Part 16 (1/2)
The pleasure was more than she could bear. Arching her neck, she instinctively pressed her b.r.e.a.s.t.s forward for more of his attentions. He gave them, and more than she had ever bargained for. Cupping her right breast from underneath, he lifted it, then leaned down and took the turgid nipple in his mouth and sucked deeply.
With a whimper, she sank down to the straw. He went with her, never taking his mouth from her breast. Over and over and over, he suckled at her breast with a rhythm that was delicious agony, alternating his sucking action with an occasional nip of his teeth or flick of his tongue.
Then he lifted his face and gave equal punis.h.i.+ng attention to her left breast.
Tyra felt as if she were floating, floating, floating toward Valhalla... or some unknown heaven of sorts.
But in the midst of her arousal, she realized that what had started out as a kissing game on her part had turned into something altogether different. She was the one gaining all the pleasure, whereas Adam reaped no rewards.
Taking a deep breath to still her roiling arousal, she grabbed his head by handfuls of hair on each side and lifted him off her body so that she could see his face.
His eyes were glazed with pa.s.sion, his mouth wet and panting. ”What?” he inquired huskily. ”Do you not like what I am doing to you?”
Her instinct was to deny her feelings, but she was basically honest, and she admitted, ”I love what you do to me, but... but... well, it is all one-sided.”
His eyes went wide with surprise, then filled with understanding. ”Ah, sweetling, did you not know? A woman's pa.s.sion is a man's greatest pleasure.”
”Really?”
He nodded and began to sit up. ”I'm glad you stopped me, though. I lost control.”
She sat up, too, and began to adjust her gown. Disappointment rang through her like a funeral bell. He did not want her after all. ”Losing control is a bad thing?”
He turned his gaze on her and smiled softly. ”Nay, losing control is a good thing... in the right situation. But I do not intend to take you for the first time on the floor of a stable.”
Take? Tyra did not like the sound of that. ”What makes you think that you wouldtake me? Mayhap I would takeyou .”
He tossed his hands in the air. ”That works equally well for me.”
They both stood then and helped each other stand and whisk the wrinkles out of their garments and pick off pieces of straw.
”Do you want to bring your pet back to the castle with you?” Adam asked.
”What pet?”
”The kitten.”
”Adam,” she said with a long sigh, ”why do I have to keep reminding you? I am a soldier. I must exhibit warlike ways. Having a kitten trailing about after me would not be warlike.”
He just smiled at her, not believing a word she said.
”Besides, Vana does not allow animals indoors.”
He still smiled.
As they were walking back toward the great hall, Tyra ventured a thought that had been nagging at her. ”
'Tis odd, this attraction betwixt us, do you not think? I mean, I do not even like you, really.” He laughed and chucked her under the chin playfully. No man had ever done that to her before... made playful gestures. But then, no man had ever sucked her b.r.e.a.s.t.s till her blood caught afire either.
”Yea, 'tis odd,” he agreed. ”And betimes, I do not like you all that much either.”
She should have been affronted, but she was not.
”Methinks tonight happened because I had too much to drink,” she suggested. ”That on top of the stress of my father's illness.”
”Mayhap,” he said, but not with much conviction. ”On the other hand, methinks tonight happened because I saw you in that wanton gown. Or because I have been chaste overlong.” This also was said without much conviction.
They were sound excuses: stress, a wanton gown, an ale-head, excessive chast.i.ty... perfectly logical explanations for illogical behavior.
Neither she nor Adam believed any one of them.
”You shoulda tupped 'er when you had a chance.” Alrek made that outrageous suggestion as the two of them were walking toward the king's bedchamber, having just finished their morning meal.
”Alrek!” Adam said in his most chastising tone.
”What a thing to say! Especially for a boy your age!”
”I keep tellin' you, I am not a boy. I am a man... almos'.”
”What a thing for an almost-man to say, then!”
” 'Tis naught more'n everyone else was sayin' in the hall las' night when you and the Lady Tyra returned from the stables, red-faced and all in disarray. Whoo-ee! Looked like you were rollin' in the hay... leastways, tha.s.s what more'n one soldier said. But yer uncle Tykir, he said, 'Nay, the boy might have got some straw in hisbraies , but I can tell that he has not had his hay raked yet.' Tha.s.s when the Lady Alinor bopped him on the head with a ham bone. And Bolthor sez you definitely lost yer knack. What is a knack anyway? Do you want I should help you find it?”
Adam was getting an immense headache... one of those that made his head feel as if it were splitting. ”Do you not have somewhere to go this morning, Alrek? Surely you have something better to do than tag along with me to a sick chamber.”
”Nay, I do not. My day is free,” Alrek said cheerily. ”But, actually, there is a reason why I am goin' to the king's chamber. I wuz hopin' he would wake up and... and...”
It wasn't like Alrek to hesitate to speak his mind. His hesitation p.r.i.c.ked Adam's curiosity. ”What is it, Alrek?”
” 'Tis time fer me to get me yearly coin from the king. Besji and Kristin and Tunni all needs new clothes. And I would really like to buy me a sword.”
Asword? Whatnext?
”And mayhap a spear if I have enough left over.” The boy is going to kill himself. ”Well, the king has not awakened yet, and even if he did, I am not sure this is a good time to bring up the subject. He will have more important issues to deal with. Can you not approach the king's steward, or the Lady Tyra?”