A Use of Power

The dose was not enough to kill but, as she had demonstrated on a large sow, it caused an almost instant paralysis of the muscles.

The candle was the signal that she had been successful and that Gilbert was now an unwilling spectator to all that was taking place.

I was almost frozen with terror at the enormity of what we were undertaking but Maurelle had done her part and there was no going back.

Before Isabel could begin dressing I crossed the divide and placed my hand at the small of her back.

"Your curves are beautiful enough to have inspired the sculptures of the ancients; if there were ever anyone whose nakedness was deserving of being preserved for all time then surely it is you."

She was clearly shocked at my forwardness but, at the same time, she held herself just a little more aloof. I let my hand drop just a few inches and continued.

"How must it be to know that, years from now, men, and women, might still marvel at your beauty and perhaps feel it beneath their hands with a quickening of their own desires."

As I spoke my hand traced the curve of her derrière whilst I allowed the implication of my mention of both sexes to take seed.

She did not move away but she looked at me uncertainly trying to decide, even now, if all was spoken in innocence. She whispered almost inaudibly.

"...it might be the spark of a woman's desires?"

As she spoke an idea sprang unbidden to my mind. I moved to face her, our bodies scant inches apart.

"I hear tell that women would creep out into the night. They would seek out the statues of the most beautiful of their sex in the hope that one single stolen kiss would grant them fertility.

She was breathing just a little more shallowly as she answered.

"I have never heard of such a thing."

I smiled and leaned into her.

"How much more potent then the real thing?"

Before she could react I brought our lips together and kissed her softly. She looked startled but she did not shy away. She stood quite still as I slid my tongue into her mouth and then her eyes widened as I began a knowing exploration.

For a moment she remained frozen but then, slowly, her tongue found mine and I knew that she had never been kissed quite like this before. With men a kiss is an incursion, a show of possession that hints at the cruder assault that they would visit upon you. Now, I was inviting her to enjoy, as an equal, the slow sensual experience that it could truly be.

She began to take the lead as she sought out the warmth and sweetness of my mouth and I could sense her surprise as I demonstrated a dexterity borne of years of experience.

Almost imperceptibly I drew her to me finding a genuine pleasure in allowing my hands to slide over the contours of her body and was rewarded when I felt the first tentative touch as she encircled my waist.

Her growing excitement gave cause for her to break our kiss and draw breath but I could see that she was anxious to resume. Her eyes were bright as she whispered.

"You will most certainly be blessed with child."

"Perhaps, but we have not quite worked the trick; for it was not the custom of the women to place a kiss upon the lips..."

She looked at me in puzzlement but I was already sinking to my knees. As I did so my hands slid down her back to the roundness of her derrière allowing her no escape. I trailed kisses down her body and the evidence of my nose told me that my aim was all but achieved.

Her sex was dressed with a silky growth of silver blonde which had already darkened with moisture. I brushed my face against her causing her to take a sharp intake of breath but, at the same time, I distantly heard a muted howl of frustration.

There was no doubt from whence it had emanated but it must have taken a superhuman effort. Maurelle assured me that the venom acted on the muscles of the throat rendering the victim mute but as quickly as it started it was cut off and I guessed that she had resorted to a more orthodox gag.

Isabel must have heard but, if she did so, she paid it no heed. She was unnaturally still, not wanting to break the spell, finally comprehending what I was about to do.

I made her wait as I breathed in the rich scent of her arousal and I was excited to see that a bead of moisture had leaked to run down the inside of her thigh. I was sorely tempted to lick it from her skin but, for the moment at least, I had to maintain the illusion that I had conjured.

With mock reverence I used my thumbs to reveal her sex and I placed a kiss at the very heart. As I did so her whole body shuddered but I held her close and looked up at her.

Her eyes met mine, and I could see her inner conflict, but she had reached that point where her curiosity would not be denied. I smiled at her and ran the tip of my tongue over my lips.

"A taste of heaven..."

