Naamah's Kiss - Jacqueline Carey [181]
His eyelids flickered. "Uh-huh?"
I wanted. Stone and sea, I wanted! "Do you feel it?"
He sat like a cross-legged statue. "Yes. Lucky for you, I have great strength of will."
I straddled his lap. "Lucky for us both, I don't."
I could feel the want in him. I could feel it pressed against me, taut and straining. I lowered my head and brushed his lips with mine. Not a kiss, not quite. "Why don't you like me?"
His breathing came hard. "I do."
I shook my head. "You don't show it."
"Moirin." It was the first time in memory he'd called me by name. His hands landed on my hips, flexing. His fingertips dug into my buttocks, warring with his urges. I pressed myself harder against him. "This is nothing. This is medicine. This is Master Lo's art, nothing more."
I rubbed myself against him. "I don't care."
"I do."
"Why?" glared down at Bao.
"I don't know!" he shouted at me. "Because you're a goddamn witch! Because there are strange forces working here and I want to live through this! All I want is to be a not-so-bad person! Because there are goddamn gods and spirits hovering over you! And a destiny! A goddamn destiny that might swallow me whole! You don't know me! You don't even know if you like me! And if you're not going to fall—"
I shut his mouth with a kiss.
It was a very good kiss. I'd learned more than a few things in Jehanne's bed. I wanted Bao to relent, and he did. His lips softened and parted to admit my tongue, letting it war and dance with his. Hard and deep, I kissed him, tasting fire and heated metal in his essence. It was like breathing in a forge, overheated and intoxicating. We complemented one another. And after a long, thorough kiss, I lifted my head. "Aye?"
"… in love," Bao mumbled.
"I might." I traced the outer curve of his ear with the tip of my tongue, then spiraled inward, teasing and tantalizing. "You never know."
He made an inarticulate noise, grabbed my head, and returned my kiss.
More fire.
More hot metal.
I nearly purred when Bao lifted me, it felt so good. I'd been celibate too long. I wrapped my legs around his waist, nuzzled his neck.
"Good?" he asked in my cabin.
"Good," I agreed.
And it was good, stone and sea! So good. The vast ship rocked beneath me; Bao rocked and thrust above me, propped on arms corded with lean muscle, his eyes half-lidded and his expression intense, at once distant and present. His phallus filled me and his hips rose and fell, buttocks flexing, joining me at the exact right spot, the exact right angle. I spread my legs wider, arched my back and welcomed him deeper and deeper inside me, my hips rising to meet him again and again, ankles locked around his hips. My blood pounded in my veins, urged onward by the snowdrop bulb's decoction, until I climaxed hard beneath him, nails digging helplessly into his skin.
"Oh, the hell with destiny!" I gasped.
Bao laughed deep in his chest.
On and on it went. In my little cabin, we made love a half a dozen times in a half a dozen different ways, all of them good, until we were both gleaming with sweat and thoroughly wrung out. I could feel the presence of Naamah smiling on me, her smile filled with grace. The bright lady was content.
So was I.
"Do you think he knew?" I asked, my head resting on Bao's thigh, near his lolling phallus. I traced its veined length with one fingertip, feeling it twitch under my touch, unsure if I had the energy to see if I could awaken it one more time. "Master Lo, I mean."
He gave me a look. "Of course. Don't you?"
"Aye." I met his gaze. "So… why?" Bao shrugged. I took a firm grip on his phallus and tugged. "Why?"
He yelped. I let go.
"All right, all right!" Bao sighed. "That I cannot tell you. But I will tell you something else if you like. You want to know how I became Master Lo's magpie?"
"Mm-hmm."
He folded his arms behind his head, leaning against the pillow. "In the circus, there were stick-fighters. By day, they perform like a dance. All part of the show. At night they take wagers and fight with townspeople, make better