Chapter 24

Bralan had gone by the time dinner concluded in the main hall. The laughter and reverie that filled the room was nothing compared to the lightness that pervaded Denae's heart and mind. The time was right for Denae to tell Jorgarn that she had loved him from almost the first moment she met him. She would confess the confusion in her mind about what role he should play in their relationship.

She planned to tell him all the thoughts that had haunted her brain since the week before her installation as heiress.

Rayna caught Denae by the arm as she exited the dining area.

"You will lose him forever if you follow through with what you are thinking," her attendant warned. "You are too far along for confessions. He will never forgive your deceit. All you can do is continue to play along as you have. You mustn't ever tell him what you have considered."

Denae pulled roughly away from Rayna and had raced up the stairs, well ahead of her contingent. She could tell Rayna was still displeased but it bothered her not the least. Leyota was confused at Denae's haste and Denae had seen Usala, who seemed to see and know more than Denae suspected, pull the younger girl aside and whisper in her ear.

Leyota had smiled her wonderful smile – a smile she rarely used until she came to the castle – and giggled merrily. The warm sound of the girl's happiness was still ringing in Denae's ears when she knocked once on Jorgarn's door and then entered.

As he did every time he saw her, Jorgarn smiled warmly.

"Dinner went well?" he asked at the sight of Denae's gleeful expression.

"I think so," she said as she crossed the room, hurriedly lifting her gown over her head. It was one of her finest but she didn't care if it was in tatters when she finished.

"Princess," a small voice said from behind her. She recognized Leyota even though the gown was caught on her shoulders and her eyes covered. "I came to help with your buttons. Jorgarn has but one arm and cannot."

She felt small hands on her back and her face flushed. But Leyota obviously knew where Denae was headed and she obviously didn't think it wrong. She felt the restriction around her shoulders ease but when she turned to thank Leyota, she only caught the door closing again.

The gown settled back around Denae's shoulders as she blushed furiously.

"I have not met that one," Jorgarn said. "Pretty girl, she seems to be the model of discretion."

Denae sat beside Jorgarn, her haste to undress abated for the moment.

"That is Chicote's sister," she said. "The nice one."

"Ah," Jorgarn said as he took Denae's hand and caressed it. "He said he had one sister I'd hate and one that I would like. I can see he was right. I actually did meet her when she arrived. But I didn't get the chance to speak to her."

He considered something for a moment.

"I wonder if Riset knows she would probably be equally as pretty if she smiled once in a while," he asked idly. "Did you meet Fieth's sister? I didn't get the chance. I wanted to because Elobert says she is a nice girl."

Denae smiled.

"You danced with her, silly," she said as she enjoyed the feeling of his hand in hers. "She is really shy. She was the girl who was sitting by herself at the first, no, the second, party we went to afterward. She is, well, plain, I suppose."

Jorgarn thought for a moment and Denae could actually see the memories flash in his head. Suddenly a picture of Saneth Fieth entered both of their thoughts.

"She is very nice," Jorgarn said with a frown. "I didn't find her plain. I found her far more attractive than Riset Renoit. She didn't even introduce herself. She certainly didn't regale me with tales of who she is and how important she will become. In fact, we spoke mostly of you. You should befriend her, I think. Elobert says she is no friend of Riset's and she might be a very useful ally."

Denae pulled Jorgarn's hand up to her cheek.

"You have gained a firm grasp on not only the situation but the personalities," she said. "I believe the same. Unfortunately, her parents dragged her away before I could speak with her. It's an odd situation. The Renoit parents are extremely loyal to my father. But Riset is not. The Fieths are unhappy with the changes my father has put into place. Yet Saneth seems to appreciate them. But enough of political talk, we can speak of such things during the daytime when there are others around us."

She stood and allowed her gown to drop to her feet. Despite her earlier haste, she picked it up and hung it gently over a bedside chair after checking to ensure it was not ruined during her ill-fated attempt to remove it.

"I desperately would like to bathe," Jorgarn said.

Denae frowned at him. He was not supposed to move from the bed except under very limited circumstances. He most certainly was to refrain from getting his new mends wet.

"I'll be careful," Jorgarn promised. "I'll hold my arm outside the tub. I have not had a proper bath in three days. I bathed in an ice cold stream the last time and I can assure you it was quick."

"And probably why your arm is in the shape it is," Denae replied.

