Chapter 16
Back in the private room in the inn, Angelet stood alone, her mind leaping like a deer as she considered her options: be bold or be modest, risk all or retreat.
She heard a soft knock at the door. “My lady?” Rafe asked from the other side. “May I?”
“Come in,” she responded, turning to face him.
She had taken great care with her appearance. She had bathed, reveling in the hot water and soap. She had washed her hair and brushed it so it gleamed as it fell down her back. She wore the secondhand gown, but had added one accessory. Around her neck hung the moonstone necklace.
Rafe took it all in silently, his eyes roaming over her, up and down.
“I wanted to look…better,” she explained, feeling rather embarrassed.
“You look gorgeous,” he said. The admiration in his voice was direct, unhidden, and as arousing as a kiss. “Is this when we discuss my offer?”
She nodded, but said, “I haven’t made a decision.”
He took a step toward her. “Then tell me what you need to know. What would you have me do?” he asked.
“Everything I tell you, no matter what.” She tried to keep her voice from shaking. She was not used to giving orders or ultimatums. “The moment you disobey, we are done. Can you agree to that?”
“Yes,” he said. “So order me, Angelet. I’m yours to command.”
“I need to hear you promise.”
“I promise.” He watched her carefully. “You look unconvinced.”
She took an unsteady breath. “Words and promises are worthless,” she said, finally addressing the central obstacle. “You’re stronger than I am, you’re bigger, you’re…”
He took another step toward her. “Angelet. Think about it. I’ve had every opportunity to take you, had I wanted to. These last few nights, or on the ridge, by the pond, even the first night at Dryton.” He stepped closer still, his eyes locked on hers. “Yes, you’ve got grounds for suspicion. I did steal you, after all. I warn you that I’m selfish and—”
“Hush,” she said.
He stopped talking the instant she put a finger to his lips.
Angelet smiled a little. “So you do know how to take an order from a woman.”
“The right woman.” He caught her wrist in his hand and kissed her fingers. She nearly fainted when his tongue grazed her skin of her palm. “I wanted you the very first moment I saw you leaning out of the window, high above everything, just watching your world like a queen.”
“Hardly a queen,” she said. “I was a prisoner, with no say over my life or my destiny.”
“Then be a queen tonight. You’ll have all the say. I promise.”
She inhaled, dreaming of it. Queen Angelet, with a single subject.
“Let me go,” she whispered. He did.
She took a step back, partly to get a moment to build up her courage, and to take another look at him. “You’re always telling me you’re the handsomest man I’ll ever meet. Why not prove it once and for all?”
“Don’t I do that just by standing here?”
She crossed her arms, wondering if he was perhaps a little nervous as well, and just better at concealing it. Well, no more. “Your clothes. Take them off.”
Rafe laughed. “You don’t waste time. Very well, do you want to help?”
“No, I want to watch.” Queens weren’t maids, after all.
So Rafe stripped himself of his simple clothing, starting with his tunic, since he’d removed his armor earlier. When he was nearly naked, he hesitated, obviously not used to being on display. But the hose came off. And he stood in front of her, fully naked…and fully aroused.
Angelet experienced a thrill as she surveyed him. He wanted her. He wanted her enough to literally strip bare and stand in front of her awaiting her command. Angelet never knew what it was to have any power. If it felt at all like this, she suddenly understood the appeal.
“Well?” he asked, not at all ashamed. “Am I the finest man you’ve ever seen, or not?”
Angelet laughed in delight. “You are so arrogant.”
“But also correct…correct?”
She bit her lip against a laugh. “Yes! I admit it. You’re the very finest man I’ve ever seen naked, which is not saying much.”
“Of course it is. First place is first place. What now?” he asked, obviously eager to continue.
“Now you must stand there patiently while I undress.”
“I can’t undress you?” He sounded disappointed.
“No! I don’t wish it.” She had almost agreed, due to the ingrained habit of acquiescing to whatever anyone asked of her. But she was afraid that she’d lose her tenuous control of the situation if she indulged Rafe’s very first request. She wanted one night where she ruled.
She turned away from him, shyness making her clumsy. She lifted the gown above her head, and let it fall to the floor next to her feet. She then gathered up the shift, slowly, from the hem, exposing her legs inch by inch. She could have pulled everything off at once, but she wanted to draw out the tension…and perhaps to hide under clothing a moment longer.
When the thin shift also lay discarded on the floor, she turned to face him again, and was rewarded with an intake of breath.
All that was left was the necklace. She started to remove it.
“Leave the moonstones on,” he said. He hadn’t taken his eyes from her, and the expression on his face was enough to make her flush. She wasn’t used to being admired like this.
She paused, her hands raised behind her head, her fingers at the clasp of the chain. “Why should I?”
