Ceremony of Seduction (14 page)

“None of us can afford to lose her, my liege. We will protect her with our very lives.”

Queen Annalecia turned to Stone. “I hesitate to ask this of you, Stone, as you have waited so very long for her and I know your control will only get worse as the ceremony nears and her natural pheromones increase.”

Stone reached out and placed a comforting hand over the queen’s. “I will stay with her. I’ll make some arrangements and then I’ll stay with her in her rooms until the ascension. I’ve waited for this long, I think I can hold out a few more days.”

“Good luck, Stone.” Darius placed a firm hand on his shoulder. “I stayed apart from Annalecia until the ceremony and I almost didn’t survive. You’re a better man than I if you can hold out while sleeping in the same bed with a future queen scant days before the ascension.”

Darius’s words hit Stone like a punch to the gut. The past few days had been pure torture, he didn’t know if he would survive if the temptation became even worse. But for Alyssandra, he would have to. He met Darius’s gaze with the most confident expression he could muster. “For all our sakes, I hope I can become that better man in the next few hours.”

A
lyssandra turned from the view off her balcony at the soft rap on the door to her room. “Come in.” She welcomed the distraction since she’d been silently brooding over Stone’s quick departure.

The door cracked open to admit Sasha, her bright smile immediately cheering Alyssandra. “Good morning, Sasha. I’m glad to see a friendly face.” She stepped forward into her room to meet her maid.

The girl’s brows furrowed for a moment as she closed the door behind her. “Has someone been unfriendly to you, Princess?”

She crossed her arms under her chest and scowled. “No…not exactly unfriendly. Just infuriatingly stubborn and overprotective. Not to mention pigheaded, and utterly and complete male.” Thoughts of Stone’s hasty exit this morning made her want to throw something—preferably him. She knew he was upset about her vision, but he refused to discuss it with her, instead protecting her like a child. If he thought she’d be the meek and malleable wife while he ran her life, he was sadly mistaken. She’d had people pushing her around all her life, but no more. Not even a future king.

Sasha’s full lips curved and her eyes twinkled with amusement. “Ahh, you speak of Prince Stone. Yes, even though I’ve never had a man of my own, I’m familiar enough with the species, and they do seem to think we women will shatter into a million pieces at every turn.”

“You’ve never been with a man? So you’ve never had a coming-of-age ceremony?”

Sasha shook her head. “My birthday is the same as yours, so I’m not yet twenty-four.” She finished crossing the room and sat down. “However, since I’m not ascending the throne, my coming-of-age is a bit different than yours.”

Alyssa plopped down on her bed, crossing her legs Indian style under her as she pulled a pillow into her lap. “Different how?”

“I will of course as your lady’s maid, help with your ceremony. However, since I’m not royal, I have no need of a ceremony for myself. I will mate with the Klatch man of my choosing, and then I’m free to share sustenance with whomever I wish.”

She burned to ask Sasha how she’d be helping with the ascension ceremony, but she wasn’t sure she wanted to dwell too much on that at the moment. “Have you picked the man?”

Sasha blushed, intriguing her. The woman hadn’t shown any type of embarrassment until now. “Yes, I think so.” A look of uncertainty flowed across her face before she masked it. “Enough about me. Do you still have any questions about the ceremony? We can always stop by the queen’s archives after our breakfast and bathing if needs be.”

“The queen’s archives?”

“Yes, that is where the knowledge of Tador is held. There are writings about the ascension ceremony, journals from the past and reigning queens, as well as a full history of Tador, including laws and rulings.”

Alyssa’s initial excitement was suddenly dampened by a flood of doubts. She had always longed to lose herself in a library with thousands of books at her disposal. But what if her Cunt parents were right and she wasn’t smart enough to handle reading anything beyond magazines, let alone taking over as queen?

“What troubles you, princess?”

Alyssandra met Sasha’s concerned gaze and squared her shoulders. “Just fighting some demons from my past.”

“I heard of your treatment at the hands of the Cunts.” Sasha placed a gentle hand over hers. “You’re the crown princess and no one can tell you who you are or what you can do but you. You must remember that.”

Alyssandra’s lips curved on their own and she impulsively hugged her lady’s maid. “Thank you, Sasha. I needed to hear that.”

Sasha pulled back to smile at her. “That’s settled then, once we are done with bathing and breakfast, we’ll stop by the archives.”

