Into the Goodnight Ch. 02

Maks growled in frustration. "And what compensation did you give in exchange for the work she did?"

"I gave her a skein," she defended.

"No doubt in hopes it would bait her back to do more of your work."

"Why can you not be satisfied that I had the work done? Who cares if it was by me or another person?"

"Because that makes you nothing more than a parasite. Do you not see? You give nothing to this world. You only live on the blood of others. I need a useful sort of wife who contributes, not one who has others do for her."

"Then you oughtn't have married a princess," she replied coldly, an air returning that hadn't been there since she arrived in his house.

Maks leveled his gaze at her fully. "I married you, regardless of any title you possessed. And you are capable of much."

Aurelia let out an exhalation of disbelief. "Pff, you're the only one to ever have said so," she muttered miserably and looked away.

"What do you mean?" he asked softly.

She still didn't look at him. "It matters not. Is that food? Can we prepare it for I am hungry?" She looked back at him now, mild irritation becoming obscured by cool indifference.

Maks returned her gaze before relenting. "Perhaps tomorrow I will set you the task of buying food for our evening meal. You will have to go to the market and sell your yarn. Then take what money you make from it and purchase whatever looks good."

Aurelia frowned at him, though he didn't seem to notice as he brought the skinned hare and bread over. The little dead thing was even bloodier than the duck had been, but while the process made her queasy, she handled it better the second time. In fact, she proved to be quite deft with a knife as her husband instructed her how to gut and cut up the rabbit. He left her to continue cooking the meal while he hauled back more water for the eventual washing up.

There was an uncomfortable silence between them as they sat eating their supper, until at last Maks spoke. "So you never learned to make yarn, cook or clean. How about use with needle and thread? Can you darn if needed?"

Aurelia was mildly irritated. "No."

"What sort of things is a princess trained for?"

She smiled smartly. "Why, to sit tall and look beautiful and tell her king husband what a fine leader he is."

Maks' eyebrow shot up as a wry smile quirked the corner of his lips. "I take it you did not care for those lessons."

"What? To be instructed the whole of my life that my only capabilities were merely derived from the attributes of my face and form? That all I can be is beautiful while my little brother is trained to be a ruler of a nation? That other's perceptions of my beauty is the measure of my worth? That and the greatness of my husband," she added scornfully. "Then by damn, that's what I would be. The most beautiful. The most charming. The most alluring. I spent hours perfecting the maintenance of my hair. I endured countless regimes for my face. I constantly monitored all I ate and drank so as to best feed my figure and skin. No, Maks, I learned those lessons well." The coldness in her eyes had dissolved into green flames, which burned passionately.

She was finished with her dinner and stood angrily, taking her dish to the small basin to wash it clean. She found a spare storage jar Maks had taught her to use the night before and stored away the rest of the rabbit. She was scrubbing the greasy bits stuck to the platter when a hand stopped her furious actions. Surprised, she looked up into Maks' face. He was standing very near and his expression was tender but fierce.

He cupped her cheek. "I did not marry a princess," he stated lowly. She opened her mouth to respond, but he cut her words off with an ardent kiss. Quickly, a hand was at her back, pressing her into him, and instantly her arms were around him, returning his kiss.

Maks began moving them toward the other side of the room but was met with resistance. "Come to bed," he growled hungrily against her mouth, tugging gently on her body.

She managed to put her hands up on his chest and pushed with what strength she could muster. "No," she said, annoyed that the sound came out as a moan.

Maks began kissing parts of her other than her mouth, starting with the sensitive spot just below her ear. He felt her shiver in response and smiled as he continued the assault. "Why not?"

"Hm?" she asked as her eyes closed in pleasure.

He chuckled lightly at her distractibility. "Why won't you come to bed?"

That seemed to jolt her from the cloud of lust his wandering mouth had formed around her. She did shove him harder that time and succeeded at gaining a little space from him. "What would entice me back to your bed?" she asked, attempting incredulity while trying to dodge his mouth.

"I thought that would have been obvious."

"I certainly hope you are not counting on your performance last night to be any sort of inducement."

"Seems you enjoyed yourself plenty."

She gave an inelegant harrumph to that. "Is that what you think? After what you put me through, I would very much like to argue."

