19
Alarie
Luke, Lord Grant Preston, his husband, Jamie, and I stood in a thoroughfare between large marble pillars outside of where we had just finished lunch. Jamie’s stream of dialogue faltered. And that’s when I noticed Jay’s appearance at the other end of the hallway.
I gulped down air as I felt Jay’s eyes lock onto me, standing a little too near Lord Preston. I managed to give Grant a small, reassuring smile, and his demeanor held up better than his husband’s, given the high lord’s approach. People always clammed up around Jay, like their fear of him held their tongues in some kind of vice grip.
Luke stood a few feet away from where I stood with Grant. Luke managed to prod Grant’s husband, Jamie, back into conversation by the time Jay reached my side, interrupting briefly to shake Grant’s hand.
He was just passing through on his way to House Heroux, Jay explained.
“Stop by my study when you get back to the manor,” Jay directed to me.
My pulse quickened as I thought of the lesson Jay, no doubt, had in store for me. Jay didn’t interrupt Luke and Jamie, the latter of whom appeared to be enraptured by Luke’s very presence. Jamie was very taken by Luke, and I’d directed my attention toward Grant most of the afternoon. After Jay’s departure, Grant started back up our conversation.
“I don’t know how you do it, Alarie,” Grant said.
“Do what?” I asked.
“Just stand there all calm and smiling next to Lord Vitruvian. He scares the shit out of me,” he joked.
I’d already secured a helpful piece of information earlier in the conversation from Lord Preston—a ship carrying bourbon barrels made for the High Court had hit some bad weather in the south and would be delayed several weeks. With all the parties and soirees coming up at the High Court, lords and ladies would pay a premium to save themselves the embarrassment of a sparsely stocked bar. Once I relayed this information to Jay, I knew he would be able to purchase all the bourbon he could get his hands on and make a significant profit on reselling it.
So, I turned my attention to some tactical teasing with the young lord.
“No, he doesn’t, Grant,” I said, smacking him lightly on the arm. “You looked just fine to me,” I continued playfully.
“You, on the other hand, Alarie. Well, I’d stay here and let you smack me around as much as you like,” he teased with a smile on his face.
“I may just take you up on that offer, Grant. Drinks next week?” I asked, giving him my best fake smile. “You and Jamie, of course,” I said, setting myself, as well as Luke, up for the next meeting.
* * * *
I arrived at the manor and sought out Jay in his private study, where I knew I would find him going over his reports from the day. I opened the solid wood door to Jay’s study, stepped in, and closed the door silently behind me.
“Lord Preston was of some use today,” I said, smiling wryly.
I walked to the back of the large brown mahogany desk where he sat and leaned against it, crossing my ankles. Looking up from his papers, Jay raised an eyebrow at me, then a one-sided devilish smile slid across his handsome face.
“I have no doubt he was. Based on how close I saw you standing next to him, he never really had a chance. He probably breathed you in and breathed out his life’s deepest secrets.”
I told Jay about the delayed shipment of bourbon to the High Court.
“Anything else?” he probed.
I knew he was looking for the kind of information that wasn’t related to the market, the kind of information that people only whispered about behind closed doors.
“Grant and Jamie seem perfectly open to…” I paused, choosing my words carefully, “Being open. But I think Luke would fare better in that regard than I would. Grant seems willing enough, but Jamie only had eyes for Luke,” I finished, pretending that I was the slightest bit disappointed by this last statement.
This was the game we played.
As liaison, I often met with other lords. It was my duty to attend all social court functions and be the face of House Vitruvian. I had a few guys who could be considered friends—Luke and Rhett. But I never allowed any of the lords to advance past the flirtatious smiles and casual touches that were exchanged during my social calls. I knew how to toe the line of showing just enough interest to keep their attention but not so much interest that they felt rebuffed when things did not go further. This was the game many at the High Court played, and it assisted me in gathering the tidbits of information I would later share with Jay.
I knew this, and Jay did too. Only my wishful courters were out of the loop. We’d decided to keep our relationship private for the time being. At the High Court, all forms of relationships could be found and were accepted. Mistresses and lovers were often seen at the High Court. Some were even selected as consorts, an official position within the House recognized at the High Court. But I did not want my initiation into the High Court tied to my initiation into Jay’s bed.
By all appearances, I’d not yet picked a suitor, which only made me that much more appealing to the other lords. After all, I was new to Court, and no one had had me—that they knew of.
So, I would flirt and tease the other lords and come home to Jay with my pockets full of secrets. He would graciously accept the fruits of my labor as high lord and then, in the next breath, use those very same efforts as the reason to remind me that I was his alone. I was sore for two days the first time Jay saw me dance with another man who was not Luke.
