The Shrinemaiden (The Maidens) (6 page)

It felt to Adelai like she couldn’t take the orgasm, like the buildup immediately following it was too much. Her mouth opened in a silent shriek as she felt herself spending again so soon after the last one, her whole body thrashing and her wetness dripping out of her in a continuous stream. And still he continued to fuck her.

“That’s it, sweetling.” His voice was guttural, strained. “Gods, your little cunt was made for my cock.” His stamina was incredible, his thrusts going even deeper and deeper into her wet hole, a heady combination of pain that was easily overshadowed by unmitigated pleasure. “So nice and tight, Adelai.” His hand gripped her hair, tugging her backwards until she was arched, quivering, like a taut bowstring underneath him. “Scream for me, sweetheart. I want the people outside to know how thoroughly you’re being fucked, how much of a slut you are for me. Tell me how you want to be fucked, Adelai.”

His words only served to heighten her lust. She was lost, no longer able to form logical thought as long as he kept ramming into her… oh! There! Obediently Adelai screamed, her voice carrying across the room. “Oh! Oh gods, yes! Like that, harder! Ohh, master, please! Fuck me!”

Her words spurred him further on. His body tensed, and Adelai knew he was about to spill his seed inside her again, the fourth time that night. ”Yes, master,” she encouraged, trying to squeeze mercilessly around his pulsing cock, “fuck me hard, ram your cock into your little slave, I… oh!” She cried out as another orgasm broke through, unexpected. At the same time, she felt him grunt, utter a long, hoarse cry before grabbing her hips and plowing into her one last time. She could feel his seed spurting into her, one long copious stream bathing her insides.

With a groan, he pulled his shrinking cock out of her, guiding her back toward the pillows. Adelai’s legs gave way, and she sank willingly enough onto the soft blankets as the captain sprawled beside her, his hot breaths leaving goosebumps across her back. His hand was stroking her hips, like he couldn’t stop touching her.

“That was incredible, Adelai.”

She smiled to herself, pleased by the exhausted but extremely satisfied tone in his voice. She felt tired herself, but strangely didn’t want to go to sleep just yet, and sensed that he felt the same. She rolled over so she could study him studying her, his blue eyes now grave.

“What happens now?” She whispered. Her heart clenched at the knowledge she could only accommodate him this one night, that she would be contracted out to the other kingdoms soon enough.

He saw the worry in her eyes. “I have to return soon enough to Sarcopia,” he said quietly, and Adelai’s heart sank even further, “King Garrant sent me here as a scout. He knew that the high priestess has a friendship with Belair, and he wanted to know of any weaknesses Atalantea might have. I believe that once his bloodlust has been sated over Highrolfe he will begin mobilizing the armies again to war, and this time against Belair. I served as a mediator between the kingdoms during the last few months, and he believes that even if King Belair grows suspicious of my presence in Atalantea, I can still provide reasons to remain here.”

“But you are the captain of the guard. It isn’t your responsibility.”

“It is not.” His smile was hard. “The king has personally selected his own bodyguards, and has decided to provide me with new duties instead.”

“Is the Sarcopian king truly mad as you say he is?”

The captain’s eyes darkened. “Much worse than you can imagine, my sweet. Few people outside Sarcopia are aware of this, but many of his own subjects fear him, and it is only after mass torture and executions among his own people did he convince them to support his wars. Most of his advisors, all worthy contemporaries of his father, have either been exiled, imprisoned, or killed, and the rest have been cowed into obedience. It is only a matter of time before he attempts to usurp the other kingdoms, and I refuse to allow Garrant to desecrate the memory of his father in this manner.” His eyes softened, and he touched her cheek with a finger. “And that’s where you come in, little maiden.”

“Me?”

“There is a reason King Belair had singled you out. I am aware of the details, but I owe it to him to explain his plans to you, and not from any other source.”

Adelai took a deep breath. She was beginning to understand what the king and the captain had in mind, but she was still too much in the dark concerning her own role to play in all this. “What do you get from this bargain?” His hands stilled at her side. Though fearing he might take offense, she plunged ahead. “I understand that you want to save your kingdom and prevent another war, but how did you find yourself striking up an alliance with King Belair? Did he offer you more wealth? Lands of your own?” Somehow, Thornton didn’t seem like the kind of man who would willingly forsake his king, even if the king was a tyrant, for something so trivial as wealth or power.

