Countess of Desire (The Young Ancients Erotic Moments Book 1) (8 page)

On the ground
she laid on the grass instantly, like Pet had instructed her to, and suspected
that the guard would be on her, so left her shield on, just in case they got
violent.

Then she
waited, as Petra settled in next to her.

After a few
minutes she wondered if they should call out. It was getting hard to hold her
hands up like she was, laying on her stomach. Finally, just as her patience was
about to wear out someone saw them. It was a young seeming man.

"You!
Halt... Um... Right." She could kind of see the confusion there. After
all, they were obviously intruders, but were
already
showing they were
unarmed, and surrendering. What did you do in that case?

She wondered
that herself, but Petra handled it, whispering.

"We need
to speak to George. This is secret. You can use my communications device to get
in touch with him. Left front side pocket. Do you want me to get it,
or..."

The boy, and he
wasn't old at all, being just past fourteen, Maria thought, moved in carefully.
Clearly expecting Petra or her to surge up and attack at any moment. Then he
plucked the thing from the pocket and moved back, using the device like he'd at
least seen one before.

That got him
growled at when George picked up a few moments later, and got what was going
on.

"
Hold
them,
Tuvin. Back off and keep a shield stripper on them. I'll be there in... Two
minutes." The fellow didn’t sound happy, but it was pretty close to ideal,
as far as Maria was concerned. Not too many people were alerted, and even
though she had to prove her intent to the older guard using a Truth amulet,
which glowed, he let her keep her face in the grass, making it harder to see
who was there.

That didn't get
them to see the King instantly, but rather taken to the dungeon. Or she figured
that was what was happening, as the man walked her and Petra down a long
underground staircase. The room they were taken to had a heavy metal door, but
inside wasn't an array of torture devices, but a simple wooden table and some
chairs.

They were left
there alone, as George went to wake the King.

"So...
This is the secret meeting spot here? I've never been invited in for a secret
meeting before. Then, I've never tried to sneak in at night like this either.
Have you been here before?" It was an offhand question, but her sister
in-law shrugged, the room well lit, thanks to the magical lights on the walls.
All on copper, showing they were early Tor works. It made sense for them to
have that kind of thing there though, didn't it?

Richard was the
King, so of course he'd have the best of everything.

It took half an
hour for the man to get there, and he didn't look all that happy to see them.
Not just yet, at least. Maria stood and bowed as he entered and George stepped
outside, closing the door. She was a known traitor, so that meant what?

It was possible
that the King was a good enough fighter that the Royal Guard figured he could
take her, certainly. Petra though was a tough fighter. Not as large as the
giant man was, since he was over nine feet tall, if thin. Still, she was known
to be one of the better fighters in the Kingdom. Possibly the best one or two
female fighters. She
also
went well armed at all times.

That probably
meant that George, a man sworn to protect the King to the end of his life and
beyond all reason, thought that Pet would stop her, if anything happened? That
was trust beyond anything that Maria would have expected. Even if they, Petra
Ward and King Richard, had been
lovers
, the guard wouldn't have been so
relaxed.

The King bowed
back, his face a little sour.

"So, I
take it that you have news? Something important enough to wake me at this
hour?" He did manage a low chuckle after that, so she winked.

"What? I
can't come in the middle of the night just to entertain you? That seems like an
oversight in our relationship. Here, get those clothes off and we can...” She
pretended to move in on him, but then shook her head. "Well, we should, of
course, but yes, I have a way to break the rebellion once and for all. Or
rather, they're about to break themselves. Here, I have a letter from
them." She pulled out the paper from the hidden shirt pocket that she'd
kept up the whole time, even when Petra had taken her own clothing off to have
fun. She hadn't, and there was a reason for it. That paper was proof that she
was innocent, or at least more clever than anyone would have believed.

The real trick
would have been to deliver the note, then gotten in to the King like this, she
realized. If she could have acted then... Well,
that
would do the trick,
wouldn't it? That Richard was there meant that he, at least, honestly trusted
her. It left her feeling warm.

The man read
the whole thing, then nodded.

"I
understand. So, when can we set this up? I don't regularly take visitors like
that, do they have someone specific in mind?"

Maria shrugged.

"Honestly,
I don't know. It's clearly a last effort. A thing of desperation that could
leave too many of them exposed. I was thinking that I could find a lot of them
directly by doing it myself. I'll let them know that I'm willing to die to
protect them, as long as it takes you down? It's well known how you covet my
tender and delicious flesh, isn't it? The thing there... Well, I could just use
a healing amulet. You would too... I'm betting that no one has thought of that.
No, the clear plan would be best served for the poison to stun you, while I
used some kind of weapon on you. Any ideas what might work?"

