Kushiel's Scion - Jacqueline Carey [176]
"Do it," I grated.
She did.
It wasn't until the end that my control broke. When she knelt before me, doing what no proper Tiberian woman should, her mouth devouring my shaft, one hand milking it, the other squeezing the sac of my testes. I grabbed her head with both hands, holding it hard, shuddering the length of my spine as I spilled my seed in her mouth.
Spent, I stood panting.
Claudia laughed softly. "I'm not finished with you," she said, kissing me. I could taste myself on her lips. "Let me see how you return the favor." She nodded toward the bed. "Lie down."
I obeyed, and watched her disrobe. Her bare shoulders emerged as she lowered her gown, and then her full breasts, tipped with wide, dark nipples. The swell of her hips, the shadowy juncture of her loins. I knew what she meant. I wanted to taste her everywhere. She removed the gold fillet from her disheveled hair, shaking it loose. It fell in a cascade, vivid against her pale skin.
Her breasts swayed as she crawled onto the bed, and I reached for her.
"No." She laid one hand on my chest, pressing downward. "My turn."
It was easier. I lay back as she straddled my shoulders, then cupped her buttocks, pulling her toward my mouth. I parted her with my thumbs. Her hidden lips were swollen, slick and gleaming with desire. Naamah's Pearl throbbed beneath my darting tongue, and she tasted of salt and honey.
I let myself get lost in her, the world reduced to this primeval darkness, flesh as fluid and surging as the sea. Claudia's pleasure broke in waves, over and over, and I, thoughtless and blind, urged them to greater crests, higher and higher. I didn't stop until she pulled away to collapse on the bed beside me.
"Gods above," she whispered. "You are something."
I propped myself on one arm, gazing at her. Her dark red hair spilled in tangled coils over the pillows, and her eyes were heavy-lidded with satiety. My own desire, temporarily abated, had risen again. It was a deeper urgency, less acute, but as powerful as the tides.
"What will you now, lady?" I asked.
Claudia traced a line down the center of my bare chest, smiling as it caught once more on Canis' clay medallion. She cocked one knee, and candelight gleamed on the soft skin of her inner thigh, damp with moisture. "You," she said. "All of you."
It began with languor; slower kisses, tongues entwining. I paid homage to her glorious breasts, filling my hands with them, suckling her dark nipples until she sighed with pleasure, hands sunk deep in my hair.
And it ended in hard, driving need, her voice urging at my ear, her ankles locked behind my buttocks, my body shuddering into hers.
"Blessed Elua!" I rolled onto my back and lay gasping. My heart was thudding, my blood roaring in my ears. The melancholy that befell me after love was nowhere to be found; held at bay, mayhap by the sheer force of our passion. I laughed. "Are you sure you'll not lay claim to divinity? I was warned today to beware the goddess of love."
"Quite sure." Beside me, Claudia sat up, curling her legs beneath her. "Would you be my consort if I was?"
I smiled at her. "Gladly."
"You look the part." She smiled back at me. "Or no, perhaps a young Bacchus." She ran her forefinger over my lower lip. "You've a mouth made for wine and love. I can see why he drove women mad. I could tear you apart and devour you."
"I nearly think you have," I said.
Claudia raised her brows. "Oh, are you finished, then?"
I eyed her. "What will you, my lady?"
"One more thing." She smiled again. "Sit up and close your eyes."
I heaved myself upright with a groan, kicking away a tangle of bedclothes to sit cross-legged. The candles had burned halfway down, and the room was filled with the scent of lovemaking. My body was as weary as though I'd spent a day laboring in the fields of Montrève.
"As you will," I said, closing my eyes.
I heard Claudia get up and move about the room, and then the bed dipped