Ravendorf Ch. 07

They raced into the darkness, galloping along the trail to skirt the village. Lila hesitated a moment, deciding that hiding in Austria would be the safest for the couple. Her father had planned to head for Berlin. He would not change his plans. They could circle through Austria and rejoin the family in Frankfurt.

They reached the ridge of the mountain and Margaret brought her horse to a stop. She gazed over the valley of her childhood, seeking the dark shadow of Ravendorf Manor. Lila turned back, studying Margaret’s face. The day’s activities showed in the young bride’s face.

Here, the wind was cooler. Autumn would race down the mountain in a few weeks. The leaves would explode in color before being released from the trees. Lila decided this would be the place to stay the night. They could take shelter in the trees and Margaret could take one last look over her valley in the morning.

They did not make love after they made their pallet in the trees. They held each other in the darkness, borrowing each other’s warmth. At one point, Lila thought she heard horses and movement so she disentangled herself from Margaret and peered over the ridge. She saw a campfire and knew their pursuers had stopped to rest. As dawn broke over the mountains, she turned to Margaret, waking her lover with gentle caresses and soft kisses. Margaret muttered softly in her throat, the sound a noise of pleasure as she stretched her body toward Lila’s. Lila smiled, brushing hair off Margaret’s cheek, feeling relief when Margaret returned the smile.

Lila closed the short distance and pressed her lips firmly to Margaret’s supple ones. Margaret put her arm around Lila’s shoulders, rolling onto her back and opening her lips for her lover’s tongue. The tip of Lila’s tongue danced along the opening, teasing Margaret’s lips. She slid along the inside of Margaret’s mouth, tasting her lover’s mouth. Their tongues rubbed against each other and Lila drew Margaret’s tongue into her own mouth, suckling softly.

Margaret held onto Lila as the gypsy’s hand glided upward to open the blouse she had given the noblewoman the night before. Her fingertips walked up the small, pale globe, making their way to circle the hardening nipple. Margaret moaned into Lila’s mouth, arching into her lover’s knowledge hands. Lila smiled, tilting her head to deepen the kiss and change the intensity. Her mouth now danced against the inside of Margaret’s cheeks. Her fingers rolled Margaret’s nipple, enjoying the instant way that the Lady of Ravendorf’s body responded to her touch. She squeezed, hearing the sound of gratification that escaped from deep in the small woman’s throat. The dancer’s fingers brushed and pulled and pinched, pushing Margaret’s enjoyment higher. Margaret’s kiss had grown hungrier as her bliss had built. Her mouth was now the aggressor.

Lila broke away, her lips dragging down Margaret’s noble chin and the fine line of her neck. She felt Margaret’s thundering pulse against her lips. Margaret’s hand tangled into the dark hair, attempting to pull Lila back to her mouth. Lila’s mouth climbed the peak to Margaret’s neglected breast, closing her lips around the nipple and tugging, then sucking more of the firm young flesh into her mouth. Margaret watched Lila’s cheeks flex for a moment, but was only able to concentrate for that moment. She closed her eyes and dropped her head backwards, moaning louder now.

Her legs moved restlessly, her hips rising and falling, trying to bring herself into contact with Lila in order to relieve the throbbing tenderness pulsing between her legs. Lila thwarted her concentrated effort. Margaret was whimpering, unable to form the words to plead for release. She almost sobbed with relief as Lila’s hands opened the fastenings on the riding pants. She lifted her hips, feeling the cool air touch her heated body. The breeze flowing through the trees only heightened her senses. Lila’s mouth stayed busy against Margaret’s breast, suckling and teasing the sensitive flesh surrounding her swollen nipple.

Lila’s hand left the other breast, fingers moving lightly over the smooth flesh of the noblewoman’s stomach. Margaret’s breath became shallow and quick as Lila’s hand snaked closer to her warm center. Margaret opened her thighs for Lila and moaned deeper as fingers combed through the blonde forest. Lila’s teeth nipped at the hard bud that filled her mouth. Margaret’s hips came up against Lila’s hand, forcing Lila to part her. Lila’s long fingers sliced through the damp lips and teased the swollen, eager blossom. Margaret moaned, flexing her hips up and down against Lila’s talented fingers.

Lila listened carefully as Margaret’s breathing changed. She watched her lover’s body with a practiced eye, gauging the young, inexperienced girl’s readiness level. Margaret’s head tossed on the quilt and her skin was flushed. Her breasts were rising and falling in short hitches as her body pushed closer to release.

Margaret cried out when Lila pulled away. The air grazed over her wet breast and her inner folds felt incredibly empty. Panting, she raised up on her elbows to watch Lila, trying to determine why she had been left alone. Lila placed her back to Margaret as she revealed her back and then removed her own riding pants. Margaret admired the strong lines of Lila’s olive back and the supple roundness of her buttocks. Lila knelt beside the small bag she had hurriedly packed the night before and Margaret sat up more, her brow crinkled in concern. She could feel her heart pounding. Her nipples were tight. Shots of electricity radiated from those pinpoints.

When Lila turned, Margaret gasped. There were silk bands wrapped around her thighs and waist. Those straps secured a long, thin leather sack. Lila quickly knelt next to Margaret, kissing her lover slowly. She took Margaret’s hand and guided it to the pouch. It was filled to the top to make it hard but the leather was smooth. Margaret’s hand easily curled around it. It extended a little beyond her closed first. She slid her hand up and down easily, barely feeling the seams that held the material together. Lila’s mouth and hands stayed busy on Margaret’s face and shoulders, her touch soothing. “You can still back out,” Lila whispered, her breath warming Margaret’s cheek.