"The arm is in this condition because the knife was dirty and so was the trek to Domita," he said ruefully. "I did not follow Eslada's instructions to keep it clear of dirt and to rinse it with alcohol frequently. Now, if you will allow me to bathe, I promise to return shortly."

He arose from the bed before receiving an answer. His lower clothes fell to the floor because Denae had not retied them before she departed for dinner. She started to laugh but she stopped when her eyes lit upon his back. There was a criss-cross of jagged scars running from his shoulders to the bottom of his ribs. She had never had the chance to inspect Jorgarn's back in the light.

"Lie back down," she said quietly. "I'll warm the water for you."

Jorgarn started to retrieve the clothing that had fallen to floor.

"You might as well leave them off," Denae said, her happiness returning quickly. "I don't think you'll require them for your bath."

She raised her eyebrows.

"Or when you return to your bed," she added with a wink.

Denae closed the door to the privacy chamber and opened the valve to the sun-heated cistern above them. It would take a while for the water to warm so she began to inspect the room. It was the same size as hers but held far fewer items. She smiled to herself when she wondered if the tub was large enough for both of them. Then a plan firmed in her mind.

"Come," she said as she opened the door. "I've decided in the interest of safety, that I will assist with your bath."

Denae knelt behind Jorgarn as she sat in the tub. Her cheek was next to his as she washed his chest and his uninjured arm. The cloth slipped from her hand when she began to wash his stomach and lower. She loved the power she felt in knowing that she could make Jorgarn become erect with just a touch.

"Let me wash your legs," Denae said as she changed ends. "Keep your arm out of the water."

As she stood, she noticed her chemise was wet and nearly transparent. She bit her lower lip as she pushed the straps off her shoulder and let it fall to the floor. She stood in front of Jorgarn and reveled as his eyes took in every inch of her.

"Is your egg time concluded?" Jorgarn asked.

"Mostly," Denae replied. Her flow had almost gone and she had left the heavy pad behind that day.

"Forget my legs," Jorgarn said as he slid slightly lower in the tub. "Please come back to where you were before."

Denae walked to the head of the tub again and stood. She watched as Jorgarn tilted his head backward over the edge.

"Step forward just a bit," he said.

Her flower was directly over his face. He could see her woman's tunnel and she felt his breath on her skin. Jorgarn took the warm cloth and ran it over her mound and Denae shuddered. Then his tongue probed delicately at the spot just above the junction of her legs.

She gasped and she felt her legs weaken. Nothing, not even Jorgarn's hands, had felt this good. Jorgarn's mouth traced a gentle pattern over her nub. She felt his tongue separate the petals of her flower and lick the nectar that came forth. Denae found herself leaning forward, her hands resting on Jorgarn's chest as he licked her special spot. Stars swam before her eyes when she felt his right hand on her rear cheek pulling her toward him.

She worried that she would lose control and topple forward into the water. Or worse, her legs would collapse and she would crush Jorgarn's neck into the base of the tub. She took her hands from Jorgarn's chest and gripped the side of the tub firmly as her release washed over her. Her legs quavered when she pushed herself back to standing. She thought but a second before she stepped into the water with her Knight and lowered her body to his.

She captured his mouth and tasted the tangy, sweetness that she knew was her own nectar. She felt his hardness so close to her opening, so close to the place she wanted it. With the slightest shift of her hips, the head was pressed in exactly the right spot. She was prepared to press backward, to accept his maleness into her womanhood when she felt Jorgarn's hand reach between their bodies and shift his erection forward, trapping it between their bodies.

Her body seethed at the loss until she felt his slick organ rubbing against her special bump again. She shifted her waist forward, pressing her breasts into Jorgarn's chest until the tip of his organ was back at the entrance to her tunnel.

Again she tried to push it into her but, once more, she felt Jorgarn's arm, this time on her rear, holding her forward.

"I want this," she said urgently. "Please, love. I want this."

"We cannot, and you know we cannot," Jorgarn whispered between kisses. He shifted his hips slightly and his hardness was no longer beneath her but behind her. She felt it against her rear and the conversation about how women please their man and remain pure popped back into her mind.

It was Denae's turn to move slightly and she felt the head of Jorgarn's penis against her rear hole. She had played with her rear hole before, although not as frequently as she played with her front hole. She even slipped a candle into her back passage periodically. It wasn't as intense as the pleasure she got from rubbing her special spot, but she had found it pleasurable, particularly when she rubbed her mound while she did it.