“They suit you.”
“Even naked?”
“Especially naked. I won’t beg for anything else tonight. I swear it.”
She considered his words, unaware that the pose she was holding, with her arms raised and her breasts thrust outward, with the precious stones accenting her body, was challenging Rafe’s ability to hold still. She unconsciously let her fingers trace the chain downward and then petted the largest jewel in the center of the necklace, feeling the smooth, cool moonstone under the tips of her fingers. “I’ll keep them on. Your only request,” she reminded him.
“I’ll remember.” He half-clenched his hands, and in a moment of intuition, she knew he ached to touch her, and only the lack of permission kept him from doing so already. So Angelet touched herself, cupping her breasts lightly with her hands, lifting them up a little.
The strangled gasp he gave told her that her guess was right. She looked at him from under her eyelashes, watching his reaction to her moves.
His gaze was riveted to her, and every time she shifted or moved her hands, his eyes followed.
Finally, he said, “You are planning on inviting me to join you at some point, yes?”
“Perhaps,” she said, loving the rush of power she felt.
“Then for God’s sake, tell me what to do.”
She paused. Here was the issue. Despite her long-ago marriage, Angelet lacked the experience to know exactly what to ask for. Her memories of nights with her husband had grown hazy. She remembered that he had tried to please her, but not how he’d done so.
Rafe must have sensed her indecision, because he said in a low voice, “I want to taste you. Please. However you like.”
She looked Rafe over, all six feet of him. “Kneel down,” she instructed.
He was on his knees instantly, and Angelet stepped up to him, now understanding exactly why some nobles always insisted on being seated higher than those they interacted with. She looked down at him and smiled. “This is better. You look a little less arrogant this way.”
“A little,” he agreed. His head came to just below her breasts. He moved his arms up, preparing to embrace her.
“No,” she told him shortly. “Hold still.”
He stopped, and looked up at her expectantly. Angelet put her hands on his shoulders, then moved her hands to the back of his head, tipping it so he had to look directly at her belly. “You may not use your hands.”
He froze. “Then how would you have me touch you?”
“You said you wanted to taste me. Use your mouth.”
He leaned in to obey her.
At the touch of his tongue on her skin, Angelet felt a fire start inside her body.
Rafe kissed and licked his way across her flesh, and it seemed he really intended to cover every inch of her that he could reach in his position. He knelt so far as to kiss the tops of her feet, then worked his way up her legs, easing her knees apart, and then going until he reached her inner thigh. He continued, without any hesitation, his tongue invading places on her body she would never dream of ordering a man to touch.
But he touched her there without even asking, and before she could get over the shock of what he was doing, her body reacted, revealing just how effective his touch was.
Her knees buckled, and just as she wobbled on her feet, his hands clasped her hips, steadying her. She gasped out loud, and he froze.
“You might have fallen,” he said quickly. He released her, probably wondering if she would declare an end to the whole endeavor.
She put her hands on his shoulders, restoring her balance. “How did you know I would like that?”
He glanced up at her, his lips curving into an easy smile. “You’re a woman. I know women.”
“Stand up,” she murmured.
He did instantly, so he once again towered over her.
Angelet laid the flat of her hand on his chest and pushed him back. “Go to the bed.”
“At last. Come with me.” He held out a hand and gave her a look that struck her as a little too triumphant.
She crossed her arms. “That sounded like an order.”
“Not meant to be,” Rafe said quickly. “More of an invitation. But you’re in charge.”
“How lovely,” she said. “Go to the bed and lie down. On your back.”
“Yes, my lady.” He didn’t exactly mock her as he made his way to the bed, but Angelet sensed his confidence. He thought she’d slide right next to him and put herself in his hands. He was wrong.
She padded across the floor to the bed, climbing onto the mattress next to Rafe. He watched her with intense interest, but knew enough to not reach out to her without permission.
Every time she’d lain with her husband, Angelet had been beneath him, pressed into the bed, watching as he took her and then lost himself in desire. She’d rarely felt the same ecstasy at the end, and decided that perhaps being above was what mattered. Strange how the old thoughts, long forgotten, suddenly returned.
Now with a seemingly obedient Rafe in her bed, Angelet wanted to know how it felt to be the one on top. She positioned herself over him, sliding one leg over his body so that she was straddled across his hips, his erection just between her legs.
Rafe’s eyes lit up. “Tell me what you need.”
Angelet surveyed the man under her. She put her hands on him, sliding over his stomach. “It’s probably shameful to admit,” she said, “but when you fought Dobson that one night, I couldn’t stop looking at you. Even in the midst of all that chaos, the sight of you half-naked was nearly all I can remember.”