For a second or two she looked quite stunned. The idea that someone would do such a thing, and find pleasure in it, was beyond her realm of experience and it confirmed for me that she was another locked in the unimaginative confines of a masculine dominated marital bed.

I kept my eyes locked on hers as I leaned in and languorously licked from the base of her sex to the very top where I lingered for a heartbeat to give some hint of what might be

This time I feared that her legs might betray her. I rose and held her tightly until the feverish hammering of her heart settled a little. When I was sure of her I began to slip out of my robe and was pleased as she helped with the fastening.

Now we were both naked I held her again allowing her to experience the unique pleasure bestowed when the bodies of two beautiful women meld into a single conjoining of warmth and softness

Her head nuzzled into my neck as I entwined my fingers in the waves of her long blonde hair raising a subtle scent of rosewater. We remained like that for a long time and, in truth, I had probably done enough to achieve my aim but now I was caught up in the excitement of introducing another of my sex to the true pleasures of the flesh.

I eased her backwards until she came to rest on an upholstered seat that I had set for the purpose. She was reluctant to break our embrace but I stroked her face soothingly and went to my knees before her.

She sat uncertainly with her legs closed and for a few moments I did nothing more than hug myself to her knees but the slight movements of my head her drew my hair across her thighs in a gentle caress.

At one point I was aware that she had brought her hand to her breast to try and ease the aching firmness of her nipple but I kept my gaze averted not wanting to alarm her in any way and knowing that she sat in full view of her husband.

After a while I felt the tension in her legs relax and my hair now cascaded between them.

She gave a muted groan and I was immediately enveloped in the heavy musk engendered by her increasing excitement.

I began to stroke her calves, making occasional forays up to her inner thighs, and inch by inch her legs slowly began to part finally allowing me to interpose myself.

Her secret grotto now lay open to me and for a few seconds I simply stared.

"You are so beautiful..."

The compliment was heartfelt. The lips of her sex were heavy but they were bedewed with tiny specks of moisture and I could see that the seat of the chair was already sodden. Her clitoris was fully revealed and stood out a livid red against a dusky background.

As I watched a thin runnel oozed from her and this time I could not resist. I crouched low and caught it up with my tongue before the seat could be further soiled.

Close in, I could feel the incredible heat of her and now, fired by the intense taste teasing my tongue, I sated my own desire.

I slowly lapped at her lips all the while threatening a deeper invasion but, for now, it was enough to have her pleading for more. Her eyes were closed and her hands were tightly gripping the chair's low arms as she moaned softly begging me not to stop.

I continued for a while longer and then I gently took hold of her leg. She looked down at me, initially shocked when she understood what I intended, but then she cooperated as I rested each of her limbs over the arms of the chair.

Thus stretched I could see the glistening of moisture on her thighs extending all the way to that nether region. I began to lick it from her skin enjoying her special taste underscored with the slight tang of salt.

I wanted her to signal the final surrender and so I continued to preen her for some time until she could take no more and she pulled me to her with both hands joined behind my head.

Her sex was a molten mire and she cried out as I speared her with my tongue.

I thought, for a moment, that this had been enough in itself but she took pause and then I felt her muscles adapting themselves to the firm pliability that impaled her. I quickly found her rhythm and adapted to it pushing inwards each time she relaxed allowing her, in turn, to bear down on me.

I knew full well the pleasure this elicited but it was revealed to her for the first time and I could sense her anxiety that it might end too soon matched with an unconscious desire to know how much further it could go.

She could, and would, reach a crescendo from this alone but I wanted it to be truly amazing not just for her sake but for that of her emasculated onlooker. She gave an anguished whimper as I withdrew but then began to pant almost uncontrollably as I started to flick my tongue over and around her clitoris.

Some women are simply more sexually alive than others and I could tell Isabel, given the chance to flourish, could be one such. I could feel her body attuning to the touch of my tongue, every fibre making ready for that one final joyful release.

She began to scream but I had no fear of being overheard other than by those for whom it was intended.

