Hidden Magic Ch. 14

In the night I took Tomass just as I envisioned. Unlike in the water he was sensual, docile, and let me lead the way. Again we moved in concert, seeking pleasure together as one. I saw the stars reflected in his eyes, saw him smile at the call of birds, and felt myself flow like water over him.

I had to silence his cries of pleasure and my own with a kiss. His energy was amazing. We came together again and again and again. Never before, even in my youth, had I ever found a partner so indefatigable.

I had to beg him for rest, and we held each other and watched the sky. In the morning we yawned and were slow to move, but I regretted nothing.

We slept in the coach, over the narrow, bumpy road, and it was not comfortable. Despite the aches in my neck and back from the hard bench, I could not remember ever feeling so young. It was Tomass.

He slept far less and marveled at the tall mountains, the strange trees, the warm air from the north mixing with slightly cooler from the south creating mists.

The horses slowed with the heat and as we started to head downhill on a slow grade. I always hated this time as a youth, it meant coming home, away from the excitement of the city.

Now I was excited. It meant coming home, finally home from war. I had intended to arrive a lone woman ready to rebuild an empire. I came instead as a married woman hopefully bearing a child already, a respected politician and warrior.

I had a taste of responsibility before I left for war sitting in my mother's seat on the Council. I had been trained from birth to lead my household, all my retainers, the empire left to me.

My last time home I had been a young woman of twenty seven. It had been the week before my birthday. I spent my time chasing around young men who worked on the plantation and trying to draw my mother into conversation.

In the almost eight years since I had been in battle, the closest on the mainland coast not thirty miles from there. I could see my family's ships on the water as we left and marched for the Tybarian Pass, which was now known as the Road of Death, but home had been lost to me for that time.

At dusk we left the mountains and found ourselves on the semi-tropical plain of the peninsula. The wheat fields of my family blew in the breeze, a few months off from harvest. In the distance, off a wide and winding lane from the road, was my home.

"Tomass, it is our home, look."

He yawned and stretched, pulling aside the curtain to see the house. His face went slack when he saw it.

Never the highest in title, generations ago my family had been the richest, even many a long-ago queen had not equaled our monies. In the distance was the old castle, a crumbling ruin, but before it was the house.

There were over one hundred rooms. It was three stories and completely white. The bedrooms all had balconies, the largest belonged to the mistress bedroom in the back, not visible. Around the first floor was a porch that surrounded the manor, each room on the first floor had doors out, save the garderobes.

Here the water from the mountains allowed us to pipe it in, making it much cleaner than what Tomass or even much of Plaindand was used to.

His eyes, however, were on the tall trees lining the estate. Their leaves were trails like tears hanging down in large canopies. Birds of bright colors squawked in them and flittered about, dining on the small bugs out for dinner of their own.

The river from the mountains flowed in the fair field and the gentle coos and calls of small animals came from there and the forest to the back of the house. Set back it was like none Tomass had ever seen, I wagered.

The river widened into a small lake and the trees there had roots in the swampy water. The animals could be large and vicious, but mostly they swam the water stealthy and quiet.

The tang of ocean came from a mile west and perfumed the air. It was a thousand times cleaner here, just as in Tomass' woods, but sweeter, saltier.

"This is really your home?"

"Our home, my love."

I smiled as he sat back and stared at me with wonder. "I would wish to show you the fields and the forest but it is too dark. You must never go into the forest alone, do you hear me? Animals such as you have never known live there, and they will eat you. You may, however, go to the fields and the river alone as you like.

"Now it is too dark, and beside that point, I must greet my staff and introduce you."

He looked nervous for a moment and I laughed. "I remember the staff as being dour, but I am an Earless now and you my Earl, they will treat us with respect, and if we return the favor, affection."

Suddenly his face took an a surprised expression. "I am an Earl."

"Nephew of a Countess, husband of an Earless, and a grand sorcerer in your own right."

"I have no idea how to act."

I leaned forward and took his hands in mine. His dwarfed mine, a strange feeling as I was no dainty, petite woman, but a tall stately warrior with hands perfect for a large sword. "Be yourself. Be you as you are. That is all I ever ask of you: listen to your heart and follow it."

He leaned forward. "I have so far." Tomass kissed me then, and we pulled up to our new lives.

"My lady!" cried a deep feminine voice.

The coach stopped and I opened the door to my mother's- my majordoma Delice. She pulled me down and hugged me, a small woman a foot shorter than I but easily twice as strong.

I hugged her back and we pulled apart to look at one another. She had barely changed, perhaps a few more grey hairs in her sable mane. Her face was as always quite severely beautiful, hard, but when she smiled like this it softened her greatly.

"Delice, let me present to you my husband, the Earl Tomass."

She raised a brow at me and winked. I knew news of my marriage had reached home but I don't know what they had been expecting when the word sorcerer was uttered. I know I had never pictured sorcerers young and beautiful like my Tomass.

"Welcome home, sir." Delice hugged him as well and, surprised, he put his arms around her, almost enveloping her in his cloak.