She reached her hand behind her and found Jorgarn's hardness. It was much thicker than a candle, she reasoned, but she thought she could take it, perhaps more of it in her back hole than in her front.

She pressed the head insistently and felt her passage open to accept it. A flash of pain crossed her face and, as before, she felt Jorgarn's arms remove her from where she wanted to be. This time he pulled her forward on his chest.

"I can take you there," she said pleadingly. "Please, I want you inside my body. I want to feel you inside me while I kiss you."

Jorgarn placed his lips on Denae's forehead.

He had seen her image of a candle entering her rear. He had followed along her process.

"I will not hurt you for my pleasure," he said simply. "I care for you too much for that."

She felt his finger rubbing her back hole and she shifted backward until it pressed slightly inside of her.

"I like it," she said, her face flushed partly from embarrassment and partly from desire. "I, uh, I've taken things in that passage before."

"I know you have, my sweet," Jorgarn said as he shifted his finger slightly and, coupled with his slick penis against her woman hole, Denae gasped. "But it will hurt and, well, the water is perhaps not the place for this particular event."

Jorgarn had witnessed farmers use water to clear blockages from their animals' rear passages. He knew what to expect and he didn't think Denae did. But it was not the time to discuss such matters.

"Can you sit on the edge?" Denae asked. The bath was forgotten. "I want to take you in my mouth again. Please, I want to feel it."

Jorgarn heard the pleading in her voice and extricated himself. She didn't wait for him to sit, but knelt in the tub and sucked him deeply into her warm mouth. She could taste herself even on his member. The water had diluted the taste some but she still found it decadently wonderful.

She pulled back for a moment and waited for Jorgarn to sit. She turned her back to him and slid her wet, slick woman hole over the entirety of his hardness before turning and taking him again in her mouth. She loved the taste of their joining.

Images flitted through Denae's mind as she was lost in her sexual delirium. She was lowering her waiting body onto his organ. She could almost feel the exquisite pain and pleasure from their first coupling.

Then she was sitting astride Jorgarn's face, her knees resting on either side of his head as he pleasured her again with his tongue. Her hand entered the water and she rubbed her mound. Another picture entered her head.

Bralan was kneeling before Jorgarn, accepting his member into her mouth as he split Denae's petals with his tongue. Then Denae was before him as he mounted her like a stallion in her rear hole while Usala stood astride her and accepted his mouth on her flower.

She pictured a grown Leyota standing behind her, caressing Denae's soft breasts as Denae rode Jorgarn. Then Jorgarn was atop Denae, pressing his firm organ into her woman tunnel as Denae used her mouth on Rayna's soft petals.

She felt Jorgarn spurt into her mouth as her own release washed over them and suddenly it was just him and her again. The fantasies dissolved around her as she slid forward in the tub and held him. It was just the two of them, all either would need, she decided.

Much of the water had splashed out on the floor and Denae found she could put her head on Jorgarn's shoulder without trouble.

His hardness had wilted but once again, her proximity brought it back to its former state. It pressed against her opening and she enjoyed the feeling of it as she relaxed.

"You will be the only one who ever knows if we don't stop here," she said as she felt her opening widen. "It is you I'll marry. It is you I love. It is why I wanted you to be Lord Tremaine, so we may be like this forever. It is me that I've selected to be your wife."

She could almost hear the pieces click together for Jorgarn.

"Your father will not approve," he said softly into her hair. "He accepts me as your lover, I think. But I don't believe he will accept me as your husband."

"He knows and he approves," Denae said as she tried in vain to get more of Jorgarn into her tiny opening.

Jorgarn resisted further and finally fell back onto something he knew would work.

"This is starting to hurt my arm," he said. His arm was fine, resting gently on a small side table Denae had put there for the purpose of protecting his wound. But Jorgarn considered protecting Denae from herself to be an important part of his job. Allowing her to make a decision as important as her marriage when she – and he – was in such a vulnerable emotional state would be to fail her completely.

"Can we discuss this out of the water?" Jorgarn asked.

If he had not been aware of the situation – and sensation – around his groin, Denae would have accomplished her aim in her haste to ease Jorgarn's discomfort. She sat back to rise and Jorgarn slid backward with her. Still her felt the tip of his member press more insistently at the spongy opening that covered the entrance to Denae's tunnel.

He heard the pain in Denae's voice when she spoke and he worried that he had harmed her.

"I forgot about your arm," she said as tears sprung to her cheeks. "I am so selfish. I am sorry."