Kingdom of Lust and Lies

Chapter Six

In her dreams, she was back at the keep, snuggled down into warm furs with Beckett. She had never remained in one place long enough to consider it home, but this small stretch of land meant more and more to her every day.

It wasn't the sprawling estate Beckett had been born to rule over. Any other lord might have sneered at this place, with its rundown keep, a smattering of villages that had been burned too many times to count and the constant threat from the west. But Beckett had seen a need in this strategic piece of land, a need to protect the innocents nestled further east in the kingdom, and had claimed it as his own. He would never be lord of his father's lands, but he could make a difference right here, protecting common folk from the savage tribes that constantly sought a foothold in the kingdom.

The days were long for all of them, for Beckett and Alayna, for the men who followed Beckett into battle, and then into disgrace with him. For the men who saw a noble lord actually trying to make a difference in the world and joined his cause. The small villages were slowly being rebuilt. The keep as well, though it sustained much less damage. They were even trying to coax the fields back to life after being razed.

It wasn't often they had an uninterrupted morning, but Beckett seemed intent on making the most of it as he peppered kisses down her bare stomach, along her thighs. She sighed and nestled back into the warm furs, her thighs falling open for him. With a low growl, he set upon her wet folds with such intensity she gasped. His tongue skillfully manipulated her clit, flicking back and forth rapidly. Alayna moaned, hips undulating on the bed.

"Yes," she whimpered as he tossed her thighs over his muscular shoulders, tilting her hips up for better access. "Gods, that feels so good..."

He worked her clit mercilessly, until she was writhing on the bed, gasping and moaning. As she approached the edge, the movement of his tongue slowed down. Alayna cried out in frustration.

"More!" she demanded, locking her heels together behind his back. She reached down, burying her hands in his sinfully dark hair to keep him right where she needed him most, riding his face.

"Beckett!" she cried out, a warning that she was about to go over the edge...

A sharp pain from where he pinched her thigh brought her fully awake. Alayna gasped, her eyes flying open.

It wasn't Beckett at all between her thighs, wasn't his dark hair she was gripping, his face she was still riding. It was Xanth, his rich blue eyes burning with lust as he watched her face.

"No!"

But she was too close to the edge to stop, her need too great. With a sharp moan, she came under the savage treatment of his tongue on her clit, hips jerking wildly. He held her in place with strong hands, lapping at her clit until her moans turned to whimpers and she was no longer trembling.

"You bastard." Without thinking, she drew her foot up so she could kick him squarely in the face.

Less than a heartbeat later, searing pain tore through her body, causing her to cry out for a different reason. Pain hummed from the top of her head all the way down to her toes, her leg falling uselessly back to the bed.

"Good morning, Fox."

Alayna closed her eyes as the pain finally began to ebb. She'd forgotten about the damned cilice, forgotten about the insane wizard and her current captivity. She cursed her body and her dreams for making her grip Xanth's hair so she could use his tongue to bring herself to orgasm.

"Pleasant dreams, I take it." She refused to open her eyes, even as she felt his weight shift off the bed. "So you're aware, I haven't given you more of the aphrodisiac potion yet, so you can't blame it for the way you so sweetly pressed your pussy against my tongue."