The man gave
her a look that spoke of contemplation, rather than doubt. She would have been
suspicious of her, given everything. That he wasn't said more about how good he
was than she would have figured.

"A hidden
shield wand? If you can get one from Queen Tiera. Her guards in Harmony
all
have to carry them. They don't just take down shields, they can kill as well.
Force blasts or explosions. If you tucked one inside yourself, then worked out
how to get into place... That would be challenging however, how is that
supposed to work?"

Maria got that
one, then shrugged, moved over to his chair, and bent over in front of him.
Touching his trousers she focused, which got them to vanish. She did it with
her eyes open, being familiar with that particular trick. Few had magical
clothing, but Marvin did. The King didn't cover himself or jump, but
Petra
looked ready to hit her.

"Scoot
forward a bit? Pet, come, join us?"

"Um..."

Maria rolled
her eyes, then reached forward and took the King gently in her hand. He was
above average size, though on him he looked smaller than that. It was actually
a good thing though, since that meant he wouldn't cause pain when they had sex.
Some of the large noble men were so vast that way that only trained women could
take them without damage. This man was nicely sized for actually having sex,
and lean enough that there was nothing to get in the way of their pleasure, but
some red hair.

"
Think
,
Petra." She worked her hand a bit, which did get a response from the large
ruler. He started to stiffen nicely in fact, as her fingers closed around him,
pulling the skin over the tip with each stroke as he grew. "If I actually
do something with him, I can
claim
that under a Truth amulet. A real
one. It will take some clever speaking to make it seem like I actually plan to
kill him... But I think that we can get around that by actually having the
poison in place, and speaking about how to get the weapon ready? I know, how
about you actually do the 'killing' part? That way I can confuse things that
way. Or, well, maybe not. You've killed a third of the rebels yourself with
those silly duels of yours. No one would buy it. I'll figure that out. Now,
let's suck off the King? I'll swallow at the end. You like that, don't you
Richard?" She smiled up at him, being saucy using his name like that.

That got a nod.

"Yes. I do
like that, indeed." Then he went silent, as she leaned in, her legs and
back bent, but not kneeling. He was far too tall for that to work.

Looking up,
into his eyes, which were a lovely blue, she moved in and licked the tip of him
gently. He had a good taste about him. Clean. There was a slight hint of
lavender oil, but not enough to numb her tongue. She carefully swirled her
tongue around him, not putting his cock all the way between her lips yet. It
was teasing, but most men didn't mind that sort of thing, as long as it didn't
go on
too
long.

Before she did
anything, she held up a hand to Pet and then pulled her into place. She
could
kneel. They were both laying half across his lap though.

"Take a
turn? It might be important later."

Her friend
looked hesitant, as if it had never occurred to her that doing this with the
King was even an option? She moved in though, because he was the King and being
too slow could be an insult. Opening her lips, she sucked the head in slowly,
getting a soft groan from the man.

Her warm brown
hand wrapped around the base, and then, shy or not she started bobbing her head
with a good bit of effort. Almost as if hungry for him. That was good to see,
since Maria had been worried that her sister in-law’s hardships might have
broken her as far as men went. It seemed that wasn't the case.

After a few
minutes, Maria nudged her with a shoulder, getting her to move to the side, so
that she could take her place. The head and shaft were moist, a few inches
down. There had been good effort there, but feeling a bit competitive, Maria
let her mouth slide further down, relaxing her throat and breathing through her
nose. She didn't go as fast, but put him deep inside her with each move
forward. Until her nose was buried in his pubic hair, and her lips locked
around the base.

It surprised
her, but he simply held still, and
didn't
grab her head to fuck her that
way like most men did. The noble ones at any rate. She was showing off a bit,
so did that herself, bobbing on him with short movements, feeling the head of
his cock hit her throat and rub, over and over.

That actually
got a small growl from the girl next to her.

"Hmm. Move
over." That sounded competitive too, so keeping her hand working while she
pulled off and Petra got into place, she let her friend take a turn.

She wasn't as
good with it as Maria was, gagging on him every few seconds at first. She
didn't get sick though, and kept going, forcing him deep, even as she suffered
a bit. After a minute or two of this she pulled up and started moving her right
hand on him very fast, looking at Maria.