“All that, and more. But what he offered that convinced me to accept is now lying in bed beside me.”

Adelai sat up, fighting down the initial feeling of exhilaration with anger. “So I was merely a bargaining chip? All those lessons were a means to make me more compliant when you finally take me?” She was hurt. Had it been all just a masterful ploy to seduce her? She turned to get out of the bed, but soon found herself with her back against the mattress, the captain glaring down at her.

“You were an unexpected offer.” He said quietly. “When I saw you at the temple, I was interested, and it was taken note of. There is little that goes on in the temple of Inne-Anneah, it seems, that your high priestess doesn’t know about. She allowed us those lessons because she insisted on seeing if you were sincerely attracted to me, and if I truly was to you. The king offered to purchase you at the auctions, as a guarantee of his good faith to ensure mine. It did not take me long to capitulate. You were unexpected, and I allowed them to take advantage of me because I wanted you badly. If you do not believe anything else I say, then at least believe that.”

The anger in his voice was real. She was surprised to realize he was mad at being thought capable of such action. And the thought of him giving up the life he had known, to put himself in this kind of danger in order to have her….

“I believe you,” she said, tenderly cupping his face with a hand and watching those hooded blue eyes soften. “But you are putting yourself at great risk, my lord. You could be discovered and captured, or worse. It is too much for so little benefit.”

“I would rather die than serve that madman on my king’s throne any longer. And besides,” he added huskily, moving down so he could capture her lips with his, “one night with you is worth any price.” His hand delved under her thighs, hooking her leg and drawing it closer to his cock. “Let us not waste any more precious time.”

She arched against him willingly enough, but gasped when he pulled her up to a sitting position, settling her on his lap, with her thighs splayed out on either side of him. She whimpered softly, feeling the unmistakable hardness of his cock poised at her dewy entrance, her legs all that was preventing her from sinking down onto him. His eyes met hers, smiling as the hands on her hips tightened and exerted unrelenting pressure, forcing her to slowly impale herself on him. Adelai’s eyes fell shut. In this position he felt delicious, so achingly large inside her. The mushroom tip of his cock slipped in, but he was painstakingly slow. She felt like he could easily split her in two if he moved faster. “Captain.” She gasped out, straining to take more of him inside and have it done with, but his grip prevented her from doing so.

“No, Adelai.” The captain murmured. “If you are to beg, then you must learn to beg me properly. Say my name. Tell me how badly you want my cock inside of you.”

“Captain…”

“My name, Adelai.”

“Thornton,” she moaned, “oh gods.”

The head of his cock withdrew abruptly from her, and her eyes flew open. “No,” she whined, squirming.

“Say it, Adelai.”

Her knees trembled, as he began to enter her again, even slower than the last. “Please,” she babbled.

“Beg me properly, Adelai.”

“Oh,
please
, Thornton. Please fuck me. I want you inside me, I want you to fuck me hard. Oh!” She sank a couple of inches down onto his cock without warning, was lifted up again. She groaned, her cunt muscles trying to keep him in.

“Who does this cunt belong to, Adelai?”

“Yours, Thornton! This cunt will always be yours! Oh, fuck me! Fuck me so hard I - “ She broke off with a little scream as he plunged all the way inside her without stopping, until he was buried to the hilt. Adelai threw her head back and wailed out her pleasure as she came almost immediately. She was given no time to rest. Thornton lifted her up by the waist again, until only the tip was lodged inside, and then let her go, forcing her to slam down hard onto his pole.

“Yes!” She panted, her arms around his neck, bracing herself for the next deep thrust, “Yes! Uhn! Uhn! Yes, please! Please fuck me harder, Thornton, fuck me!…” The words drifted off into a wordless cry as he began to increase his pace, lifting her up greedily and ramming her back down into his engorged cock, wet squelching noises filling the air. He grunted, angling her sex and the position of his hips so he could hammer into her more thoroughly, and Adelai shrieked, no longer caring if there was anyone outside listening, no longer caring if her screams could carry down the corridor and all throughout the castle.

