In the Flesh (7 page)

Despite the many hours he’d spent looking forward to this moment, Wulf still wasn’t prepared. A shiver moved down his spine and coursed the length of his cock. He stared at her upturned face and knew in his gut that his next move was pure madness. Still, unable to do otherwise, he lowered his head and took her mouth, groaning.

The instant her lips softened under his, raw need flooded his senses in a rush so powerful he was almost dizzy with it. Sapphire moved with him, giving
as good as she got, her tongue gliding along his, stroking against his. Her head tilted to take more, her lush body surging into him with a hunger he knew because he ached with it.

Shuddering at the fervor of her response, Wulf hugged her closer. He cupped her nape and gripped her waist, mantling her, sheltering her body with the size and power of his own.

It was heady, the combination of her obvious skill and his own. He had a dozen women at his palace who were more beautiful, and every bit as knowledgeable, yet no woman in his memory had ever aroused him as Sapphire did. Her kiss alone rivaled his most heated coupling. He could kiss her for days. Everywhere.

Wulf realized she had been far wiser than he.

Once wouldn’t be enough.

He groaned, knowing it was true, knowing they didn’t have near enough time to slake this depth of craving.

With shaking hands, he pressed her back into her seat and dropped to his knees, spreading her thighs wide with his hands. His mouth watered at the sight of her, slick with desire, swollen and pouting for the touch of his tongue.

“You’re wet.” His voice was so low he hardly recognized it.

She whimpered as he drew closer, then gasped as he licked upward through the soft hairless folds.

Her head fell back on a breathy sigh. “Oh, Wulf…”

His jaw tightened with the effort to remain where he was instead of rising to his feet, freeing his cock,
and sliding into her. She’d welcome him, he knew. She would cry out and relish every deep thrust. But he needed her to give herself freely. He needed her to be hungry for him, famished, and with her spread out like a feast, he had everything he needed at his disposal.

Kneeling, he pulled her chair closer and planned her seduction with military precision.

Sapphire waited breathlessly, every muscle tense with anticipation as Wulf pulled her closer and arranged her to his liking. That he took such care with the preparations told her he intended to pleasure her for some time. The thought made her shiver. The last five years had been spent with a man who cared only for his own needs. To have a lover so completely consumed with the pursuit of her enjoyment was unbearably arousing.

He hooked her knees over his forearms and cupped her hips in his hands. “I hope you’re comfortable.” His breath blew intimately across her sex. “You won’t be moving for a while.”

“This is a bad idea,” she whispered.

“It feels damn good to me.”

Then he plunged his tongue into her.

Sapphire arched upward, panting, her short nails digging crescents into the arms of her chair.

Wulf groaned, the vibration moving up her torso and tightening her nipples. He nuzzled against her with his lips, the silky strands of his hair caressing her inner thighs. His grip was firm, his fingers kneading, his mouth gentle as his tongue glided
without haste through the evidence of her desire to stroke over her clitoris.

“Wulf…” Her hips rocked upward to match his rhythm. She bit her lower lip to stem the cries that would betray her need. This man was a seducer. If he knew how rarely she’d been serviced like this, he would use it against her and weaken her further.

With a low growl, he stroked his tongue into her, then withdrew, repeating the gentle rhythmic fucking until sweat covered her skin and dampened her hair. Her entire body tingled, her breathing grew more labored, while the ache deep inside coiled to near pain. He was methodical, thorough, licking into every groove and crevasse, nipping lightly with his teeth, suckling teasingly on the hard knot of her clitoris. She’d never been taken with such patience and obvious enjoyment on the part of her lover.

Her pussy rippled around his tongue, and unable to bear another moment of the torment, she begged him, “Don’t tease.”

Pulling back, Wulf spread her with the fingers of one hand. “Are you not enjoying yourself?” The other hand released her hip and two long fingers pushed into her.

“N–no…” A shudder shook her frame. Her hands cupped her breasts, her fingers pinching her painfully tight nipples. “…no more.”

