Under the Oak Tree fanfic - A dance at the Palace

The Dance of Nymph

Maxi sat next to Rosetta on the chairs lined along the wall. A belly swell under her sister's luxurious skirts making her look tired and out of place in all the merriment around them. A second child had blessed the royal couple.

Wax melted down dozens of candles illuminating the large ballroom of the palace. Women in all colors of dresses and pearls in their hairnets, and men in smart attires crowded the place. And among all of them, dozens of nobles with the bluest blood, stood a tall man with raven hair speaking with the king. He looked calm and slightly bored.

After examining her husband's handsome face, Maxi slowly dipped her head to take a sip of the warm wine in her hand and admired the mosaic of the floor that portrayed Sir Uigru slaying a dragon.

"Can I have the honor?"

A familiar large hand appeared in front of her. Following it up she found Riftan's lazy smile and onyx eyes sparkling in the candlelight. So many years of marriage and they had never danced together. Long conquered fears echoed in her mind. She had taken dancing lessons secretly at Anatol to glide as gracefully as a noblewoman should. Music and movement came easily to her. But she had never danced anywhere except at Calypse Castle.

She slid her hand into his and his eyes twinkled. Had he had too much to drink? They walked side by side to the rows of men and women, waiting for the music to strike the air. Maxi stood next to a woman in a pale pink dress, and Riftan occupied the place in front of her next to a man with no neck.

The music filled the air all the way to the tall ceiling and all the men took a step forward. As per the dance, Maxi and all the other women gracefully turned, took a step to the side and quickly avoided the oncoming men. It was an old dance portraying a nymph escaping a hunter who had fallen in love at first glance. Riftan's arm outstretched catching her waist, but Maxi twirled and escaped his hold. By now men and women had changed the side of the ballroom they had started in. Riftan, along with other men, fell on his right knee, as Maxi took a jumping step backwards in a coquettish move. Some women giggled. Men raised their hand, offering, reaching, begging in a desperate attempt at any touch. Maxi's fingertips touched those of Riftan's; not quite a hold, more of a promise. Women made a slow circle around the kneeling men bending their backs at the waist with each step. When women's bosom came in front of the men's eyes, dozens of masculine arms shot out in an impatient desperation grasping the women's waists. Gasps were heard from the suddenness of the movement.

Maxi's waist was gripped in an ironclad grasp and black eyes looked up at her. Riftan pulled her forward making her take a shaky half a step bringing her chest a breath away from the tip of his nose. Music had stopped. Couples bowed and some left the floor. His eyes left hers and slid down to where white gauze tried to cover tops of her breasts pushed out of the corset. Her chest rose and fell rapidly.

"It's late," he said standing up. Putting her arm through his bend elbow, they walked out of the ballroom without wishing the royal family a good night. His steps were unhurried in the empty hallway, with music already distant, but his eyes kept falling onto the top of her breasts making her suffocate in the tight corset. She pulled at the fabric.

Riftan stopped. "Is it too tight?" He gripped her waist and slowly backed her against the wall. His tongue darted out licking his lips as his eyes focused only down at where gauze reached the white skin of her chest. In a heartbeat the sound of tearing fabric was heard and she felt relief taking a deep breath. Her full breasts fell heavy out of the confinement and fresh air brushed against her sensitivity now only covered by the soft undergarment, free from the dress.

His hand came up weighing her left breast as if he didn't know how heavy it would be in his palm.

"Maxi," he breathed. "It's been too long."

Maxi almost smiled. "It's been two days."

His thumb pinched her nipple against the inner side of his hand, making her breath catch in her throat. "Too long."

She waited for his mouth, always so eager and hungry. Whisps of the wine he had been drinking surrounded her, just like all of him covered everything she could see, smell, and feel.

Straining on her tiptoes, stretching her neck to him, she was cheated out of her kiss. His lips fell to her temple, sliding down to her cheeks, then tracing the shell of her ear. A wet tongue came out capturing her earlobe and sucking it into his mouth.

"Too long," he whispered to himself, his humid warm breath rolling over her skin.

An unintended moan escaped Maxi's lips. Her entire body was tight like a bow about to be released.

"Riftan..." came out her plea.

"Yes?" there was a note of humor in his voice making Maxi frown. She clamped her mouth shut.

The hand that had been gently massaging her left breast all that time, left only for the thumb and forefinger to comeback to pinch her nipple again.

"What were you going to say?" he said dragging the tip of his nose over the column of her neck torturously slowly.

"Riftan..."

"Anything. Anything you want," his voice came harsher, strained.

She was confused. He had always been the eager one, always starting this, telling her what to do, or moving her however he desired. What was this new prying of what she wanted?

His free hand tangled in her hair angling her head upwards, and his lips moved from the side of her neck to her throat. He planted wet warm kisses; his breath labored; his movements more frantic now. The open-mouthed kisses trailed down to between her breasts, allowing his tongue to lick the valley. The hand on her breast gave way to his mouth. A warm wet mouth took in her entire areola over the soft fabric, sucking in as much as he could.

Maxi couldn't think anymore. When his hand hiked up her skirt running fingers from her ankle to the knee, where he squeezed the spot right above her knee making her groan, all she could think about was the need blossoming inside her. He knew exactly how to sate that need, so why was he asking questions now?

Riftan straightened himself, his hand bunching up the skirts up at her hip. His hips pressed her deeper into the cold wall, trapping her even more.

"Lord Calypse..." came an amused man's voice.

In a heartbeat Riftan's jacket was covering her, but she couldn't see who spoke as she was hidden between his back and the wall.

"Your Highness," Riftan inclined his head slightly.

"Croix sisters are quite irresistible, but my father requests our presence in the library. We are to play games," the prince's voice held too much amusement for Maxi's comfort. The tips of her ears burned. "I will let you escort your wife. Don't be too late."

Maxi heard heels echoing on the marble floors.

"Let's go." Riftan wrapped his arm around her naked shoulders and nudged her forward.

In the bedroom a fire had been lit, but Maxi's couldn't bring herself to lower his jacket. He threw off the covers off the bed making a spot for her and came behind her unfastening the complicated knots of the dress with his nimble fingers. Soon she stood in the middle of the room with the beautiful dress piled around her ankles, the white transparent undergarment covering her to her ankles, and Riftan's jacket clutched to her front.

"I will need this," he said smiling like a cat and gently prying the jacket away from her. He leaned close to brush his lips over her cheek, and whispered, "Wait up for me. I will try to come back as soon as no one's watching."

With that he was gone, leaving Maxi in a strange daze, and small irritation at the unquenched need in her belly.