She pulled back and reached up to pinch his cheek as she might a young boy. My husband looked to me for help and I merely shook my head and smiled.

"Delice, my women, husband, and I are in need of a light meal and rest. Please send the groomswomen out to see to the coach and horses."

"Right away, right away. Come this way, you all."

Delice turned and led us in, my guards and driver following behind me and Tomass. Inside Tomass' eyes widened.

The entryway was a giant foyer with a checkered marble and slate floor. The grand staircase was split, meeting in the middle over the passage back to the formal rooms. To the left were the offices and women's family rooms, to the right the men's salons and children's play rooms, empty since my own childhood.

We passed under the arch and turned left to head to the kitchen. There was a new cook who blushed and stammered upon greeting me, and I learned this young woman was the daughter of my mother's cook, who had passed shortly after my own mother had.

We sat at a table and as equals my party and I broke bread and had some stewed vegetables and spicy sausage. Tubers made into a casserole with cheese and fresh milk from the cows completed it.

Delice announced shortly that rooms were made ready and I offered my friends employment if they so desired, respite of a length of their choosing before leaving if they preferred to return to Plaindand. One agreed to stay on as the captain of my guard and the other two confessed they wished to return in the morning and find themselves husbands of their own.

My driver would remain with us as needed, and so was installed in the back on the top floor with the rest of the servants. For the moment all the women were installed in major guest rooms on the second floor to the west.

While Delice was settling them, I lead Tomass to our rooms myself, wishing to see his reaction.

The only order I had sent home from the front upon notice of my ascension and mother's death was that the mistress chamber be redone. It was tradition to do so, and I understood now why. This room needed to be a reflection of me, and not the long, lonely nights when nightmares had made me climb into my mother's bed.

At the time I had ordered a style I favored after 6 years sleeping on the ground surrounded by death and seeking respite in nature. It seemed perfect for Tomass now.

The room had a marble floor, but only patches of it were small black and white tiles, like rugs. It seldom got cold enough here for the want of rugs. The furniture was all black lacquered wicker made from the woven dried fronds of palms further north. Along the outer wall were a series of tall narrow open windows, eight of them per every ten feet, shutters thrown open to the night air and the wispy white curtains blew in the evening breeze.

Between the windows were potted trees, and further out on the balcony were flowerbeds adding to the perfume of night.

Four doors led to the garderobe, a personal office for me, and our dressing rooms.

What shocked him most was in front of the wide bed, lacquered wicker twined with small living trees to make a true canopy, was the heated pool.

It was small, fitting two or three comfortably, and heated by a controlled stove system in a mechanical room on the second floor. Fresh water was pumped in from the holding tank on the roof and a system of valves developed by my grandmother kept it from flowing continuously and wasting precious fresh water.

"What is this?"

"We have running water here, a tank on the roof pumps up water from the river and a water stewardess purifies it and keeps it clean. A smaller tank holds drinking water, the larger for bathing.

"Now in the garderobe you will find a large tub for bathing, but this tub...this is for pleasure or relaxation."

He knelt by it and trailed his fingers in it. "It's warm!"

"It's heated by special pipes from below."

"How long has it been here?"

"My grandmother devised the whole system and installed this tub. She said it helped her old bones. My mother had a bum leg, an old injury and the tub helped her.

"I used to sneak in here as a child and play in it."

"This was their room?"

"This is the room of every mistress, though only the tub, floors, and walls remain. I had everything redone a year ago."

"Why?" He gazed at me with true curiosity.

"It's done after every generation. I was at war in one of the hardest campaigns. The casualties were great. Every night I dreamt of the ocean, of woods, and surprisingly of home. I grew used to sleeping in tents or the open air. I wanted to be surrounded by nature here."

He stood then, crossed to me, and took me in his arms. I kissed him gently and he turned into a kiss of dark desire. I thought back to the waterfall and smiled against his lips, placing my hands on the belt around his dress.

I stripped him naked and stepped back to watch the black rough cloth fall and he stood naked in his sandals.

"Take those off and get in the water." My voice came out more huskily than intended and he shivered slightly.

The effect was inflaming and I ripped my own clothes off and began to unwind my breasts as he pulled his sandals off.

"Get. In. The. Water."

He grinned like a child. "If I recall, the last time you led me on a merry chase. Turnabout is fair play."

And then he ran to the small hall leading to the other rooms.

I knew something he didn't. He ran into my office and it connected to my dressing room through a secret paneled door. It also connected to his dressing room, and both his dressing room and my office had other secret doors leading to a passageway that exited down by the stables. And old tradition copied from the ruins behind the river.

Naked now I stalked quietly like an attacking enemy into my dressing room. With a smile I felt along the shelves to the loose one and pulled it out and down. The door took more pulling but I opened it inwards, listening for his movements. All I had to do now was move the much heavier shelf of my office, and I did so swiftly.

Immediately Tomass was there and he grabbed me, kissing me soundly. I reached for him and then he was gone, running to the hall.

I ran too and when he passed by I jumped on him. We hit the wall, but laughing, and I slid to my feet. With a move I had used with greater force in battle, I pulled his arm behind him and pushed it up, turned him, and marched back to the bedroom.

