6. Chapter Six #2
Looking down at Melrose, hair splayed across the fallen leaves, cheeks toasted mauve and eyes wide, I kept stopping at her lips.
They weren’t puffy or crimson as I preferred them.
Not until I dropped that last foot down to be stomach to stomach with her, our lips brushing.
She kissed me back. Avaris preserve me. Even dizzy as a cat running around a slippery kitchen floor away from children, I was grounded by the simple truth that Melrose kissed me back just as hard.
She grabbed me by the cheeks and pulled me into her.
The sound of leaves shifting was the background noise to our heavy breathing.
Between hot kisses, we gulped down each other’s air.
I pulled back from the kiss to swallow more than a single puff of air and couldn’t help the groan that escaped me.
Her fingers found my hair and undid the delicate charms like a master seamstress with a less than helpful knot in her thread.
I caught them glittering in the afternoon sun for a moment before my hair fell like a curtain around us.
My platinum tendrils were a blanket of snow, cutting us off from the rest of the castle.
The only thing that existed was Melrose.
Her knees shifted under me and I wove mine between hers.
I pushed up the hem of her dress till I was forced to spare a dirty hand to the silk.
I left a drop of soil and a dead leaf on her belly where I pooled the top of her skirt.
The memory of the study was still fresh in my mind, I couldn’t help dusting off my palms over my frock to clean them of soil.
I needed to touch her again. And when I broke our kiss again, to glance between us, I found the same glorious nest of curls completely uncovered.
Of course they are! When would she have had time to fix that?
When would she have grabbed a pair of small clothes?
I whisked her away from the cathedral so swiftly, it hadn’t even occurred to me.
“My fingers are a little dirty,” I chuckled against her damp lips, stealing another lazy kiss from her.
“I know that mouth of yours is cleaner than soap,” she retorted, wicked sparkle in her eyes.
“My thoughts exactly, though, you’ll need to be quiet.
Make any trouble here and…” I trailed off as she kissed me again.
The touch of our lips grew grittier, teeth clinking together and tongues tangled.
I got ahold of her bottom lip in my teeth, pulling down on it till I popped off with a light smack. “There will be consequences.”
“From you or the crown?” she panted.
I let out a strangled, raspy sound as I confessed, “What I would give to be the one spanking you, Melrose.”
“Then spank me,” she giggled, hips bucking up to press her molten core against my lap. “Don’t threaten me with a good time.”
“I can’t spank you here, Trouble,” I scolded but there was no venom or bite in it.
My smile was so broad it ached. She hummed with coquettish delight, knowing she’d found yet another weakness of mine.
On top of her, on top of my feverish delight in knowing she misbehaved just for me, I was a controlling cleric who craved laying her hands on the bare backside of the Hierophant’s daughter.
What a cruel thing to make me, Goddess. Had you made me without desire, without needs, I wouldn’t be in this position…
nor would I if you hadn’t made her with the kingdom’s finest clay.
I croaked, “But I can taste the fruits of my earlier labor, I suspect.”
“Please,” she whimpered, fingernails scraping down the back of my scalp.
There was an old saying that satyrs were descendants of Eluvia, the goddess of love and passion.
I’d bet every coin in the order’s purse and my left foot that, at the very least, Melrose St. Augustine was the direct descendent of the vixen in the ancient forest. My lips trailed her jaw to her throat and the feel of her warm skin against my frosty flesh was enough to send me into oblivion.
Then I nipped at her jugular, and the keening sound from her mouth made me bury my fingers in her thighs.
I could leave smudges and marks all I wanted there, but I did my best not to bring them where they craved to be.
The memory of thrusting my fingers deep into her tingled on my skin.
I kissed down her throat to her collarbone, using my chin to push down the fabric and finally get my lips around her nipples.
They perked immediately, then turned to hardened stone with every flick of my tongue.
Melrose was forced to cup her mouth with one hand, muffling her desire.
I’d love to hear the sound echo off the cathedral walls.
Moving from one sensitive bundle to the next, I tormented her till she begged.
“Goddess preserve me, Keida! Please,” her voice cracked.
Hips bucking up, begging me to tend to the fire I’d stoked, Melrose was dough in my hands.
I chuckled, sliding down till my head poked under her dress.
Tiny icicles melted off my scalp and left dribbles all over her body as I kissed her curls.
She smelled of citrus and spice. Oranges and grapefruits with allspice and nutmeg, something earthy but tangy.
Tasting her was like finally getting a slice of cake that I’d been eyeballing, and I tasted her hungrily.
Her fingers fisted my hair, and I wrapped my lips across her clit.
With every tug from her, I increased the pressure in kind.
I almost feared for a bald spot till we both found that preferred suction for her.
With only the whistle of wind through the bushes in the garden to cover up the sound of her pleasure, I was surprised it was so muffled.
Then I pulled back enough to give her a moment of reprieve and found my gloves stuffed in her mouth.
It was the silliest thing, but it broke me.
Lips dripping with her delight, frenzied delight pumping through my veins, simply seeing her moan through the heavy leather was what did me in.
I laughed harder than I’ve ever in my life. My forehead fell against to her soft belly. I felt her laughter fill the air as she spit out my gloves.
“What are we doing?” I breathed.
“Tasting the fruits of your labor, I think,” she teased, giggles still bubbling up through her chest. “And eating your earlier words.”
My blood ran cold. Oh right…of course…The lie that damned me.
Before I could say anything or correct myself, the sound of full armor knights clanging down the halls of the castle rattled over our heads. I scrambled to right her clothing and Melrose rushed to dust me off from the leaves.
“Ah! Your Lunarence, don’t tell me the garden got you by the robe hem,” a sweet, charming chuckle filled the garden.
Swallowing my tongue, I whirled around to see Queen Erinnessa.
Her queen’s guard sauntered up from the northern entrance to the garden.
I was speechless, mouth flapping like a trout as I realized…
I could still taste Melrose on my tongue.