, rubbing. Faster. Her hips thrust backward to receive me, urging me onward. Faster, harder; full, deep strokes. I dug my fingers into her flesh hard enough to bruise, my breath ragged. The sensation when she climaxed was indescribable, sending me over the edge in an excruciating spasm of pleasure, buried deep inside her.
For a long moment, neither of us moved.
I rested my cheek on her back. "I don't want to leave you.”
"I know," she said quietly.
It took a great effort to make myself move. My limbs felt heavy, my entire body languid with pleasure. I pulled away slowly, my softening phallus slipping from her. Sidonie sighed and rolled over. I lay down beside her.
She turned her head. "Did your wounds reopen?”
I glanced down at myself. "Not much.”
"That's good." Sidonie closed her eyes. "I'll go fetch that salve. In a moment.”
"It can wait." I pulled her closer to me, settling her head on my uninjured left shoulder. "Stay here a while.”
"All right," she murmured.
Which of us fell asleep first, I couldn't say. I heard her slow, steady breathing deepen, felt her limbs growing lax. And then there was only darkness, warmth, and peace, the low crackle of the fire dying in the hearth, the smell of lovemaking and the rain-washed scent of her hair. I slept and dreamed of joy.
Chapter Forty-Three
The knock at the door of the master chamber came before sunrise. Urist and I had agreed that we should leave at the day's first light.