XVI Hera
Hera couldn’t find herself a place. After Dago and Dorian disappeared into the sea abyss, she tried to meditate, contemplating the beautiful landscape, but her thoughts clung to her consciousness like her wet dress to her body. Neither drying her clothes with the phoenix heat nor snacks could help. She finally gave in and cleaned up after breakfast, washing the dishes without magic. But when she was done, she found herself in a den of temptation.
If you get tired of sunbathing, you can go sightseeing, but please do not enter the room opposite the library.
These words clashed with the memory of what he’d said earlier, and the volcano of her conscience released another batch of sharp debris. If Dago was telling the truth, she was the first human he entrusted with the care of his castle. Not only did he let her into his home, but he left her there alone , which meant that if he didn’t trust her yet, he at least wanted to.
Dago Midais wanted to trust her.
After she put him through a nightmarish test.
Sweet dream, how could she pretend to agree with his idea just to check his level of greed and sensitivity to illogical arguments? At the same time he was learning to trust other people? She behaved with such calculation…
…like him.
You turn a few bags of sugar into gold and we’ll be even.
It’s Dago Midais , she told herself, looking at the black door across from the bathroom on the first floor. Dago Midais will always be Dago Midais.
So if Dago Midais said that Hera could tour his castle, why shouldn’t she?
She crossed the corridor.
After five minutes, she convinced herself, silently promising that she would just take a look.
After ten minutes she touched the doorknob…
…which of course was gold and of course turned into sugar because, of course, Hera touched it with her left hand because, of course , she was left-handed.
“Bad dream,” she swore under her breath. Annoyed, she put the doorknob in place and waited for her cursed right hand to glue it to the door again.
Maybe it’s a sign I shouldn’t do it? she wondered for the next five minutes.
Midais said he didn’t mind , she contemplated for another five.
Then she remembered he’d poured water on her.
Ogre , she thought, reaching for the doorknob with her right hand.
She cracked the door open and peeked inside. From the white shelves filled with tools, boxes, and jars, she guessed that it was some kind of workshop…
She couldn’t hold any longer. She closed the door, feeling heat on her cheeks. She’d never snooped around someone’s house. Maybe if Dago had shown her this place himself, she wouldn’t have felt like a peeper, but in this situation…
She returned to the edge of the island. She took off her dress and used a fixed ladder to enter the cool water. She swam until her thoughts froze and then lay peacefully on a sunbed.
“Having fun, sweetpearl?”
Her eyes flew open. Next to the ladder stood Dago Midais. He was dripping water and smiling cheekily.
He was naked.
She turned away.
“This isn’t the greeting a fiancé would expect from his future wife,” Dago said, amused. “I think we need to work on your reactions. After all, we don’t want people to think I’m forcing you to do something, right… Hera?”
She knew from his voice he was approaching. She ignored the trembling weight in her chest and rose to a sitting position. He was right.
And now he was also wearing a tunic.
He cocked his eyebrow, apparently noticing her surprise. “I can undress again if you want.”
“There’s no need,” she said hastily.
He moved his gaze over her naked skin and the underwear that covered the rest. “The sun doesn’t burn your skin?” he asked curiously.
“No,” she replied, shifting as he sat on the edge of the sunbed.
“Then maybe I should call you sweetsun instead of sweetpearl.”
“My name would be enough, Dago.”
He met her eyes. She didn’t know what he saw in hers, but the satisfaction in his couldn’t be missed.
He rested his hand on her leg. She tensed on reflex but didn’t pull away.
He started stroking her skin with his thumb. “What do you say about some deeper relaxation?”
Her throat dried up. A shiver ran through her. The place he touched burned, and this heat seemed to radiate into the rest of her body.
She had a fever. She must have had a fever. Otherwise, she never would have asked…
“What do you want to do?”
He smiled, moving his hand to her ankle and back up to her knee. “The same thing we’ve started recently… but instead of my fingers, I would use my tongue.”
Blood buzzed in her ears. She’d never…
“No man has ever touched you like this?” Dago guessed with nightmarish accuracy.
Lemon drops, she really needed to learn to better control her own reactions…
His smile widened. “I think it would be good for you to practice self-control. Scoot to the edge of the bed and spread your legs. Try not to move or make a sound while I’m touching you.” He stood and grinned at her flushed face. “Ready?”
She nodded. She was embarrassed and self-conscious, but if she didn’t try, she would never know how it felt…
Dago stopped at the end of the sunbed, waiting for her to come closer. When she did, he knelt in front of her and covered her knees with his palms with a gentle but decisive gesture. “It would be more comfortable for you if you lie down,” he said without a trace of irony.