“Well, if it distracted you from being terrorized by the fact that someone was trying to kill you, that’s something.”
“You’re always so flippant,” she criticized.
“Not always. Please notice how very sincerely I’m following your orders, my lady.”
She slid her hands along his arms from his shoulders to his wrists, drawing them up above his head. Rafe knew exactly what she was doing, of course, but he didn’t object.
“You can’t touch me,” she instructed.
“Your loss,” he returned easily, even as he stretched out his arms to keep his hands well out of danger.
“My choice,” she corrected him.
She kissed him then, over and over, her mouth tasting him freely as she explored his body. He was a pleasure to touch, and even to tease, such as when she ran her hand over his erection and heard his breath change in response. She ached to know exactly how he’d feel inside her.
But though she knew what she should do next, she hesitated. Flashes of remembered awkwardness and pain came to her. What if she was no longer made for a man?
“Angelet, let me show you what to do.”
She turned her head aside, hating that Rafe had seen the weakness in her, the lack of decision.
“Just for a moment?” he pleaded. “To serve you.”
At her nod, he took hold of her hips and eased himself into her body. She gasped in surprise at first, almost regretting her agreement to spend the night with him. What had she been thinking? He was large and she hadn’t been with any man for so long. She moaned as he entered her, and heard the sound echoed by Rafe, who closed his eyes and looked almost as if he’d been struck.
“Damn, you’re so…”
“I’m what?” she asked fearfully.
“Perfect.”
“Oh.”
“Take your time, love,” he said. “Sit up if you like. Shift till you feel me the way you want to.”
She took his advice. She kept her eyes closed and began to rock her hips slowly against his.
“You’re no novice to this. Did you do it this way before?” he asked.
“I don’t remember,” she lied. “And get your hands back by your head.”
He obeyed, laughing. But his laughter soon died as Angelet leaned back and rocked her hips, reveling in the sheer virility of the man she’d claimed as her own, if only for tonight.
She loved being above him, feeling him inside her while she could control the pace and intensity of their lovemaking. Every movement made her shiver with delight, as little waves of pleasure swept through her, building slowly into something much more momentous.
Beneath her, Rafe was alternately enjoying what she did to him, and growing frustrated with the restrictions she’d set. His arms remained above his head, but it was a chore to keep them there, to judge by how tight his muscles were as he strained to hold still.
“Please let me touch you,” he begged. “Angelet, you’ve got no idea how it hurts to look at you and not be able to touch you.”
She paused. “I know exactly how it feels to see something and know I’ll never attain it.”
“Not like this,” he said, his breath ragged. “You’re so close, and so gorgeous.”
“Rafe,” she reminded him, “you’re inside of me.”
“But I want to touch you with my hands too.”
She tapped the moonstone necklace. “Remember what you begged for already. Isn’t it enough? Don’t you like looking at me?”
He nodded, his eyes raking over her in a way that made her shy all over again.
“You can touch me with your hands next time,” Angelet said, “if you continue to obey me this time. Understood?”
“Perfectly.”
“Good.” She lifted her body up once more, drawing out the exquisite sensation of his flesh sliding along hers.
After a few moments of that, Rafe asked in a strangled tone, “Jesu, just end this, Angelet! You’re going to destroy me with all your teasing. Why are you doing this?”
“Because it feels good,” she breathed, her eyes still closed. “If you want to end it, just disobey me,” she whispered.
“No.” His voice became softer. “If you like it, then that’s all that matters.”
“You’re stronger than I thought,” Angelet confessed.
“Not stronger. Just more desperate.”
“Why desperate?” she asked.
Just as she uttered the word, all the pleasure building within her suddenly burst out, and she gave a little cry of surprise and relief. Her hands flattened out on Rafe’s chest as she leaned over him. She whimpered a little, lost in the deep thrumming pulse rippling through her limbs. She didn’t know how she ended up pressed against Rafe’s body, but she knew he was just as lost as she was. He’d stiffened as he came, then murmured her name, his lips at her ears. She couldn’t move and didn’t want to. She felt so warm and pleased, and she only wanted to be cradled close as she slid into oblivion.
Rafe’s breathing slowed along with hers. His fingers swept her hair aside as he fumbled at the back of her neck. The weight of the moonstones suddenly disappeared. Rafe put the necklace away somewhere—she couldn’t care less where. Then his hands were at her hips, drawing her off him.
She gasped as he did that, feeling a last, unexpected shock of pleasure as he slipped out of her. Then she was lying next to him, her head on his shoulder, burying her face in the crook of his neck. She inhaled, smelling sweat and salt, the raw scent of her single subject.
“Rafe, I order you to…” She closed her eyes before she could complete the thought…hold me. She dreamed the words she was too far gone to speak.