"You like to argue about everything," Maks remarked casually, and insolent rise of his eyebrow.

Aurelia became indignant. "I most certainly do—"

"Undress."

She blinked confused. "What?"

"Undress," he repeated calmly, and a little darkly. It was a command, simply enough given, nothing forceful or threatening about it. But its affect was powerful nonetheless. He was smiling now, but there was something sinister in his eyes that both thrilled and frightened her.

But still she resisted. "You're daft if you think I'm about to do as I'm told." His silence only made her own confidence falter. "Why would I?"

Maks was patient in his explanation. "Because you have failed to snare me with your beauty, but you still want to please me. And nothing pleases me more than your trust, than doing for me what you would do for no other man. And the best way to demonstrate your trust in me is with your obedience. Especially when it is so pleasurable for the both of us."

"Obedience? I am a princess, at least I was. I obey no one. I never have," she retorted, almost proudly.

"Which is why it will please me all the more. That you set aside all your arrogance, put away all that beautiful strong will...for me. And trust me when I say that when you please me you will know true pleasure."

Aurelia had no defense to such dark promises, not when she was awash in pleasure just from the look he was giving her. She struggled with the desire to give herself to him and yet to keep what little dignity she had left.

"Is that like your promise of last night?" she asked with the last of her spite.

"Obey, and you will discover for yourself," was all he would answer. Clearly, she would have to try out that trust he had spoken of and choose without any guarantees.

The minutes that passed were long and full of anguish as she wrestled with her desire, pride and curiosity. But in the end, she silently lifted her hands to the laces of her gown, loosening them before shrugging free from the garment. She stood some tense moments before her shaky hands slipped the linen drawers down as well. That was all he had commanded, to slip out of her clothes, and so she waited.

"Very good, little bud. Now, crawl onto the bed and kneel facing the headboard."

She raised a wary eyebrow, but slowly turned to do as bid. It felt a little embarrassing with her bottom up and pointed at him as she obeyed, but she moved quickly enough that the awkward position was over in the same moment it had begun.

Aurelia kneeled resting back on her heels at the end of the bed, but turned her head so she could watch his next move.

"Close your eyes, bud," he directed. With an apprehensive purse of her lips, she obeyed. In the darkness behind her eyes, Aurelia waited for him.

And then she felt a hand at her shoulder, the finger tips sliding down the length of her and back up to run across the back of her neck and down her spine. She took a deep breath to calm the buzzing nerves swarming inside. Taking her by the wrist, he repositioned her arm so her hand laid against the small of her back. The same to the other arm.

The first touch was so delicate, that Aurelia wasn't certain what he was doing until the winding touch became thick enough that she recognized it as the yarn that had been spun that afternoon. She quickly yanked her hands to shake the bindings loose. But Maks was just as quick, catching her at the crook of her elbows, holding her arms back.

"Maks, what do—"

"Don't move," he commanded firmly in her ear, his warm breath cascading down the side of her vulnerable neck. "Your trusting me, remember? Now, close your eyes and put her hands behind your back." With a fair amount of trepidation, Aurelia complied, slowly slipping her hands so her wrists laid one atop the other behind her back. She chewed her bottom lip as she concentrated on his movements.

"Good," he murmured in praise. Her hands formed fists as he looped the yarn tightly around one and then the other, effectively binding her hands together. When his weight shifted from the bed she gave an experimental wiggle and found there was no room for her hands to slip free. However he had bound her, he'd done it with no chance of escape. She felt something soft touch the fronts of her thighs, and when Maks told her to lie forward, his hands on her shoulders to guide her down, she realized he'd placed their pillows under her hips.

Though Aurelia couldn't predict how the proceeding events could be erotic, she couldn't deny her helpless position was arousing her even as she felt apprehension bubble in her stomach.

Maks' weight rejoined her on the bed. She was so very tempted to open her eyes and see what he was about, but he had spoken the truth: she did want to please him, and so she kept them tightly shut. His hand caressed the calf nearest him, his warm palm sliding hypnotically up and down the firm curve as he spoke.