She didn’t understand why the same man who usually annoyed her so much now seemed so trustworthy, but this wasn’t the time for such considerations. She followed her intuition and did as he suggested. She tried not to shiver as he ran his hands along her thighs and brushed his fingers against the hem of her panties.
“Lift your hips,” he said.
She listened and he slid down her underwear. When he spread her legs, she didn’t protest. She focused on the blue sky, the ripple of the water, and the refreshing sea breeze…
Oh-blue-be-rries.
He really was touching her.
With his tongue.
He was licking her…
She twitched, gasping—and instead of the man’s warm breath on her skin, she felt a waft of wind.
Dago straightened and pinned her with a gaze that seemed cold and hot at the same time. “No movements and no sounds, remember?” he said, lowering his voice in such a way that despite his words being a question, they sounded in her ears like a command and a promise intertwined, so that it wasn’t clear where one ended and the other began.
She swallowed. His pupils were round, which meant he wasn’t trying to sway her with his Charm, which meant what she felt were her own genuinely subjective feelings…
He touched her so suddenly that she couldn’t keep herself from moving or letting out a whisper-like moan.
“You think too much,” he said, massaging a sensitive spot between her thighs in a caress that was as pleasant as it was cruel. “Close your eyes and focus only on my touch.”
He didn’t wait for her answer. He leaned in and started licking her again…
…and didn’t stop even though her body made more than one movement and her gasp sounded loud even in her ears.
Caramel dream…
Help…
She felt she would soon fall and melt. She needed to hold on to something, otherwise she would get lost…
Self-control , she reminded herself.
She went still, trying to focus on her breath…
…even though Dago said a moment ago to focus only on his touch…
What then? she asked the sky desperately, fighting with all her muscles to stop them from the slightest movement.
Breath or touch?
What was more important?
Breath , she decided, gritting her teeth when the wet caress suddenly got more intense.
One couldn’t live without breathing. Touch wasn’t that important…
She bit her lip, choking back a moan which almost escaped her throat.
…even if now nothing else seemed to matter.
She could live without touch.
Raspberry dream, what was he doing?
She didn’t need it…
Why was he acting as if he was eating…
…the most delicious…
…ice cream…
…under…
…the sun?
Hera tensed, arching her back. She couldn’t. It was too difficult. She felt her body shiver. Like the air before the storm. Like the earth before the quake. Like a volcano before eruption.
But the thunder didn’t come, the earth didn’t break, and the volcano didn’t erupt.
There. Was. Only. This. Flaming. Pressure. She. Could. Not. Stand. Any. Longer.
“Dago,” she said, not caring that her words sounded like moans. “Stop.”
The man pulled away and a refreshing breeze cooled her skin. Good. One moment and she would become herself again. One moment and this arduous pressure would fade away…
Midais straightened, wiping the moisture from his nose and mouth with the back of his hand.
Moisture.
Her moisture.
She ignored the blush on her cheeks, but how could she not notice when…
“What’s wrong?” Dago asked, surveying her face. His gaze seemed focused and distracted at the same time.
Hera swallowed. “I can’t stand it any longer,” she said, trying to hide the desperation boiling inside her. “That’s enough.”
“Do you feel pain?”
The concentration on his face made her feel even more self-conscious.
“Yes,” she said, increasingly aware of the pose she was now taking. “But not… It’s not the pain you think… But I can’t any longer. I can’t stand it.”
She attempted to cross her legs, but he stopped her. His expression cleared.
“Two minutes,” he said. “Can you stand that much?”
She didn’t understand why he was so determined. She hesitated. “But you will stop?”
She thought that the corners of his mouth would lift, but they didn’t. “If you want me to stop, I will.”
“Two minutes?” she asked, just in case.
This time he smiled. “Maybe less if you don’t try so hard to control yourself.”
“What about the self-control practice?”
“There will be other occasions.”
She gave in. “All right.”
He didn’t waste any time. His mouth clung to her and he started…
Vanilla-chocolate-strawberry dream.
He was sucking her.
All the tension she wanted to get rid of came back. Her muscles tensed as if preparing for terrible pain…
Sweet nightmare, why had she agreed to this?
How could she let him suck her?
And why was he doing it so good ?
Make.
It.
Stop!
“Ah!”
She couldn’t categorize the sound that escaped her mouth. It was too quiet for a scream, too loud for a moan, and a bit tearful, but with a note of relief.
Never mind.
She felt good. Better with every moment.
Oh, so good.
So light.
One moment and she would turn into a dream…