To Catch a Merchant Princess Ch. 04

"I didn't want to say anything," Alicia said in over-the-top innocent tones. She then touched a glass globe hanging from the ceiling, bathing the interior of the tent in soft, white light.

Thakkor shook his head at the incredulity of the sequence of events he'd experienced since hearing Alicia's scream in the night. With a little chuckle, he stepped out of the tent to gather wood.

As soon as the tent flap closed behind him, Alicia touched the runes on the tub to fill it with warm water, her clothes falling to the floor a second later.

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Thakkor returned with a final armload of wood and grunted in approval, believing he had more than enough to last through the night. He looked over at the tent and the wood fell from his arms, one of the logs bouncing painfully off his foot. He winced and picked up his foot to shake it, but his eyes remained locked on the silhouette outlined by the light inside the tent.

Alicia stood next to the tub, the shadow of her on the tent wall so clear that he could see her nipples and the curls adorning her mound as she dried her hair. Her breasts jiggled in a manner that made it impossible for him to ignore, and when she stretched with her arms overhead after dropping her towel, the image nearly took his breath away.

Thakkor stood transfixed until Alicia pulled on her skirt, and then finally realized what he was doing. He rubbed his throbbing toe against his leg and turned away with some mental effort, lamenting his rotten luck. To find a woman as beautiful as Alicia who was good in a fight was the dream of any sellsword. Unfortunately, Alicia was a member of the upper class — a merchant princess. He knew he didn't stand a chance against the barons and other rich, powerful men that certainly vied for her hand.

He couldn't resist a final glance as Alicia pulled on her blouse, once again hiding the most perfect breasts he'd ever beheld, even in silhouette.

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Alicia stared at the bed as she strapped back on her dagger, feeling far better with the magical weapon within easy reach. Her heart beat rapidly in her chest as she considered what the single bed suggested, causing her to think about the enchantments stored within her dagger.

She must have thought about those spells in a little more detail than she'd intended, because one of the spells activated. White motes of light danced on Alicia's palm, and she hesitantly brought her hand to her tummy. The light emerging from beneath her hand changed from white to blue, signifying that she couldn't become pregnant right now.

Despite her best efforts to suppress the urges, Alicia felt the chilly tingle of wetness flooding her sex and her nipples hardening in arousal. She turned away from the bed so fast that her hair whipped around to cover her face, but it did little to dull the intense emotions surging within her.

Alicia pulled back the flap of the tent and stepped out into the night air, which was still warmer than the inside of the magical tent. "You can have the tub, now."

"I won't take too long. I'm sure you're exhausted," Thakkor said as he walked toward her.

Alicia's heart pounded in her chest, and the hot ache in her loins surged. Without realizing it, she stared into Thakkor's eyes.

"So, I'll be out in a few minutes."

Alicia realized she was staring, and felt heat swelling in her cheeks. She nodded and turned toward the fire to sit on one of the logs a previous traveler had obviously selected for exactly that reason. She heard the tent flap open as she turned to sit down. Thakkor spoke to her every desire — both physical and emotional — and she found it harder to resist her growing arousal by the second.

When she discovered the effect of the light from inside the tent, as Thakkor had before her, Alicia stifled a gasp with her hand. The sight of him pulling off his shirt to reveal his muscled chest forced her to squeeze her legs together to tame the need she felt. A second later, her eyes and mouth both opened wide when he dropped his pants.

His cock stood out erect from his body, longer and thicker than anything she'd ever imagined. She almost felt afraid of the huge phallus, wondering how it could possibly fit down there. She only snapped out of her trance when he sank into the tub, and she realized that her right hand was between her legs, pressed tight against her throbbing clit.

Stop it, Alicia. This is all wrong. It cannot be. Her attempt to think rationally proved futile, however. Her arousal surged, and the shadow image on the tent wall transformed in her mind's eye. She could see him standing before her — naked, hard, and wearing an expression of both admiration and desire.

She could feel him touching her, his hands so gentle, yet so strong at the same time. Unconsciously, she rolled her bud beneath her finger, deepening the intensity of her fantasy.

She nearly stood up and walked directly into the tent when he emerged from the bath, his shadow revealing that he was still hard. Her brain a fog of sexual need, Alicia wondered how she could possibly resist. The shame such thoughts of surrendering her virginity felt tiny and insignificant in the face of her need. She barely had the presence of mind to pull her hand from between her legs when Thakkor walked to the entrance of the tent. A chilly kiss of night air told her that her panties were wet.

"Looks like there are enough blankets for me to make a pallet on the floor in there. Now, if we only had something to eat, this could be a pleasant little outing."

Hungry for something else, Alicia hadn't even thought about one of the other magics of the tent. She smiled and stood, praying to whatever god would listen that he wouldn't notice her walking funny because her panties were caught in the cleft of her nether lips for the first couple of steps. "If what the sculpture told me is correct, there should be some simple fare in one of the boxes."

"Simple is fine with me, I'm a simple man."

Simply gorgeous, Alicia thought as she crossed the canvas floor to the box. As her impression of the magical tent's powers had informed her, she found bread and dried meat within the box. She brought it over to the simple table and declared, "Dinner is served."

Thakkor laughed. "After midnight snack is more like it, but I'm famished."

Alicia couldn't keep her eyes off of him as they shared the plain meal. He smiled at her, his expression a little embarrassed and boyish despite his mustache and beard. As she finished her bread and took a sip of water, Alicia tried to distract herself in conversation.

"What is it like — to be able to come and go as you please?"

Thakkor shrugged his shoulders and responded. "It's a good life, but a hard one. You don't always know where your next meal is coming from, or where the next attack is coming from. Once you're outside of Freeland, the critters rule the land more than man does. Not all of them are friendly — or scared of people."

"Is it..." Alicia paused and ran her fingers through her golden tresses. "Is it lonely?"

Thakkor leaned back in his chair. "Can be at times. Even when there's other people around, you're alone, sometimes. You don't always hook up with men who enjoy comradery." He sighed and added, "Wasn't all that lonely with Fantil. His bunch always has a story to tell. I'm gonna miss that."

"Perhaps he'll take you back, if I explain what happened."

"Maybe, if he's even around."

Alicia yawned, unable to hold it back in her weariness.

"We should probably get some rest. We still have a few days walk ahead of us."

Alicia nodded, the thought of bed once again sending her sexual desire to a new peak. She couldn't believe her own words when Thakkor reached for some of the blankets to make a pallet on the floor. "The bed is more than large enough to share."

Thakkor shook his head. "I wouldn't want to make you uncomfortable."

"Nor I, you. I cannot bear the thought of forcing you to sleep on the ground, after all you've done for me."

Thakkor paused, looking into her eyes for a moment before he said, "I don't want you to feel guilty, either. You have my word that I'll stay on my side of the bed."

What if I don't want you to? Alicia thought, and wondered for a moment if she'd uttered the words out loud, considering that her tongue was acting long before she'd given it any direction. She simply nodded and touched the glass globe to dim it, unable to find any words to answer him.

Alicia turned down the coverings on her side of the bed and slipped in. Her heart skipped a beat as Thakkor did the same. She could feel the heat of him beneath the covers, and she found her fingers tracing the edge of the depression in the mattress from the weight of his muscled form. Only her state of exhaustion kept her from giving in to her desire — at least in the waking world.

Her dreams were another matter entirely.

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Hope you've enjoyed this fourth chapter. Please take a moment to vote/comment, as that's the motivation that keeps me writing despite the trials life throws at me. I'm working on what should be the last chapter.