PEACE OFFERING AND GIFTS“D
anika,” he breathed into her mouth.
“Please, let me.” She reached inside and wrapped her hand around his warm flesh. His breath hitched as she caressed the length of him.
When his breathing hitched, she half-expected him to pull away from her—to stop her from touching him. But his kisses only became more ardent.
She let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding and withdrew her hand. His kisses were like a drug to her system; nothing else existed beyond his hands on her body and his mouth on hers.
Danika reached her hand behind her towards the table and withdrew the gel Baski used on her body. Without breaking the kiss, she opened the lid and dipped her hand into it. Her hand came out wet and dripping. She wrapped it around his thick hardness and began working him determinedly with her hands. Their unsteady breathing filled the air as the two lovers lost themselves in the arms of each other.
King Lucien broke the kiss to open her cotton nightie. He freed her breast from the confinement of her gown, dipping his head lower. His searching mouth found her pert nipple, and he began sucking ardently. Danika cried out. Shards of pleasure overrode the pain that sizzled through her body as she arched her back towards him. Her breasts were so sensitive that the rough urgency of his mouth was both hurting and pleasuring her at the same time. She circled the wide head of his massive thickness, and he grunted unsteadily. The hands that were holding her to him contracted softly.
“Danika!” His voice broke, but her touch had the inevitable effect on his reserve. She felt him tremble against her, heard his tortured breathing as he attacked her with his mouth.
With each tug of his lips, she felt it in between her legs. She was so wet; her core was liquid. What he was doing to her had her teetering on the edge of climax without falling over. The movements of her soft hands increased jerkily, and she melted into him completely, giving herself up to him without holding back.
When he convulsed, crying out in ecstasy, she forced herself to look at him. It was incredible, watching him come apart in her arms like that.
King Lucien pulsed in her grasp, helpless, blind, deaf, to anything but the fierce pleasure that was coursing through him. He pulled his mouth from her red nipple and lifted his head, then devoured her mouth. He kissed her with fervor, his lips hard and fast against hers; he took her breath away. When the last jet of his release spilled, Danika reached for a towel Baski had used to press hot water to her body without breaking their feverish kisses. She used the towel to wipe him clean before he broke the kiss at last.
His eyes scrutinized her, taking in the unspent desire in her dazed, innocent eyes and the slight trembling of her body. He freed her other breast from its confinement and lowered his head to it to give it the same treatment he gave to the other. She cried out at the sensitivity and intensity of it all; it was almost too painful. Her hand held on to the back of his head, trying to push him away, but it was like trying to move an unmovable wall.
Then she felt his hand trail behind her back. He intentionally didn’t touch any of her bruises so he wouldn’t hurt her. His large hand snaked into her underthings from behind and he caressed the small, sensitized nub of her womanhood. Danika clung to him and made soft music for him with the things he was doing to her. He played her body like a delicate instrument, and she responded with soft music. It was the first time he had done something like that to her. Through the haze, she realized it was the first time he touched her with his hand in such an extensive way.
He pushed two fingers into her. Her body tensed and she came in shuddering breaths. He stroked her soothingly without being persistent, so that she didn’t hurt herself.
Finally, he pulled back and wrapped her in his arms.
They fell asleep. He held her all night.
He didn’t leave until dawn.
As the days passed, Danika started getting better. It was a gradual recovery, but she did it. Sally and Baski were there to help her as much as they could.
She was determined to be well and strong for Sally’s upcoming wedding. Which was all the incentive she needed to recover quickly. She took all her herbs; never left a pill she was supposed to take.
Remeta was also with her, but she was back to her usual playful, child-like behaviors of happiness and chasing crickets. If you did not know of her, you’d never believe she had the gift of foresight.
A week passed, and Danika could walk around without help. Most of her bruises had faded to red marks, and the wounds were almost gone.
Sally was worried as her wedding approached and she hadn’t been able to buy her sandals. She hadn’t been able to go to the village since the attack on her princess. Now, her princess was getting better, and she still didn’t want to leave her side for a single minute.
It horrified Danika when she discovered what Sally was doing. “Your wedding is fast approaching, and as a bride, you don’t have your sandals!? What are you going to wear!?”
“I’ll go out one of these days and buy a pair,” Sally admitted, flustered. “I have the money to buy very nice shoes.”
“You do?” Danika asked, feeling happy for her best friend.
Sally nodded and confided excitedly. “The king gave Chad big money for us to make good preparations. I’m so grateful to him!”
Danika was also happy and grateful; she’d informed Sally that they’d be going to the market to buy her footwear. She’d informed her that a new bride shouldn’t wait to buy anything.
Sally was horrified. She hadn’t forgotten what had happened the last time they went into the village. How could she forget when her princess was barely mended? She’d tried to protest, but Danika only shook her head and refused.
“I can’t stay inside the palace for the rest of my life with no freedom to walk around as I please, just because I fear being accused of crimes I didn’t commit and beaten. Again. That is not living, Sally,” she stated vehemently.
Sally kept quiet because she knew her princess was right. That very day, two weeks previous, her princess had passed out before she could hear the things she’d screamed at the people.
Her princess wasn’t aware of how she had been saved, and when she heard the crowd that stayed awake in the palace gates because they wanted her to be alright, she hadn’t believed it either.
“They must have been there for another reason. Those people hate me too much. It can’t be that,” she’d told Sally.
So, when they walked out of the palace together, Sally was right there beside her to help her when she got tired and needed to lean on her.
As Danika walked and staggered, Sally caught her and steadied her before leaving her alone so that she’d keep walking on her own. It reminded Danika of when the kings raped and brutalized Sally three months earlier. They’d also walked this way during her healing process.
How time flies. It felt like ages ago.