“No?” He rubbed inside her, caressing the slick walls of her sex with practiced fingertips. “I’ll have to try harder.” Wulf lowered his head and fluttered his tongue over her clit.

She could not have prepared for this—the slow,
determined ravishment of her body. It was beyond her experience. “Please…make me come…”

Forming a circle with his lips, Wulf sucked her off as he fucked her with his fingers. Sapphire came in a spreading, blossoming climax, one that built with every pull of his mouth and every pump of his hand until one orgasm flowed into another.

It was devastating. Unlike the pleasure she attained by her own efforts, this was wrung from her with relentless skill. Yet Wulf was not unaffected. She felt his powerful body quaking beneath her legs as she pleaded with him to stop and attempted to push him away, but he was intent on some goal she couldn’t understand.

She cried brokenly, writhing under the onslaught.

Only when her hands fell to her sides and her legs hung limp over his shoulders did he desist and rest his cheek against her thigh with a breathless chuckle of masculine triumph.

As her senses drifted back into awareness, Sapphire resigned herself to the truth.

She was in deep trouble.

“You may rise, Wulf.” Sapphire’s voice was so passion-hoarse it only worsened his predicament.

“I don’t think I can.” His dick was so hard, he couldn’t move. But he managed a smile, satisfied that he’d pleased her so well.

Sapphire’s desire simmered just below the surface, sadly untapped, if his guess was correct. When was the last time a man had loved her body just for the satisfaction gained from her response? He wished he
had weeks to do so. He could easily imagine days spent with her in his bed, reveling in her scent and the feel of her curves, her lush body arching and writhing beneath his own.

She cooed, the sound coursing over his skin like a tactile caress. “Let me help you with that.”

Tucking her legs in, Sapphire set the soles of her feet to his shoulders and kicked gently, thrusting him backward to the floor. Languid only a moment ago, she was now able to straddle him with impressive speed, her hands caressing his chest before any remnant feelings of helplessness took hold.

“I’m so glad you were spared and restored,” she whispered, untying his drawstring before tugging his pants past his hips. “Perfection such as yours should not be marred.”

As he stared up into her lovely, passion-flushed features, Wulf’s throat clenched tight with gratitude. Sapphire wasn’t coddling him, she was instead quite rough with him, but every time she pushed him, he gained a little confidence. And every time she gazed at him with such heat, the chill of his ordeal melted a little more.

She circled his cock with confident fingers, angled him into position, then drenched the swollen head in the liquid heat of her mouth.

“Oh hell.” He gasped, his back arching, his balls drawing up painfully tight. “Don’t make me come too quickly.”

Lifting her gaze, her eyes twinkled wickedly and he knew he would receive no mercy from her. “You taste as delicious as you look.” Her tongue licked the drop of semen that beaded on the tip, then
traced the length of a thick vein in a sinuous caress. “What a magnificent cock you have.”

She drew back, and the admiration in her dark eyes gave him such pleasure he hardened further. Curving both hands around his dick, Sapphire squeezed. “How big will it get? I can barely hold you.”

“Your hands are tiny.” He was burning up. His body was tense and hard all over, his skin damp with sweat.

“It feels marvelous,” she breathed. “The skin is so soft.”

“Put it inside you,” he groaned as she stroked him. “It feels much better that way.”

She shook her head, the silky strands of her hair drifting over his hips. The fingertips of one hand trailed over his rippling stomach, and he quivered under her touch. “I’ve never seen anything as good looking as your body.”

Wulf cupped her head gently. He didn’t pull her toward him, just massaged her scalp with the convulsive twitching of his fingertips. Holding her, even so distantly, was a wonder he marveled at.

“That feels good,” she purred, her eyes drifting shut.

He wanted to tell her that he would always make her feel good, that giving her pleasure was now a primary focus of his, but he could no longer speak. He was so close, on the edge…

She took him in her mouth again, using her hands to caress the length of his cock that wouldn’t fit inside her. She sucked him with strong, greedy tugs, killing him. With stunning ferocity, his orgasm was upon him, his back bowing upward, his semen
spurting thick and hot into her working mouth. His shout of release was sharp and tormented, his body straining and jerking with the violent force of his climax.