They decided on breakfast first since both of their stomachs growled loudly at the wondrous smells wafting from the kitchen below. Once in the grand breakfast room, Alyssandra met several of the other princes and princesses and their lady’s maids and valets, as well as had some more time with her parents. Grayson and Ryan were off on some errand with Stone, and she ground her teeth once again at the arrogance of the male species.

After overcoming her initial bout of shyness, she found she truly enjoyed the conversations and camaraderie of these friendly people, who were her true extended family. She also reveled in having her parents close enough to reach out and touch. Several times throughout breakfast, she found them watching her and she reached out to grip their hands in hers. For the first time in her life, she truly belonged.

Annalecia smiled at her often, but the queen’s face remained pale and drawn. Worry gnawed inside Alyssa, but she reminded herself that as soon as she completed the ceremony, her mother would be safe.

She would have gladly spent the entire day with her parents, but they still had duties to perform, so she reluctantly hugged each of them before turning to leave.

When she and Sasha finally reached the bathing chamber arm in arm, the familiar drag of fatigue slowed her steps. At least now she recognized it as a need for sexual sustenance and not illness.

She thought of the last “sustenance” session with the maid and her nipples hardened and a hot ache began between her thighs. It was hard to believe just a few short days ago she dressed in baggy clothes to hide her body and masturbated like a horny teenager at an all-girl’s school.

She swallowed past her embarrassment and reminded herself that needing sexual energy in this world was just like asking for food and water. Squaring her shoulders, she turned to her maid. “Sasha…”

“Yes, Princess?”

Alyssa took a deep breath and plunged in. “I’m feeling very weak this morning. I think I need lots of…sustenance.”

Sasha’s smile brightened before she whipped off her top and stepped out of her string bikini underwear to stand nude before Alyssa. “Of course you do, Princess. As your ceremony draws near, you will require more and more energy. From what I understand from the queen, it is perfectly normal.”

Another rush of moisture dampened the juncture between Alyssa’s thighs as she appreciated the maid’s lush body. Her fingers itched to touch and explore and she licked her lips in anticipation before something the maid said stopped her. “Wait—you said from what you understand from the queen. Didn’t your mother help the queen through her ceremony? I thought she would’ve passed all the lady’s maid knowledge onto you herself.”

Shadows darkened Sasha’s lavender eyes. “My mother died giving birth to me. The queen had grown up with her, so she grieved my mother and never took another lady’s maid. King Darius has fulfilled all her needs since.”

Alyssa pulled Sasha into her arms, the need to comfort overwhelming. “Oh, Sasha. I’m so sorry. I didn’t know.”

Sasha’s arms tightened around her as she accepted the offered solace. “The other lady’s maids raised me as their own, but I’ve missed having a mother all to myself.” She pulled back to look into Alyssandra’s eyes. “The queen has always been kind to me. It had to have been lonely all these years without a lady’s maid of her own, and yet she always made time to talk to me even before I was old enough to assume my duties.”

Alyssa thought of how much she appreciated having Sasha to talk to and explain things to her—especially when she was irritated at Stone for his overprotective ways. What must it have been like for her mother all those years to have no companion, no daughter and only King Darius to rely on to meet all her needs, not just sexually, but emotionally as well? Not to mention maintaining a symbiotic relationship with an entire planet.
No pressure there!

“I’m glad you were here for her, Sasha. I’m sure you made it more bearable—especially since we are the same age. You allowed her to see what it was like to have a daughter even though I couldn’t be here. Thank you.” Alyssandra was surprised to realize she meant it. She had expected to be jealous of Sasha’s relationship with her parents, but Alyssa was glad that her mother and Sasha didn’t have to be alone. She knew first hand how difficult that was and would never wish it on anyone.

As silence descended inside the bathing chamber, she realized she still held a very naked Sasha in her arms and her body screamed for sustenance. The heated flesh between her legs began a slow throb and her breasts were suddenly heavy with need.

Sasha smiled as if she could smell Alyssa’s arousal in the thick air around them. She stepped back just long enough to pull off Alyssa’s top and skirt and lead her toward the steaming water. “Shaving first, I think. The
ponga
will help replenish you.”

Alyssa reached into the basket first and pulled out one of the ripe purple fruits. The fuzzy skin tickled her palms, almost like a peach, but when she gently squeezed it between her fingers, it was soft instead of firm as she’d expected. She edged one finger-nail under the peel where it had been broken from the stem of whatever bush or tree it grew from, and peeled it back to reveal the whipped cream-like meat of the fruit. “I think there’s plenty of
ponga
for play
and
shaving.”