Margaret moved her trembling hand to Lila’s firm thigh. “No,” she whispered. “No.” She lay back, opening arms into which Lila came willingly. They lay in the embrace for what felt like an eternity, their mouths kind and passionate and familiar lovers. The false member rested against the inside of Margaret’s thighs and she soon she felt her body longing to feel it sliding into her.

Sensing Margaret’s desire, Lila shifted so that she lay between her lover’s legs. She pressed against the wet lips, moving the heavy sac between them to moisten it. When Margaret was moaning mindlessly again, her hips thrusting wildly and eagerly, Lila reached down to steady the leather. She pressed it to Margaret’s opening and nudged a little with her hips.

Margaret’s moan was different and Lila hesitated. “Are you sure, my love?”

“Yes, please,” Margaret groaned.

“This will hurt.” Lila thrust forward a little at a time, finding that the false member slid easily into her excited lover. “Don’t tense,” she whispered when she felt resistance. Margaret’s cry of pain as the limb broke her filled Lila with regret. Tears filled the virgin’s eyes and she bit her lip, whimpering as she adjusted to the fullness. Lila rested over Margaret’s body, stroking the blonde hair and muttering sweet assurances of love without moving. Her lips teased Margaret’s, urging her to forget the discomfort.

Soon, Margaret’s body completely accepted the intruder and her hips began moving, causing the leather to scrub against her inner walls. Lila responded, carefully rocking her hips to slide the full staff in and out of Margaret’s stretched tunnel. Margaret responded as Lila had hoped, meeting the tender thrusts. She put her hands on Lila’s soft buttocks, urging the gypsy to move faster. She moaned in pleasure, thrashing and pushing upward with her heels. Lila panted as she drove harder, driving the false member quicker and deeper.

Margaret cried out, her fingernails digging into Lila’s flesh as the leather rubbed against her thick nub of pleasure. Her stomach clenched and hard waves of relief and release washed over her. Lila kept moving until Margaret’s eyes regained their focus. The gypsy pulled out, unlacing the straps so quickly that she fumbled with the ties. She scooted up Margaret’s body as soon as the apparatus fell away and lowered herself over Margaret’s mouth.

Margaret could smell Lila’s heady, eager odor. Her tongue moved against the salty slit, tasting the desire in the wetness of her lover. She wiggled her tongue deep, alternating between Lila’s hard bud and deep channel. Lila rocked on Margaret’s tongue, moaning as the woman’s lips tugged at her clit and sucked on it. Lila shuddered and flooded Margaret’s mouth as she found her own release.

They lay side-by-side as the sun finished cresting the peak of the Alps. When Lila opened her eyes and looked at Margaret, she saw that a path of tears had cleared a trail on the Lady of Ravendorf’s cheek. Lila wiped at the tear. “I’m so sorry,” she whispered, certain that Margaret cried because she was hurt or because she had regret.

“You are sorry for something so beautiful?”

Lila felt relief wash through her and she bent to tenderly kiss Margaret. They exchanged endearments of love. Wordlessly, they dressed and mounted their horses. They picked their way along the mountain trail and descended into Austria, stopping as darkness descended and making sweet love whenever they weren’t too tired.

Phillip and Margaret’s father did not find catch them for several days, but two young women traveling alone were noticeable. They were easy to track. Phillip pointed his firearm at Lila and yelled. Margaret and her father cried. Lila stood firm. “She’s broken.”

“Then I’ll kill you both,” Phillip growled.

Lila stood between Phillip and her lover, but it was Margaret whose calm voice penetrated the morning dew. “Phillip! Please, you can tell the people that I died. To you that’s what I am.”

Phillip’s hand trembled, the barrel of the firearm bouncing nervously. Lord Ravendorf laid his hand on von Goring’s arm. “Margaret, is this life what you want?”

“I love her, Father. I know to the church that I am a sinner. I’ll accept my punishment, but there would be no worse punishment that having to live one day without her.” Margaret stepped from behind Lila and went to her father, taking his hand and kissing the palm. “Phillip will be a good heir for you. Allow him to remarry and love his children as you would have loved mine. Forget me.”

“I could not do that, but if you chose to be dead, and this is what makes you happy, I will not force you into anything else.” Lord Ravendorf shifted his eyes to Lila. “I regret things had to happen as they did. I would have enjoyed having another daughter.”

He turned his mount and moved toward the trail to Garmisch. “Come along, Phillip.”

Phillip lowered his firearm and studied Margaret, watching the tears streak down her cheeks. The silence of two hurting friends passed between them before he jerked the reigns and galloped out of sight. Lord Ravendorf’s horse moved slower and Margaret was aware that she had never seen her father look so old. “Papa!” she called just before he left her view. “I love you, Papa!” Lord Ravendorf did not turn back.

It was ten years before a band of gypsies traveled through the Garmisch region with a woman so pale many speculated that the Roma were baby thieves as the legend said. There was a little girl that favored the big man who led the tribe but had the pale woman’s light colored hair. The pale woman and the beautiful, dark-skinned dancer were rarely separated and the girl shared their tent.

The Mistress of Ravendorf would never be Lady Ravendorf, even though she had lived in the manor the majority of her life. She had given Phillip von Goring a child and Lord Ravendorf had loved the boy.

When the pale gypsy came to Ravendorf Manor with the girl, the Mistress of Ravendorf was in the rose garden. She cared for the roses as the two previous women of the manor had done. The women embraced and cried. Von Goring welcomed the woman and her family with a feast. Lord Ravendorf smiled and held the girl on his lap.

The tribe did not stay away as long the next time they left. The little gypsy girl and the young Master Ravendorf played together in the crystal clear lake whenever the tribe camped along its banks. At ten, the boy announced that he would marry the girl, and no one disapproved.