Only moments could have passed, but it seemed like hours before his body sank lax into the floor, incapable of movement.

Sapphire continued her ministrations with a gentle lapping of her tongue, cleaning his seed from his cock as he panted and fought for sanity.

Wulf could only lie there, sprawled and dazed. His body had responded to her touch with the same speed and forceful passion with which hers had responded to him. He knew with resigned horror that she’d been correct. Despite the orgasm that wrung him out, he still wanted her. More than he had before. Wanted to pull her close, hold her tight, wrap his body around hers. Then he wanted to fuck her properly. Hard, deep, and long. He wanted to watch the pleasure take her, brand her. He wanted to see her face, lost in the moment. Lost in him.

The lover of his enemy. The daughter of his greatest adversary.

He would have to forget this intimacy and her. He refused to start a war over a concubine.

Sapphire’s long hair caressed his thighs as she continued licking his cock with soft purrs of pleasure. His eyes slid closed.

No war.

Chapter 5

Sapphire relaxed on the divan in the receiving room after supper, but her mind was far from languid. After studying the plans to her palace with a well-trained eye, she had plotted out every means of escape, then set in place steps to prevent them.

There was only one reason to take such measures. There was only one person who would even consider leaving, let alone wish to and she’d told him that he was free to leave at any time he wished. Her actions were irrational at best, but then she hadn’t been thinking clearly since she first saw him.

If she had any sense at all, she would force him to go. His presence in her household imperiled them both.

She’d scrupulously avoided speaking with him the last two days, but he was often on her mind. Every time she thought of him, she remembered the feel of his mouth between her thighs and the taste of him flowing down her throat. Every time she overheard him talking, her body vibrated with need. His voice was rich, dark, and commanding. It
suited him perfectly and drove her crazy. He had only to speak and her insides melted.

If it were just his striking looks and sexual skill that drew her, she would be able to resist him. But the bemused glimpses that followed her everywhere made her weak in the knees. The way his head tilted when she gave an order, as if every word that passed her lips was of the utmost importance to him, made her stomach flutter. The way his fists clenched at his sides when she emerged from the bathing pool made her nipples hard. The way—

“May I suggest, again, that you ring him?”
the Guardian asked.

“Not an option.”

“In my estimation, your precautions are pointless. Prince Wulfric is well versed in our technology. Instead of contriving to detain him, you should be wondering why he has not left of his own free will. He is more than capable of doing so.”

“I know.” Sapphire had spent the last couple of nights tossing and turning, trying to reason out why he remained with her. She didn’t have the strength to send him away. Apparently, Wulfric didn’t have the sense or the strength to leave. Instead, he waited. For her.

Every time the Sensual Arts students came, he retired to his chamber, the only one of her
mästares
who did not indulge in their carnal skills. She knew because she watched, wanting to know if he would partake and feeling relief when he didn’t.

Swearing, she flung herself off the bed and headed down the hallway. “Guardian, ready the holo-room.” She was so anxious to burn off her
frustration, she didn’t even notice the emerald gaze that followed her.

“Where would you like to go? Crystal Springs? The Laruvian Rain Forest?”

“Did you download my holo-programs from the palace?”

“Of course.”

“Then set up the Valarian Mines.”

There was a weighted pause before the computer responded.
“Mistress, I have reviewed that program extensively. It has none of the fail-safes required by most holo-programs. The Valarian trolls are unrestrained.”

Sapphire smiled grimly. “I know.”

“It is dangerous,”
the Guardian insisted.
“Even for a warrior with your level of training.”

“Precisely.”

Wulfric sat with the other
mästares
and replayed in his mind the sway of Sapphire’s hips as she stalked off, her lush form radiating suppressed violence. He was intrigued by the repeated references to Sapphire’s training. Training that would apparently help her fight off dangerous trolls. After witnessing her agility firsthand, he was burning with curiosity about that aspect of her. His need to know kept him here, restrained as if he was ringed.