“Oh gods, yes! Ahh! Ah! Uhn!”

She was seeking to work with him, forcing herself up so she could bring herself down on his cock as well, adding to the force of his thrusts and meeting his upward thrust with her downward stroke. She was bouncing hard on his lap, her buttocks making quick, slapping noises every time they came into contact with him.

She could feel herself on the verge of another orgasm, the latest in a long line of orgasms she had long since lost count of. Even as she cried out, her body shuddering its release, she heard him growling, the tempo changing from hard quick thrusts to longer, more deliberate jerks, and she knew instinctively he was about to join her. She encouraged him, muscles clamping down and releasing him at intervals, trying to make herself as tight as she could get. Much to her surprise, she found herself being lifted off him.

“I want to spend in your mouth.” He rasped out.

She was quick to obey, moving down so she could eagerly take him into her mouth, tasting her own musky scent there and not finding it repugnant at all. Her tongue worked its way up his shaft, savoring the soft textured feel. She cupped his balls with one hand as her mouth worshiped him, allowing him to stroke in with short, hard thrusts the way he had been taking her only moments before.

“Ah, fuck!” It was the only warning she received before he jerked, felt streams of cum shooting into her mouth. She swallowed as much of him as she could, a thrill running through her at knowing she could make someone as strong and as powerful as the captain lose control like this, how she could give him this much pleasure. He tasted salty and sweet, his smell enticing. She could feel him growing soft in her mouth, but continued to lick lightly at him, until she was certain he had nothing left to give. That done, she crawled back up beside him, and couldn’t help but feel smug at the stunned look he shot her way.

“You taste very nice.” She said, with a grin, trying to hide her sudden exhaustion.

He laughed. “And you learn fast.” He stroked her breasts, his mouth traveling up to nibble at her neck. He could probably sense that she was sore and tired, for he tucked her against his side, content to nuzzle at her skin but do nothing else.

“Thornton?” Adelai could already feel herself dropping off to sleep, but there was still one nagging question drifting through her mind.

“Yes, little one?”

“What’s going to happen tomorrow?”

There was a pause, before Adelai felt the pressure of his mouth against her eyelids. “I will explain everything to the best of my ability then, sweet. As will Belair, and Saleia. For now, it would be best for you to go get your rest. I have already overused you enough as it is.”

Too tired to argue or ask more questions, Adelai could only nod her head. Within seconds she was fast asleep.

She woke up alone the next morning.

Adelai was first aware of a delicious soreness between her thighs, an aching that wasn’t altogether unpleasant, though decidedly uncomfortable. Her eyes flickered open, as sunlight streamed in through the window, and her first thought was that she had overslept. There were still chores to be done, and Andrika would not be happy to hear she’d been oversleeping. She fought to sit up, and then groaned as the soreness grew more pronounced.

It was only after her eyes took in the unfamiliar bedchamber, a far cry from the simple room she shared with three other sisters, that the events of last night finally sank in. She had been sold at auction to King Belair. No, she had spent the night with….

She closed her eyes, a warm glow suffusing her cheeks she was unable to hide. When she was younger, when she had little understanding of a shrinemaiden’s bid price, she had always imagined her first time with someone that she loved, who she could marry and spend the rest of her life with. As she grew older, those hopes were dashed easily enough, but last night felt to her like the closest she would ever get to those naive dreams.

She was glad to see that the gown she had worn had not been torn, although it was rumpled and creased. She put it on, having no other alternatives. She wondered where the captain was, had been hoping to wake up with him still stretched out beside her, wondered how his naked body might look in the morning light. She was disappointed, but she forced that away. She was a full-fledged shrinemaiden now, and it wouldn’t do for her to be mooning after someone who had taken her virginity given that there would be others waiting in line for her services soon enough - an even likelier one, given the price she had been sold for last night.

The butterflies in her stomach had started up again, and she was debating on whether she should return to the room she and the others had been allotted, or if she should attempt to find Thornton herself, when a knock sounded at her door. A plump maidservant entered, bearing a large breakfast tray, and she had almost forgotten that she was hungry.