"Fine, so
this
round goes to you."

Maria smirked.
Of course it did. They were playing in her world now. If Pet wanted to win
she'd either need a
lot
more practice, or to get Maria out into a combat
square. Then it would be different.

"Stand up?
I want you to take my throat. Find your pleasure."

It took a bit
of shifting around, but Petra kept her hand working and followed the man, if a
bit awkwardly, never letting him rest, while Maria bent at the waist in front
of him and placed him back into her mouth. This angle was better, actually,
meaning that he went slightly deeper. She got into place, and then took his
hands and put them on either side of her head. He got the idea, thrusting,
deeply, but gently, at first. After a bit he started to buck, moving faster, as
her throat tried to tighten around him convulsively with each thrust. It
wasn't
gagging, but was close to it. She had to time her breathing, and finally just
hold out as he started to find his release. He pulled back a bit, but she moved
in swallowing as best she could with him that far inside. It pulled at him, as
he started to tighten then let go with a warm thick squirt. Followed by several
others as she took all of it inside of her.

Then she pulled
back, sucking hard the whole time, cleaning him with her tongue. She'd already
had him inside her, so it would simply be rude for her not to handle that part
too. To her surprise, Petra moved in and licked him too, even as he started to
relax, being finished.

Doing her part,
it seemed. It was lovely to watch. Almost done with loving concern and care.

Maria nodded,
looking up at the King.

"That
should be enough, for now. Or, well, we
should
have fucked, too. Next
time? Say in a week? I need to go and get some things from Harmony, and that
might take longer, but if we start meeting each week now? I can tell everyone
that I'm telling
you
that it’s all about trying to make peace now? In
case the rebellion loses?" She paused and smiled, making that real.
"Oh, by the way, we
should
be lovers to cover my and Marvin's
behind, in case the rebellion fails."

They all
laughed, since that would get around the Truth amulets rather nicely.

The truth could
do that, every time.

Getting out of
the Palace was nearly as challenging as getting in, if for different reasons.
On the way in, they didn't want to be seen, but the situation had changed in
mere moments. Going out, well, they had a good reason for being there now,
didn't they? She'd been servicing the King, along with Petra and made a point
of doing it in a way that anyone with a bit of the right magic would be able to
check it out for certain. Being seen wasn't a problem now.

It was the
goal.

Still, being
too obvious wouldn't work very well either, would it? Making Petra's craft
large and glowing for instance, would work, but being too obvious would be a
signal to all the watchers that they wanted to be noticed.

Luckily it also
didn't matter that much.

"Let's
just leave? We can fly back to Warden directly, but leave the outside of the
craft dark?" They were already in it, so it was simple enough for Pet to
take them up, going with a slow movement that gave people enough time to see
someone was there. Not that they'd know who was in the vehicle, even if they
noticed the thing. A few hundred feet up in the air and they'd be invisible
anyway. At least until they passed in front of the stars.

The trip back took
about an hour, since Petra wanted to talk. She waited too, meaning that what
she had to say was important to her.

"Do you
need to go to Harmony now at all? If you have a plan to get in, and I have to
admit, it's a pretty good one... Why would you need that fake Truth
device?"

Maria could see
that, but there was a good reason, really. Two actually, once she stopped to
think about it for a bit.

"Yes.
Look, getting in to see the King for a secret meeting like we just had is one
thing. There's no harm involved in sucking his cock for him, is there? Going in
to try and kill him is totally different. I know that I'm not planning that,
but I don't want the rebels to get that too easily, do I? Also, if I follow
their plan, more or less, I can try to meet with some of the people involved in
it. See what they had in place to get the girl entry into the Palace, that sort
of thing. Find who their poison master is? It may not work, because it really
isn't needed, but making arrangements to visit people would be a good idea. I
really need to get my own craft like this. Do you think Queen Tiera will hand
one over if I beg hard enough? I couldn't justify buying one, even if I have
the coin for it. That gold is for our people in the county, not play
things." She dropped her hand to the warm and soft seat arm. It was white
and felt like kid skin. Soft and velvety under her fingers.

Petra snorted
at her, and let her head come up enough to show she was fighting a real laugh.

"Not too
likely. This is a
war
ship. She'd give one to you about the same time
that she wanted the Earth destroyed. No, Tiera has a new set of builds though,
which she might be willing to part with one of. I still don't know if that
would work for you, but you can try for that? She likes girls well enough, I
hear, and you aren't exactly hard on the eyes."