She dipped two fingers in the fluffy fruit and smeared some on Sasha’s left breast. Sasha giggled and grabbed a fruit of her own, retaliating as soon as she peeled back the fuzzy skin. Soon, both of them were nearly covered in fruit and laughing uncontrollably. Alyssa loved the playful atmosphere and when her mind’s eye conjured the disapproving face of the woman she grew up thinking was her mother, she shoved it aside.
You stole my life from me, but I won’t let you take anymore of it. From here on out, I get to choose who I am and what I do!

The silent declaration lifted a giant weight from her shoulders and she sighed as her laughter subsided. Tingling all over, her body soon showed her the folly of overusing the fruit and a moan escaped from deep inside her throat. Arousal arrowed through her veins and it seemed like every nerve ending in her entire body had turned into a giant erogenous zone. Her nipples hardened to painful peaks and she shifted as her swollen clitoris scraped uncomfortably against her pussy lips.

A quick glance at her lady’s maid showed her struggling similarly. Sasha’s skin was flushed, and her eyes wide with shock.

Alyssa grabbed Sasha’s hand and led her to the platform that stood in the middle of the pool. “Sit,” she commanded, her voice a strained squeak.

Sasha sat, biting back a gasp as her flesh touched the gel-like platform. “I’m sorry, princess. I didn’t think…I’ve never used so much, and…”

Alyssandra silenced her by closing her lips around one of the maid’s engorged nipples. The
ponga
dissolved on her tongue, the nutty flavor causing a new burst of tingles inside her mouth. She wished Stone was here to fuck her from behind while she pleasured the maid. The picture formed so vividly in her mind, she knew exactly what Stone’s thick cock would feel like sliding into her as she suckled Sasha’s breasts.

Sasha jerked and her eyes flew open. “Oh, princess…I can see your vision! You, me…and the prince.”

Rather than embarrassment, a flow of heady power surged through her and a slow smile curved her lips. “We need to gain some sustenance, right? I can’t think of anything better than a combination of voyeurism and actual touch, can you?” At Sasha’s answering grin, she stepped forward pressing her bare breasts against the maid’s.

The fluffy fruit made their skin slide against each other in a silky caress and Alyssa eagerly lowered her lips to Sasha’s, gently licking away the
ponga
before dipping her tongue inside to explore the lush softness of the maid’s mouth. As both their hands roamed and explored, Alyssa closed her eyes and pictured Stone behind her, covering his engorged cock with
ponga
and slowly sliding inside her, stretching her, filling her.

Sasha moaned and her nipples pebbled against Alyssa’s sensitive skin shooting several jolts of power straight to her aching pussy. Her hips began a slow grind against the maid’s bare mons as she pictured Stone pumping into her, harder and faster until her breath came in short quick gasps. When Sasha reached down between them and rolled Alyssa’s swollen clit between two fingers, she saw stars behind her closed lids as an orgasm slapped into her like an angry fist. Her entire body exploded with sudden sensations and large lightning bolts sizzled away from her, drawn out in every direction to strike stone, wood, water, and anything else in its path.

Sasha gasped as the energy hit her and then screamed as her resulting orgasm claimed her too.

Alyssa’s energy drained away like water in a cracked cup and her knees buckled under her. Before she could right herself or even open her eyes, strong arms gripped her and curled her against a clothed and very muscular chest. “Stone…” The familiar sandalwood scent of him filled her senses and she buried her face against his chest.

He sat down at the edge of the bathing pool, still cradling her in his arms, his boots soaked and resting on the first step, still half covered in the warm water. “Had a little too much
ponga
I see.” His voice wasn’t angry, but sounded very strained. He turned toward the four royal guards. “One of you see to the maid. She needs to be thoroughly cleansed of the
ponga
and must have enough sustenance to clear it out of her system.”

One of the guards nodded and waded in after Sasha.

Alyssa opened her mouth to tell Stone that the overdose had been her fault, but before she could form the words, his mouth crushed hers and his tongue demanded admittance. Sensations assaulted her as his soft linen shirt and breeches scratched against her overly sensitized bare skin and his wonderfully callused hands traced every inch of her.

She balled her hands in the cloth of his tunic and held on for dear life as she weathered the storm of his passion. He growled against her lips and lifted her so she straddled him, then he stood and walked down into the bathing pool and turned so he could sit her down on the first step.

The
balda
stone under her bare ass and swollen nether lips sparked and sizzled, and she rubbed against it seeking release. Before she could find it, Stone pinned her, bracketing his arms on either side of the step and thrusting against her, his hard cock rubbing her aching slit through his breeches.