The First Wife

Chapter 2

She exhaled in quiet relief as the king led her into the opulent sitting room of what she assumed were the royal apartments, passing through toward the bedchamber before she had the chance to admire it. But at the arched doorway, she abruptly stopped, acutely aware of what they would be doing together very shortly, and wrenched her hand out of his grasp.

"Second thoughts?" he asked with cool politeness.

"No!" she said, inwardly wincing at her sharp tone. "However, I should be properly prepared for you, Sire."

"Perfumed with ambergris, breasts brushed with pearl dust and lips reddened with pomegranate syrup? I think not. You'll do as you are," he said decisively, opening the door onto a room of erotic fantasy.

Shuttered windows allowed only faint traces of sunlight to peek through the fine latticework, making the dark red walls recede into black shadow. The royal bed, decked in white linens set on a pedestal under a golden canopy, glowed like an island of light in the middle of the room. With an arm resting lightly across her shoulders, the king gently ushered her inside. After a few steps she halted again, this time in surprise.

The queen reclined languidly among the pile of silk cushions, observing them with a strangely dreamy expression. A smile tugged at the corners of the king's mouth as he briefly glanced at a far corner of the room.

She rose from the royal bed shamelessly naked, unadorned by paint or jewels. Her voluptuous body moved with languid grace, her full breasts trembling with every sensuous sway of her hips. Most shocking of all was her hair. Soft waves of golden honey, cut short to her shoulders like a boy's.

"I can see why you have no interest in your harem," she muttered under her breath, making the king snort a laugh.

The queen came to her husband for a kiss, open-mouthed and hungry. Running her hands over the planes of his chest while her avid gaze raked over her from head to foot. A single beam of light illuminated her face, glowing with a kind of finely drawn purity, delicate and ethereal. The queen's hazel eyes especially fascinated her, dancing with wit and fire. The perilous, changeable eyes of a djinn.

"What do we have here, My King?" she asked, tilting her head with curiosity.

"She needs to be touched."

"Oh, poor little dove!" the queen cooed with a sensual smile. "And only yesterday I wished to taste ambrosia. How thoughtful you are, Majesty."

She shivered when the queen drew a finger over her full bottom lip, her teeth biting down on her own.

"Lovely..." she said with a sigh. "You must be the one causing Master Galen so much trouble."

Embarrassed that even the queen had heard of her unruly behavior, she looked down at her feet.

"You're in an untenable position, I know." The queen tilted her chin back up to meet her eyes. "I salute you for pursuing your own interests, to find your own solution. Is this truly what you want, My Dear?"

Her heartbeat quickening, she looked between the king and queen, wondering how they would play with her, taking a moment to admire their physical beauty which seemed to enhance the other's. Light and dark, hard and soft. She realized she'd do anything they wanted, anything to please them.

Boldly, she touched a finger to the tip of the queen's ripe breast to circle her taut nipple, eliciting a gasp from them both. She plucked it delicately, rolling it between her fingers, giving it a brief but hard pinch. Staring into her sorceress eyes, watching them darken with lust.

"It will be my honor and delight to toil in the service of Venus, My Queen," she purred.

She meant every word.