Feeling damned
with faint praise Maria started to scowl, but then thought about how things
were there, in Harmony. A lot of women were much better looking than her there.
Some on a level that almost defied description. Compared to that, she was
almost plain, wasn't she? Not that it was a real thing. Her looks still turned
more than a few heads, day to day.

Farm boys and
Dukes all stopped to appreciate her, when she passed.

"That
sounds like a plan then. I'll try to drop some hints about that? I should also
send a letter to Tor. Ward needs some of his floating rivers, I think.
Honestly, we all do, along the outer coast on the East. Possibly the West, too.
That's going to be hard for me though." She looked out into the dark,
seeing very few lights at all. There was enough moonlight that she could tell
there was water to their right, since it glinted a bit, but that was all. How
Pet managed to hold their course was amazing, really.

Skillful, and a
sign of much practice. If Maria could get such a vehicle for herself... Well,
she'd learn then, wouldn't she? Others managed it, which meant she probably
would be able to as well. If not, she'd hire it done.

Smiling, she
tried not to think about what a mess making a deal with Torrance Baker could be
for her, but Petra huffed a sigh that seemed long suffering. As if it were her,
not poor Maria that had the problems there?

"That's
the truth. It's like you two are
fated
to be enemies. No matter what
either of you do, isn't it? It's your fault, of course, at least to the stress
between you two now. How you managed to not fix things with a person as kind
and gentle as him, I don't understand. I can see things taking time with me, or
Karen, but
Tor
? I've seen him forgive people that had tried to
kill
him. Literally. He let the
Larval
go, after they were subdued and fixed,
did you know that? Really, the biggest part of the issue belongs to Prince
Alphonse, but
try
blaming a Prince for a thing like that. At the very
least he should have strung you along for a while, just in case you really were
a good marriage candidate." She shook her head a bit, but smiled. It was a
strange little thing though, not her normal proud grin. "He told me that
when Princess Karina found out about him telling you that he loved you, which
he didn't mean, she
beat
him. Hard enough to knock him from his chair,
too. Just wailing on him until he couldn't stand. Left bruises for two weeks,
if I heard right. I think he told me that to keep me from doing the same thing
to him. That was pretty low. Everyone knows you don't say the words like that,
if you don't mean them... Did you really love him?"

That... It was
a hard thing to admit, because she'd let herself turn to rage for so long about
the matter after that, taking what petty revenge she could for it. That way she
could claim to herself that it wasn't about how she'd felt to start with, just
the insult that had been perceived, right or wrong. The truth was hard to admit,
but she let herself do it anyway. Petra had been there for part of it, hadn't
she? If anyone deserved to know, it was her. Well, perhaps Tor Baker had a
better claim to that, but back then Petra had been a friend of hers, hadn't
she? It was hard to remember now, after everything, but the truth.

"I think
so. I really did, back then. The idea that he
wouldn't
want me as a
wife... Well now I know that it wouldn't have worked out, in the end. I'd
thought myself the perfect offering, but there
were
better. Princess
Abby or even Countess Thomson. Even at school there were girls that would have
made the mark before me. I... Really, I don't think I would have been so mean
to Tor if not for that. If I hadn't really felt something pretty strongly for
Alphonse. It wasn't my thought at the time, I don't want to claim that kind of
thing. Nothing was that clear to me back then, but... How likely was it that
those two weren't lovers? Tor is perfect, and Alphonse is a Prince. I
should
have accepted the date and turned it into a three-way. Well, the problem of
youth is that we're all so young when it takes place. Untried, and unlearned.
If we could but come at it with more knowledge and acumen, we'd
never
do
all those stupid things..."

Rather than
scold or judge her, or even tell her that she was wrong, Pet just laughed a
bit.

"That
could be fun. Getting those two in bed. They're both pretty wonderful. Not for
me, since the bloodlines don't work, but I could see you setting that up. Get
with Ali on it, if you're serious. She's a bit too related to Alphonse for that
kind of thing, but she's good about making sure other people make connections.
Really, given your shared hobbies, you two should consider being friends."

That was a nice
thing for Petra to be considering, since it was clear she actually liked
one
of the women involved. So it seemed like she was trying to be good to her word
and be that way with Maria too. She smiled, taking it that way, at any rate. No
one wanted to be doubted, and doing so was counter to what her plans were.

She clapped,
making a sharp noise in the small space of the pilot’s area.

"Goody.
I'll see about sending a note with your recommendation then." Smothering a
yawn she realized how late it must be getting. "So, in the morning? We can
still go and see what we can hunt up, before I start trying to break open the
last of the rebels?"