"Imp," I said, and tossed him in the water.

He came up sputtering as water went all over the floor. Before he could regain control, I slid into to water and grabbed him.

He was angry a little, and surprisingly he grabbed me hard and locked his arms around me.

This was a little too...take charge for me, but he kissed with such passion that my brain could not work out what was happening. All I knew was he was mine, we were in our home, and in the water his sensuality took over and brought mine to the front.

I wrapped my legs around him, pressing his hardening cock to my heat and floated slightly in the water. Tomass growled and backed me to the edge. He set me down forced me back with a large hand on my chest.

"Tomass, what-"

Again he growled and spread my legs further, dipping his head between them. His touch was pure heat and he consumed me. The night breeze felt cool on my hot, wet body, and my nipples were aching.

At a loss I cupped my own breasts and stroked them, pumping my hips against his mouth, locked tight and sliding up and down in concert with that miraculous tongue.

He lifted his head and watched my hands, groaning before attacking me once more. His tongue was hard at turns and soft at others and it was all a quick, forceful drive to the shimmering peak.

When it passed I tried to rise. It was magnificent pleasure but I wanted us to feel it together, I wanted to share it...but he seemed determine to direct and control it, to force it on me.

His hand pressed me down and he returned, fingers sliding inside me just I had shown him. Without error he found the spot and I almost shot off the marble as he pressed and gently rubbed it while sucking the nubbin.

I peaked on a jagged crest, pulling my breasts now, desperate to feel his body against me, to feel his thick length inside me.

He didn't stop even as the pulsing of my body slowed, and soon I caught another crest and screamed his name with my pleasure, sobbing as I came down.

I was boneless, hot, and needy, and could not move. Tomass leveraged himself out of the water to stand on the small rim around the bottom for venting. Before I could register, he slammed inside me, dragging my hips off the floor to meet his.

"Tomass!" This was not the preferred position. Indeed, not one I had ever experienced. I liked a man on top and many of my kept men had to be prodded to do so. Never had a man taken such liberties.

"Tomass, let me get up!"

"No," he said, but softened it with a slight smile. He still held me down and finally pulled out to sink back in, slamming hard.

"Tomass, this isn't seemly!"

"It's strange isn't it? Wanting to be taken, but not wanting to want it? It felt the same way with me." He slammed in again and again, punctuating his words.

"I never-oh, goddess! I never took you like this."

"You did. When you. Married. Me. Oh!" Then he placed his other hand between my legs, the pad of his thumb firmly on my nubbin with nearly white-hot painful pleasure.

Against my will I erupted into pleasure, screaming my climax. I wailed for long moments as my body pulsed around his hardness, feeling his strength and heat holding me down. I was nearly shamed to love it so much, loathing my helplessness even as I still vibrated with pleasure.

When my vision cleared I felt my eyes wet with tears.

Tomass pulled my hips then, dragged me back into the water. He moved back to the seat and rested there, with me on top, and dropped his forehead to mine while I clutched at him.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. "I love you, but I am still angry. Coming here, seeing this, knowing it is my home and my life as I knew it is behind me, it brought it all back. Forgive me, Minn."

Angry, was he? My own anger raised my energy and now I growled. I threaded my fingers through his hair and jerked he head back, biting his neck. Tomass was still hard inside me and I rested my knees on the ledge and began to move.

As hard as he had fucked me, I fucked him. In and out, moving so violently the warm water splashed. I kept his head pinned back, biting and licking his throat. I made animal sounds as my climax threatened me, snarling like a beast breaking its leash.

He wasn't as close and so with my other hand I stroked him; his face, his chest, his stomach. I rubbed my breasts on him with every thrust, gasping and panting, trying to hold back.

In the end, it was I who surrendered. Tomass did not need violence, did not like to have it done to him as much as he thrilled to do it, it seemed. He needed tenderness.

I leashed my animal lust and released his hair, brought his face to mine and kissed him deeply. I kept my hips pumping fast, but gently moved them. I felt him gasp and moan as he did in those final moments and let my own pleasure go.

We came together in a dark vortex. Simultaneously we exploded and imploded, jerking together, grasping and clinging, kissing sloppily as we shouted. My vision clouded black and for a mad moment I thought I might pass out.

Coming down I collapsed on him and kissed his shoulder. "From now on, pup, if you're mad at me, I suggest you tell me like an adult." I pulled back and he was blushing.

"I'm sorry."

I knew what he meant. He was sorry for stepping over the line of propriety, sorry for taking control like that. I wasn't sure yet how to feel, it was so new.

I simply slid off him and rose dripping onto the floor to fetch towels from the garderobe.

I wrapped one around me and tossed the other to him, then set abut blowing out the candles. He rose and dried off and we patted our hair best as we could.

I climbed into the turned down bed as did he and I blew out the candelabra on the table next to me, then turned on my side facing the windows, away from him.

He slid behind me, gently pulling me back against him and put one arm beneath my pillow and the other under my breasts. I felt his heart beating.

Finally I said all that I could.

"I'm sorry too."