Chapter 20: Sandstorm
SPG
As a Gazellian with eyes used to colors and scents rich with fragrance—a beautiful princess who lived years in a lovely cage where everything seemed perfect—my memories of walking down the gardens with a rattan basket hanging on my right arm, the happiness that I felt with the lovely flowers that I had picked, the warm touch of sunlight not so bright kissing my cheeks, how time slowed down as I took each step, the butterflies fluttering around me, and a few pixies playing nearby—I had never imagined that there would be a place I'd call more home other than Sartorias—but here I was, a few weeks in Mudelior, yet it felt as though I could sense the very soul of this empire— in his eyes.
"M-Make me feel insanely good, Your Majesty..."
"With pleasure, My Queen."
I thought he'd claim my lips again, but his tongue traveled slowly at the edges of my face, the tip of his nose teasing as if savoring my scent, and he kept murmuring my name as the back of his fingers with its feathery touch trailed my temple to the side of my cheekbone, and then to my jaw.
I bit my lower lip, feeling this slow moment with him— like a small fire crawling on a scroll.
"You smell so good, My Queen...I could live with this scent forever..." he whispered, his breathing labored.
The Mudelior's traditional accessories had always been cold against my bare skin, but when Kreios's hands moved on their own, his gentle hands shoved the accessories, giving me a metallic sound of clanking jewels that shouldn't have been seductive to my ears.
Now even the coldest jewelry clinging to me felt like it was burning as if it had been thrust into the fire for molding. Suddenly I felt like I was one of those jewels that had been waiting for molding, and his hands were perfect for it—every part of me.
His entire body pressed me harder against the wall, his hands expertly removing the clothing on my chest. I heard a gentle thud on the floor when he found the pearled buttons behind my back, leaving only the jewels covering my breasts. With his warm hand, the jewel between us, he cupped me, pressing—one of my breasts—allowing me to feel him, the teasing jewel and his thumb expertly caressing that most sensitive spot—sending shivers all over my body.
My body arched, reacting to his touch.
"You're so soft, Harper..."
Suddenly the whole room darkened. The lit candles were extinguished, and the only source of light was the hearth—the outside suddenly felt like chaos as the high windows were in darkness—with that sound—like grains of dark sand wind splashing against the windows as if it were desperate to break the whole castle.
It was like the whole Empire of Mudelior was about to get devoured by a huge sandstorm.
I gasped as it dawned on me. Kreios was trying to restrain himself, agonizingly trying to make everything too slow—the opposite of how this empire had to experience his emotions right now.
His eyes were closed as he kissed me slowly, his hand movements gentle, but his breathing was needy, begging, asking, as if he was in pain.
I hated everything about "too much"—like how Zen's snowstorm buried our kingdom, how the sudden lightning struck in the middle of darkness, how the earth grumbled, and how the tree of light illuminated so brightly that it was almost blinding. I knew that those signified my brothers' emotions— not just out of pleasure but also because of their sadness, desperation, and pain. I hated that it felt suffocating—that I had to endure it and wait for them to calm down—because I had no ability to control them. I had no ability to calm them except to force my power against them. It was my love for them—to force my power and make them sleep against their will.