She got a nod,
but no other response.

After all, that
was going to be dangerous, wasn't it? Not so much in the doing either, but
afterward.

Once it was all
said and done, Maria Ward, and possibly her husband the Count, would be hated
by everyone in the land. Thought of as traitors by everyone, instead of as the
heroes that saved them all from certain ruin. It always was the way of things,
wasn't it? You saved the world, doing all the hard work yourself, and no one
saw the contributions you made. No, it was always just the end result, and
their personal hurt feelings that mattered.

That reminded
her to keep what friends she could close to her heart now. Because soon things
were going to be very lonely for her. For a few moments she felt a tiny bit
desperate. How would she, Maria, who leaned so heavily on her friends and loves
now, make it when they all left her alone? When they sought to protect themselves
from borrowed shame?

Well, there was
nothing for it. She was, like it or not, sworn to the King. At least she could
probably get some attention from him later, now that she'd set that up. It was
a bit strange sharing a lover with her father, but she'd done that with her own
mother before. At least the Baron was a kind enough man to not make a huge
issue of such things.

Carol, her
mother, had been with Marvin first, for several years. She never let Maria
forget that either, though it was clear that the dalliance hadn't been all that
big of a thing to her husband as all that. A good thing that had led to the two
of them meeting, but nothing more.

Her mother
acted like she, personally, had sucked the marriage agreement out of Marvin's
cock, and spit it out into Maria's waiting mouth. Like she was some helpless
bird that never would have made it in the world without her personal aid?
Maybe. Or just possibly she would have stayed in school, made up with Tor for
her bad behavior and lived a very different life?

Who knows, she
reflected, perhaps it would be her that married him, instead of Gretchen
Derring? Ali Baker now. That story was a good one, however. How Tor had stolen
the girl away to a different land, and protected her from her monster of a
father, until such time that he could marry her. Keeping the girl safe forever.

Maria actually
knew the punch line there, having some decent spies around Tor. They'd traced a
shipment of gold from him to the Sorvee family. Ten thousand gold, solid. A
huge magical chest, loaded into a wagon and driven from his palace to the local
representative. For the death of Count Derring.

At first it had
seemed very unlikely, and she'd really thought that Patricia Morgan had simply
stolen the gold for it, holding some other plan, but now she could see it. The
man that she'd spurned had become so powerful that when he perceived a threat
to people that he only casually knew, he’d risk war to see it fixed. Not even a
Count was safe from his wrath.

For a long time
after that she feared he'd end her days in a similar fashion. It would take no
more than a thought and lifting his hand to have it done, with all of his
wealth. That never came though. Time and again, he'd held his hand.

It was a bit
scary, because for the life of her, Maria couldn't figure out what it meant.
Did he hate her? Was he holding to some deep and lasting plan that she couldn't
see? Was it simply that he thought so little of her that she, personally wasn't
even a person in his eyes? He'd saved her life, but everyone that knew him had
told her that he honestly would have done the same thing for anyone taken that
way. It was too confusing, so she let it go, for the thousandth time, and let
Petra land in front of the villa. It was dark, but they had magical lights to
set the front lawn apart from the rest of the city.

It was still
suffering from the damage done years before. Storms had hit them several times,
beating and battering them all, taking the lives of those who didn't have a
secure enough place to hide from things. Even the villa, a thing that had stood
for over a hundred years, had taken damage. That had been fixed inside a month,
but not everyone had the resources they did. Marvin had set up programs to give
aid in the rebuilding, but there was just so much to do.

It would
happen, in time, but for the moment everyone was still at risk. Thankfully it
seemed that the worst of the massive storms had passed for now. It was still
impossible for anyone to get through a complete growing season in their part of
the world without drought taking their crops, but... Well, she'd fix that. If
she had to she'd go to Harmony and suck what her people needed out of the
Wizards there, until her knees bled. Past that, if it were required of her.

That she might
have to humble herself was a real possibility, she knew. It was her least
favorite thing, but no one would say, in the end, that she didn't love her
people well enough. No one.

They didn't
speak, going in, since people would be sleeping. It was cute, really, since
rather than sneak in like they were hiding something, Petra boldly held her
hand. That meant they ended up in Maria's room, sharing a bed that night. It
worked out, because in the morning when Marvin came to wake her, that being his
habit, since Maria tended to be a bit snippy with the help that early, and not
him, Petra was gotten up too.