"Aurelia, despite what you may have been told as a child, you are more than your beauty. You are quite capable of many things, far more than you give yourself credit, and as your husband, it is my duty to help you live up to your potential. And that duty includes correcting you when you act wrongfully, as you did today with the old woman."

She tensed, the unease in her stomach notched higher at his words. Bound, she was helpless to whatever 'correction' Maks deemed appropriate. Despite the threat of his words, his hand was skimming higher and higher on her leg, now caressing the very sensitive skin high on her inner thigh, and the erotic sensations served to counterpoint the danger of his statement.

"Now, she spun seventeen skeins for you, and so to pay for it, you will receive seventeen strikes from my hand and you will count each one. If you fail to count, then you will receive another for it."

"Maks, you cannot mean to spank a princess," she interrupted in alarm. Her fists were clenched so tight, her nails dug painfully into her palm, but still she didn't open her eyes. She was frightened and vulnerable, with no means of protection. Perhaps he would act with some mercy. Perhaps he only meant for her to beg him.

"I'm sorry, Maks," she tried to plead. "It won't happen again. I'll give the woman more next—"

But her words were cut off when his hand came down with a crackling smack against her right buttock. She shrieked in surprise and indignation, but then hissed when the sharp pain bled out into heat.

"I'm waiting," he stated calmly, prompting her to begin the count.

Fighting the embarrassment and resentment with gasping breath, she said, "One," and was immediately rewarded with another, which only produced more indignant and pained howling. Through gritted teeth and eventually crying eyes, Aurelia dutifully counted out each stinging blow as he peppered her bottom red. Not half way through, the swats ignited a heat that did not simply spread from her bottom to the flesh of her sex, but transformed from pain into something infinitely more erotic. And the pain compounded with the pleasure had her writhing disconcertedly as she received each punishing strike.

When she had sobbed out her count of seventeen, she was just about to demand Maks untie her when she felt him gingerly caress her burning bottom. "Hush, now. It's over. You did it, my brave little bud," he praised. And then she felt the sparking scrape of his stubbled jaw scratch over her reddened backside.

"Maks, what are you—"

But he only shushed her between slow, wet kisses to her abused flesh. And with each pass of his warm lips, Aurelia felt a thrum in the folds of her aching sex. As Maks worshiped the skin of her bottom with kisses, his fingers were grazing the inside of her thigh, stroking higher and higher. In her restless shifting, Aurelia opened her legs so nothing hindered his progress. She was rewarded when the tips of two of his fingers found her sex. And she knew the moment they dipped inside that she was undeniably wet. For him. She felt his hot breath pour over her inflamed skin when he felt how aroused she had become. His kisses took on a new fervor as he slowly began to plumb her depths, relearning every nuance of her sex until Aurelia was fairly panting.

"Keep your eyes closed," he commanded, the coarseness of his voice sending shivers up her spine. "Roll over," he instructed, sitting away from her and tugging the pillows gently away from her as she complied.

Aurelia struggled as she lay with her weight on her bound wrists, moving them slightly this way and that to find the least painful position. While she adjusted her arms, Maks adjusted her legs, spreading her thighs so he could lay between them. The moment she felt his hot breath on her, she stilled, her own breath catching in her throat.

"Maks?" she asked nervously, unable to ignore the embarrassment of her vulnerable position.

But again, he just shushed her, promising it would be alright, that he would take care of her. There was silence in the air. Nothing stirred until the breath she had been holding came out in shuddering relief as Maks rubbed his rough, prickled jaw along the soft contours of her thigh. Everything liquefied.

And then Maks touched her swollen sex, parting the lips to reveal the wet pinkness hidden inside. Aurelia wasn't quite certain why he had to be so close to her if he merely intended to use his fingers as he had the previous night. Surely, it must be obscene, repellant even, and could not merit such close inspection.

"Maks, Maks I don't think this is decent. It's unclean," she instructed apprehensively.

"You are my wife," he rumbled with his lips pressed against her. "Your body belongs to me. All of it," he declared as his hot breath poured over her dripping center. "Mine to touch," he stated as one of his hands snaked up her body to cup her breast, his thumb and finger tweaking the hardened nipple and causing her to give a particularly sharp cry.

