Chapter 4: The Shadow

It was the time of night when the palace had finally fallen silent. She had dismissed her handmaidens and lay on her bed looking up at the stars through the lattice of her shutters. The King had gone to negotiate a land treaty with the Prince of a neighbouring state and she had been lonely. Her women sang and played to her and the eunuchs told her stories of the old King's harem. But alone in the quiet of the night she yearned for her husband.

Sleeping fitfully, she dreamed of her nights with the King and woke many times hot with desire for him. She recalled the tenderness of their first night together. She felt her body shudder with pleasure at the thought of his first touch of her body. Surrendering herself to the waking dreams, she threw back the thin sheet which covered her and began to run her hands over her body.

She brushed her hand over her breasts, touching her nipples very lightly at first. She circled her nipples with a finger and felt them shoot up and pucker tightly. With her eyes closed, she pictured the face of her King stooping over her to kiss her breasts. She licked her finger and wet the nipples which were now extremely sensitive. Picturing his smile, she let her hands wander over the skin of her body, returning from time to time to her grateful breasts.

She imagined him lying between her legs, while she stroked the inside of her thighs, letting them fall apart as if to accommodate his body. She raised her hand to her mouth and wet her fingers again, then returned them to the inside of her thighs. Slowly, teasing as he had so often done, she moved her hand up to part the hairs and let her finger pull gently along the cleft between her hot lips. Pushing her fingers inside her, she gently rubbed and tickled the soft flesh inside, feeling that it was his hands and remembering the joy of his touch.

Moving her fingers in and out of her, she could feel the need begin to build in her. Oh, my husband, she sent out the thought to him. Pulling her finger out, she allowed it to rub along the centre of her pleasure and in her distraction let out a tiny moan, surprising herself a little. She opened her eyes and saw a shadow on the lattice outside her window. Keeping perfectly still, she waited. The shadow moved a little. Who was there? Was it one of the eunuchs in her private garden? Was it one of the palace guard spying on her? What had he seen?

Then she heard a whisper. "Continue," said the voice. She could not move.

"Continue," the voice repeated, "touch yourself again so that I may watch."

Despite her fear and embarrassment, she felt very excited by his instruction. The man was outside. The shutter was locked so he could not enter her room. She told herself that this man must have no idea whose room this was. He had probably strayed into the private garden by mistake and imagined he was watching a handmaiden. She needed relief and could not deny that the presence of the man had heightened her arousal.

"Put your fingers back inside you and turn so that I may see where they are."

Her heart began to pound but she felt compelled to comply. She turned her body towards the window and slipped her middle finger into her to its full length.

"Now, imitate the action of a man's pride. Show me how you would enjoy the presence of a man in you."

She moved her finger in and out of her, tense at first but before long relaxed by the excitement she began to feel. As the pleasure increased, she was moving her hips against her finger as if she were matching her lover's thrusts.

"I like what you are doing. I would like to take the place of your finger. Instead I shall allow my hand to take the place of your body. I will imagine that it is your tightness which holds me and your movement which excites me. Now move with me again."