It was tempting to ease off and to build again but her whole body was shaking, crying out for it knew not what. I took the firm bud between my lips and sucked gently whilst I increased the rapidity of my tongue.

Her own instincts took over and she drove herself upward to hold at the zenith for one blissful second before allowing the towering waves of ecstasy to crash over her.

Her orgasm was beautifully protracted and I laughed as my face was with drizzled with gushing moisture. It took some time for her to recover and I remained between her legs intermittently kissing her thighs and licking up the sweet residue.

Finally, I arose from my stiffening knees and helped her to unhook her legs. She got to her feet unsteadily but then took me by surprise as she held me in her arms. Before I knew it she was kissing me passionately tasting herself on my lips and in my mouth.

Slowly, she turned me towards the chair and then encouraged me to sit. With a playful smile on her face she took each of my legs in turn and had me place them over the arms in the same way that I had posed her.

This was completely unexpected, and unplanned for, but I could not refuse. The seat beneath me was still warm and wet and I felt wickedly wanton.

She wasted no time. She dropped quickly to her knees and applied herself ravenously to my sex. I could feel her sucking at me even as her tongue reached deep inside. Within seconds she was swallowing greedily as if feasting on ambrosia.

I wanted to tell her to be more gentle, to explain my particular desires, but I was caught up in the same gale of lust that was fuelling her. For the first time in a long while I relinquished control altogether and simply allowed my body to respond as it would.

She was almost growling and it vibrated to my inner core driving me on; I had not appreciated just how aroused I had become and my orgasm was building quickly.

For a moment my real purpose was forgotten but the sudden remembering of it, the delightful cruelty of knowing that he was helplessly watching, made me groan with excitement.

It then took little more to set me ablaze.

It was a short but incredibly intense finale as my body tensed almost painfully and then soothing ripples of pleasure reached out to all my extremities.

Only when it was finally over did Isabel relinquish possession of my sex but as she drew away I felt myself leaking copiously. She smiled up at me and, as I had done, she began to lap this seepage from my skin.

This was enough to stoke up the embers of arousal which were still smouldering and, on impulse, I decided to test how truly she was in thrall to me.

I settled more deeply into the chair raising my hips just enough that she could now see the full splendour of my derrière. The mere thought was sinfully stimulating and a bead of moisture teased its way downwards towards that forbidden place.

For a few seconds she kept her attentions to the smooth mound of my sex but then, hesitantly, she began a more daring exploration. My skin was now scented with her essence as well as mine and she gently licked the newly revealed expanse of flesh.

She took her time, still nervous of the unspoken desires that were threatening to overwhelm any last semblance of decorum, but I could see that she was being drawn into heart of darkness

For my part, I was expectantly tensed. I could feel my tight rosette visibly flexing, beckoning to her.

Still she hesitated and so I brought my fingers to my sex and undammed a fresh flow to inevitably follow its natural course. With a keening of desire she caught up the flow and I almost swooned as I felt her tongue along the full length of my furrow.

She was aware of my reaction, and sensed the reason for it. I know that women are cruelly used but she was reaching an understanding that, without men, there is a more beautiful experience in which all things are possible.

She applied herself once more but now she began to tease. Her tongue danced around the very place for long moments until I began to fidget in expectation at which point he laughed quietly and then took mercy.

I gave a sigh of gratification as I felt the very tip of her tongue at the opening itself relaxing muscles that had been under strain for too long. I had no expectations beyond this; she had, after all, only just been introduced to this new world of possibilities but she continued to surprise.

She began to test her strength against my body's natural resistance and it was a few seconds before I noted her intent and forced myself to relax. As I did so she applied an undeniable pressure and the breath rushed from my lungs as I felt her lodged deep within.

I remained totally still but my heart was pounding as she flexed her tongue. It was a wonderful sensation of being filled combined with a tingling that radiated from deep within my sex.

I closed my eyes as she tried to press further home and my muscles worked to draw her in. I did not want it to end and she tried valiantly to please me but the strain finally became too great and she reluctantly withdrew.