"Mine to look upon and to smell," he added, his beard-roughened cheek scratching her inner thigh as he came disconcertingly close to her sex. Aurelia found it hard to breathe when she heard him inhale deeply, shame and arousal warring fiercely.

"Maks—" but her warning was cut short.

"And mine to taste," he announced just as his mouth descended upon her, the warm, wet blade of his tongue confidently stroking against her delicate flesh.

Aurelia sucked in a lungful of air and let out a shriek. She began to struggle against Maks to escape the vulgar caress, but her bound hands were more hindrance than help and his strong arm across her hips was more than enough to hold her there against her will.

"Maks! Maks! What are you doing? Stop this at—"

But another swipe of his tongue stopped her tirade, turning her words into squeals of distress. That is, until his mouth found the little pearl enclosed in her folds, and, sealing his lips around it, suckled it while rubbing it with his tongue. Then Aurelia's sounds transformed into moans of pleasure.

Despite the delicious sensations his mouth created, she still fought against the idea. And though she tried to persuade him to stop between bouts of whimpers, her body betrayed her by responding to the carnal stimulation.

The attention he gave her breast coupled with the magic of his mouth—no matter how alarming—was enough to overwhelm her resistance. Before long she was working with him until the pleasure coiled tightly and exploded, coating her in euphoria.

"Oh, Maks!" she panted breathlessly, her body at last keening into his sea of pleasure. She was in the offing now, no hope to recover from the undertow that dragged her further and further away from the solidity of shore. As her stomach quivered and tightened, Maks drank deeply from the flood of her release, his tongue probing deep inside her slick walls. He continued to kiss and suckle her delicate flesh as wave after wave of crushing sensation rolled through her. Her legs moved restlessly, clasping at his broad shoulders, winding around an arm, digging a heel into his back to drag him closer to take all he had to give.

Once the frenzy of her climax had passed, and Maks had tended to every bit of her quivering flesh, he slowly moved up her body covering her with slow, wet kisses as he went. Kneeling between her limp legs as she continued to pant and tremble, Maks laved one pink nipple with his tongue.

Aurelia lingered on the velvety dark edges of her orgasm. "Open your eyes," Maks pulled her back to the present.

Heavy eyes drifted open and searched slowly the space above her before dropping to his face. He was staring at her, his eyes watching her hungrily as he tongued her breast. She watched in a trance as he opened his mouth and brought his teeth to clamp down on the taut little bud. She moaned when he pulled back just enough for her to feel it, her chest rising off the mattress to follow.

Maks tormented her some long moments, nipping and pulling and laving first one breast and then the other. Aurelia, much to her surprise, could feel the sensation all the way to her sex, which was reawaking with a new ache all its own.

It seemed that the hunger she felt growing was somehow passed to Maks, not that it left her, but that it grew and stretched into both of them until he was devouring her with a need that rivaled her own. His mouth abandoned a velvety peak to glide up the length of her neck and attack her lips. She had no recourse but to open her mouth and accept his pillaging tongue, falling helpless to his consuming aggression.

And then, without warning, without further courting, Maks had positioned himself at the very tight opening of her body and drove in. Aurelia's mouth opened, but only a silent gasp came out. Her eyes were open and blinded by the blackness of the pleasure that overwhelmed her. With his arms wrapped tightly around her, his face buried in the crook of her neck, Aurelia could feel the violent shudder that shook his strong frame, and through the haze of her own blissful state vaguely understood the magnitude of his pleasure.

After only a pause in which he seemed to recover control of his body, he began working himself in and out of her. So full, and painful, too, but it was glorious. She allowed him full use of her body, finding his powerful handling of her, his hard thrusts and talented mouth hard to resist. But when his weight shifted, pressing her more firmly onto her joined wrists, she groaned in pain.

Maks, despite his seemingly mindless purpose, instantly lifted his face to hers. Her eyes fluttered open when she felt him looking at her.

"My wrists," she managed to explain between whimpers of pleasure.

Without hesitation, Maks shifted himself up to rest on his knees, his hands at her back lifting her pliant body to him. Suddenly, Aurelia found herself straddling his thighs and pressed against his chest. It gave her just enough elevation that she was looking slightly down at him, instead of up. The paradox that the new position somehow made her more powerful while she still remained bound and at his mercy was not lost upon her.