Eye of the Ancients Pt. 01

"You have enough," he said with a devilish grin that deepened the sharp lines of his face, making him look dangerous in a very enticing way. With a gentle nudge, Aeron turned me around so that my back faced his chest. He kissed the back of my neck and shoulders as his hands made quick work of my skirts. Within seconds, I was panting and naked from the waist down.

Aeron turned me around and shoved me back onto his bed playfully. I smiled nervously up at him, biting my lip to keep from giggling, and watched with bated breath as he dropped to his knees between my legs. Slowly, he wrapped his hand around my ankle and lifted my leg to his lips. His kisses were feather-light across my skin as he moved his way up to my inner thigh. My breaths caught in my throat and I leaned my head back, enjoying the indulgent sensation of his full mouth.

When he finally reached the apex of my thighs and his tongue swiped across my slit, I nearly cried out from want and pleasure. He hummed against my body and slid his tongue inside me as his hands moved to hold my hips so that I couldn't wiggle away. I whimpered and bit my lip harder in case someone happened to be passing by the cabin. When I looked up, I caught his roguish eyes staring back at me as he moved his tongue higher to that precious knot at the top of my cunt.

I gasped and grabbed a fistfull of his hair. "Oh gods, right there!"

He hummed again and set to work giving my clit the attention it had been sorely lacking in the last few weeks. He was amazing at what he did and within minutes, my body was trembling with the orgasm that was swiftly approaching. Sensing this from my quivering legs, Aeron slipped two thick fingers inside me and pumped them hard, crooking them against the front of my mound so that he hit my clit from the inside. That was all it took to have me whimpering and clenching the walls of my cunt around his fingers.

Removing his mouth from me, he held his free hand over my mouth to silence me as his fingers fucked me through the orgasm. Our eyes held each others' as his glowed with the remnant magic of his curse. I moaned and whined against his hand, wishing it was his cock inside me.

As the waves of my orgasm crashed and subsided, Aeron pulled his fingers from me with an audible squelch. I watched in awe as he licked them clean of my juices. I wanted desperately for him to take me, but knew there wasn't enough time left for me to do all the things I wanted. He seemed to have the same thoughts.

"Gods, Brie, you look gorgeous all fucked out on my bed. I wish I could take you here and now."

"I would love that," I whispered as I leaned up and pulled him down to me. I could taste myself on his tongue, but I didn't care. He was careful not to put too much pressure on my body with his belt but all I wanted was to feel his weight on me.

Reluctantly, he had to let me up. He helped me dress while peppering light kisses across my neck and chest and then he handed me a blade. Fighting with Aeron wasn't as enjoyable as having his tongue inside me, but it was an acceptable second. With a length of robe, I tied up my skirts and then launched into the moves he'd been teaching me.

We fought and sparred for the rest of the afternoon until the sun disappeared below the treeline and the shadows stretched long across the brown grass at our feet. When it was time for me to head back, Aeron held his hand up to signal for me to stop.

"You're getting much better," he said with a smile as he handed me a waterskin. I took a long drink and handed it back to him.

"Thank you. I had a good teacher."

Even in the low light I could see him blush. "You should head back to the castle soon. Your uncle will send someone looking for you if you aren't there for the final meal and this is the last place you want him to find you."

"I know. I'm still sore from the last time he beat me." I had said the words lightly, but judging from the pain and hurt on Aeron's face, he didn't take them that way.

"I would kill him for that if I could."

I rushed forward, touching my finger against his lips. "Don't say such things. He would quarter you for less."

He smiled softly as he pulled my hand from his mouth, turning it over and kissing my palm. "Unless he's learned how to talk to the crows, who would tell him?"

His lips sent a tingle rushing to my core and I smiled, though it was difficult. I wouldn't put such a thing past the King. If I had hidden powers, who was to say he didn't, too?

"Thank you for your concern, Brie. But, as you well know, I can take care of myself."

Not wanting to fight, I leaned forward and kissed his lips. "Of course you can."

"Don't worry. We'll figure out something. Once Kai has a wife and an estate of his own, he'll be able to afford his own blacksmith as well."

Once he had me, I thought. I would be that wife. The thought sickened me. How could I spend the rest of my life lying down for a man I didn't love while the one I did was hidden in the woods in some drafty cabin like a dirty secret? I knew everyone had affairs, but only the men were allowed to get away with it. If anyone ever found out that I was breaking my vows with a blacksmith, quartering would be the least of Aeron's punishment. It would be a blessing compared to what Kai would do to him.

Before I lost too much more light, I untied my skirts and kissed Aeron one more time before dashing off through the trees. I had almost made it back unseen when I saw Corsica coming from the other side of the treeline at the path leading to the stables. She saw me and her eyes went wide. She threw her hands up and waved for me to stop, but it was too late. As I was watching her, I wasn't paying attention to where I was going and ran into a wall of muscle.

I bounced off and nearly fell back on my butt, but the wall grew arms that reached out and steadied me on my feet. I looked up into the face of one of the castle guards. It was full of regret.

"I'm sorry to have to do this, m'lady, but your uncle has noticed you missing. I have been ordered to take you to him." He looked back at the path that I'd just come from and then over to Corsica, who was standing at the path I should have come from if I'd just been riding. He looked down at me and I knew he knew where I'd been. My stomach roiled so violently, I thought I would throw up right there on the guards' leather boots.

"Please...no," I whimpered. I knew it was useless, but the words were past my lips quicker than I could hold them back. I glanced over at another guard who had wrapped his arms around Corsica's chest. She would be taken in, as well, and her punishment would be even more severe than mine. I looked up at the guard, pleading with my eyes.

He glanced back at Corsica, who was being half-carried by the other guard. The one holding me sighed heavily before looking down at me. "We will tell him we caught you coming from the stables. I can't stop the punishment, but I can do my best to minimize it." He looked over at the other guard, his eyes turning hard. "Are we understood, soldier?"

The other guard looked from Corsica, to me, back to his commander. He nodded curtly before dropping his eyes to the ground. Maybe Aeron hadn't been too far off about the people loving me. It was the most they could do under the circumstances. I lowered my head to the ground, choking out a 'thank you' before my throat closed off with my effort to hold back the sobs threatening to burst from my chest. Taking a cleansing breath, I raised my head.

"You can let me go. I won't fight you." The guard nodded solemnly as he stepped to the side to let me pass. I looked over at Corsica and wrapped my hand around her trembling arm. "I'll do everything in my power to see that you aren't harmed. When the time comes, just agree with whatever I say."

She didn't stop the tears that were pouring down her cheeks. She was afraid, and with good reason. Nothing good ever happened to servants who didn't adhere strictly to the king's commands. Even the guards were risking their lives by promising to lie for me. I would have to be very convincing to save them. Even as my back ached knowing what was coming, I knew I'd have to be strong enough to keep them alive. They were expendable. I wasn't. Not if Aeron was right about the statement the king was trying to make with my betrothal.

With a conviction I didn't feel, I lifted my head and let the two guards usher me inside the castle and to the excruciating pain promised to me within its walls.