It was time to further our plan but when I looked down at her there was a look of feral excitement in her eyes. Caught up in the madness I rose from the chair and led her to my bed where I immediately introduced her to the delights of soixante-neuf.

Chapter Five

We must have dozed because I was awakened from between her legs by a quiet but insistent knocking.

I threw the covers over Isabel as I grabbed for a robe and opened the door to a stern looking Maurelle.

"We don't have much time."

The realities of the situation rushed in at me with a renewed sense of dread. I told Isabel that her husband was still not abed and that she needed to clean herself and leave as soon as possible.

She pouted at me coquettishly as she washed herself down and I felt a strong pang of guilt for the way in which I was using her. When I had finally ushered her from the room, with empty promises of a further liaison, I cleaned and dressed myself and returned to the great hall in company with Maurelle.

Alphonse, as was his custom, was seated with his senior minister poring over the petitions that were to be heard the following day. He was plagued with pains in his joints and sleep did not come easily to him. Instead, he would work into the night and would simply doze during the day to make up for it.

He was surprised, but clearly happy to see me. He asked me to wait a moment whilst he finished what he was reading and I quickly conferred with Maurelle.

"How long?"

"He's a strong man. He was already recovering when I left him. No more than ten minutes."

As she said it a terrifying thought entered my head.

"What if he goes to her first! What will he do to her!"

"The lady Isabel will be alright. I told him that we were on the way to his father to tell him everything. He will come here."

I wished I felt her assurance. I was physically shaking and Alphonse came and anxiously took my hand.

"Are you unwell?

"No, I am fine, but I have something I must tell you."

He bade me take a seat and I, in turn, beckoned Maurelle to relate the gossip she had picked up from the market. He listened carefully and paused to consider. We, for our part, did not apprise him of our suspicions in the hope his thoughts might travel the same path as ours had.

I could see, from his expression, that he had concluded that there must be an innocent explanation. He thanked Maurelle and was just patting my hand comfortingly when the doors crashed open and Gilbert strode into the room.

His eyes were crazed and, on seeing me, there issued forth from his throat a blood curdling roar. In an instant his sword was drawn and in a dozen strides he was halfway across the room.

Alphonse's bodyguards were slow to react, confused to see Gilbert acting in such a manner, by the time they realized that there was real danger he was already past them.

In that instant I thought I would die. My brain was telling me to run but my body was not mine to command. I stood rooted awaiting the blow but Maurelle was alert. She tumbled a chair in front of the onrushing madman but he simply kicked it aside.

For a heartbeat his eyes blazed at her but then he looked directly at me.

"You die this night!"

As he said it the first bodyguard reached him and pulled him back by the shoulder. The man had not drawn his sword but Gilberts battlefield instincts took over. He turned and ran the man through bringing his blade up under his cuirass.

The remaining three drew swords and stood off but Gilbert's rage was unholy. He charged at them even as Alphonse bellowed.

"Don't kill him!"

The men evaded his impotent charge and then surrounded him. As he made a renewed assault on the one immediately to his fore the others dashed in and pinioned his arms.

He was brought before his father, his eyes bloodshot and his beard flecked with spittle.

"What is the meaning of this!"

Gilbert looked at me with burning hatred.

"This...witch...has lain with my wife!"

Alphonse looked stunned and confused. He looked at me and I realized for the first time that what he felt for me was something more than affection. It was the look of an adoring father for a beloved daughter.

"Is it true?"

"I would be friends with Isabel, we have much in common, I invited her to my room and Maurelle witnessed all that transpired."

Compared to the perceived madness of his son I sounded entirely rational and Alphonse had little choice. Gilbert raged and swore but he was consigned to a cell to cool his heels.

Alphonse was clearly shaken but I struck whilst the iron was hot. I suggested that Gilbert was not presently of sound mind and it might perhaps do no harm to check out the rumours.

He perceived the wisdom of this and, also being mindful of the assassination attempt, two men were sent forth. Alphonse asked if I wished to return north for the time being but I assured him that I felt safe whilst Gilbert was restrained.