“I’ll just have to see if I can’t do a better job catching Jamie’s eye next week when we grab drinks,” I said teasingly.
“Alarie,” he said in a warning growl.
“Hmm?” I hummed innocently, running a fingertip playfully across my bottom lip.
Jay set the pen in his hand down. Still seated, he slid me toward him until I was standing between him and his desk. Due to our height difference, this move put my breasts and neck within reach of his mouth.
“You want to play with the young lords?” he questioned darkly, deliberately unbuttoning the top buttons of my shirt to reveal the tops of my breasts pushed up like a shelf supported by a white silk bra.
Jay called everyone a young lord, even if they were hundreds of years old, because almost everyone at the High Court was younger than him.
“That’s fine,” he said as he bit the top of my right breast lightly, grazing his teeth along my skin while he firmly handled my left breast, his roughness indicating it was anything but fine.
I leaned into his attention, pushing more of myself into his mouth, enjoying this bit of roughness, as an ache grew between my thighs.
He stood and lifted me onto the desk so that my feet dangled. Then he continued to run his hand up my body, pressing me down until I lay on my back on the desk. His hand ended its journey, lightly resting around my throat.
“You can play with the young lords all you want, Alarie, but remember, when you do, you will come home to me andI will take what’s mine and mine alone,” he warned, his fingers tightening ever so slightly around my throat to emphasize his point.
I swallowed under the feel of his grip. “Yes, Jay.”
Then he sat back in his chair and wrapped my legs around his shoulders. He lowered his head under my skirt, inhaling before he grabbed my white panties and began to pull them to the side.
He let out a growl, his lips so close that I could feel it rumbling inside of me. And then he began his relentless licking. He started at my opening, licking the pool of desire that had already gathered, sticking his tongue into me slightly before firmly rolling his tongue to the top of me. When he reached the top of me, my back began to arch off the table. He placed a firm hand on my lower stomach, stilling me, keeping me from moving.
“Let me hear you say it, Alarie,” he demanded, his mouth hovering over me, leaving me drenched and aching.
“I’m yours, Jay,” I almost pleaded, knowing exactly what I was supposed to say.
“And?” he demanded, running his tongue down my middle and stopping again.
“I’ll always come home to you and come for you,” I rambled.
“Don’t you ever forget it, Alarie,” he commanded.
Then he roughly buried his face into me.
He began to flick his tongue, at first slow and then faster. Jay slid a finger into me and began to stroke the knot inside of me in sync with the flicks of his tongue. I dug my fingers into his hair, riding his face. I tightened as I held my breath in the last moments before he brought me over the edge of my pleasure, a wave of ecstasy causing my legs to go wider and bow into him.
Jay peeked his head out from under my skirt, looking up at me, satisfaction plain on his face.
“Hmmm,” I purred, propping myself up on my elbows and then all the way up, unable to quarrel with the high lord’s smug satisfaction.
I kissed his face, tasting my sweetness on his tongue. I reached for the hardness still encased within his pants. I used both of my hands to begin unbuttoning his pants while he explored my mouth with his tongue. At last, releasing him from his pants, I began to stroke the length of him, running my hand over the top of him with each stroke.
“I want you in my mouth,” I said between kisses.
Jay liked for me to tell him what I wanted. And I wanted him.
He obliged, stepping back long enough to allow me to hop from the desk. I proceeded to let my skirt drop to the ground and then unbuttoned what remained of my shirt and threw it to the ground, too. I stood in my black pumps and my white silk set, my nipples poking through the thin fabric of the bra, then I dropped to my knees. I licked the length of him up and down while running a hand over the top of him. I took him into my mouth, licking the bottom of his shaft as he pushed farther down my throat.
My panties were soaked through from my release and the feel of him in my mouth. The ache between my thighs turned into a gushing throb.
“Fuck me, Jay,” I said with my mouth still on him.
Still standing, he lifted me easily, holding me up to him. Then he began to slide me on top of his length as my legs wrapped around him. My ache lessened with every inch of him that pushed into me until he stood fully sheathed inside of me. Connected, he turned us away from the desk until my back was pressed against the wall. He began to thrust into me.
“Harder,” I begged, wanting the length of him to pin me against the wall with each thrust.
He drove into me relentlessly.
“You’re mine,” he said, driving his point home with each thrust.
“This is mine,” he said, indicating with his thrust.
“These are mine,” he said, roughly grabbing my breasts.
“Yes, yes, yes,” I agreed emphatically as he drove me to and past the point of my pleasure.
It was a fun game we played.