[Arcana] Along for the Ride
Mar. 12th, 2020 06:06 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dracoqueen22Title: Along for the Ride
Universe: The Arcana, post-Devil’s defeat
Characters: Nadia Satrinava/Julian Devorak
Rated: M
Enticements: sexual content, dom/sub themes, risk of voyeurism
Description: Nadia’s mastery of him is effortless, and all the more intoxicating for it. Julian still can’t believe how lucky he is.
Julian is late.
It is an insult of the highest degree, but he can only hope Nadia will be forgiving.
He has a good reason!
His last patient of the day had required more soothing than usual, and while their ills had only been a minor rash, someone had filled their head with more terrible ailments, until they were quite certain they were dying.
It had taken Julian far too long to reassure them that no, it is only a rash, probably because of the new dress they bought, which they should launder before wearing again. The material is quite scratchy.
Julian received profuse thanks for his patience, and apologies for taking up so much of his time, and that took even longer. He’d had to shoo the poor dear on their way and sloppily close up behind him, leaving his assistant with a babbled apology as he ran out the door.
It’s only after he’s more than halfway to the Countess’ private bath that he realizes he’s left his coat behind, and his vest is only half-buttoned.
Ah, well. He’d have had to remove them anyway.
He passes Portia in the hall, and of course she has something to say.
“You’re late! Milady’s going to scold you,” she says as he hurries past.
“Oh, hush!” Julian retorts, and nearly knocks over a servant carrying a tray of sliced fruits and vegetables, going in the same direction as him. “Sorry, sorry. Oh, is that for us? I can take that, no worries.”
He liberates the tray from the swirly-eyed servant, and grins at the assortment of fine foods and treats. He has a mind what he can do with those grapes, and he knows Nadia is a fan of strawberries. It’ll spoil their dinner, but isn’t that the point?
Julian wields the tray as an apology, and eases into Nadia’s private bath, peeking in before sliding his whole body inside, dishware rattling on the tray. It’s warm and humid, the scent of bath soaps and perfumes thick in the air. Not unpleasant, but heady. He hears light splashing, the quiet trickle of a constant water flow.
“Is that you, Julian?” Nadia’s voice floats to him from around the corner, past the changing area, where the main baths are to be found.
“Yes! I brought snacks,” Julian replies as he inches around the corner, braced for the chastisement to come.
Nadia is already within the pool, arms braced on the edge, her head tilted back against a rolled up towel, steam rising in light curls around her shoulders.
If he’d gotten here on time, he could have helped her undress. Damn.
“Sorry, I’m late.” Julian sets the tray aside, and her eyes slit open, finding him with an amused tilt to her lips. “There was this patient, and they were convinced they had the plague, and I tried to tell them that was impossible, but they were insistent…”
He trails off as Nadia arches one perfectly sculpted eyebrow at him.
“Ilya.”
The sound of her name raises gooseflesh across his skin. He’s so glad he asked her to use it.
Julian shivers and swallows thickly. “Yes, milady?”
“Undress,” she says, and he shivers again.
He sets the tray aside. “Of course.” He pulls off his gloves, feeling the warmth of her gaze on him, and only then does he realize why it’s so bright in the baths.
The gauzy curtains have been drawn wide, allowing the rays of the dying sun as it sinks toward the horizon. Anyone with half a curious thought could peer inside, could see him stripping for the Countess, and her gaze on him, hungry and waiting.
He pauses, mid-unbuttoning, and the tips of his ears heat. He’s always been something of a showman, but this is a different kind of show.
“Something wrong?” Nadia asks, and her tone sounds amused, as if she already knows what’s caused him to pause, and is just waiting for him to say something.
Julian continues to unbutton, though he keeps glancing at the windows. “The curtains,” he says, and when her smile widens, he knows he’d hit the nail on the head. “They’re open.”
“Yes. I thought we might enjoy the sunset while we bathe.” Nadia sits up, her breasts bobbing in the water as rivulets of it run over her skin. “Does it bother you?”
Oooo. There’s challenge in her tone.
Julian slides his jacket off, lying it to the side, and starts working on his boots. “Of course not,” he lies, where she can’t see his face and the red spreading across the bridge of his nose.
“Only if you’re sure,” Nadia says, and water splashes as she moves through it.
Julian tugs off one boot and sneaks a look, nearly losing his balance. She’s stood, Nadia has, her hair clinging to her body wetly, water cascading down her amber skin. The water comes to mid-thigh, so little is left to the imagination.
His mouth waters. His cock twitches. Especially when Nadia starts to gather up her hair, twisting it into a loose fall to drape over one shoulder.
“Doctor,” she prompts. “You can’t join me if you’re still dressed.”
“Right.” Julian flushes and tugs off his other boot. He wriggles out of his shirt. His pants are something of a difficulty, since his cock has decided to wake up and thicken, but he manages well enough, and all the while, she watches him, eating him up with her eyes.
It’s intoxicating.
He stands there, cock half-firm, and the flush spreads all across his face, down his neck, across his chest. She looks at him as if she wants to consume him, and it’s a heady thing, to be the focus of desire from so powerful a woman. Even more when he knows the strength of her: the strength of her will, her convictions, and, well, her grip, too.
“Better,” Nadia says, and her lips curve, unstained thanks to her bath but no less appealing for it. “Join me?”
It sounds like a question, but it’s not one. It’s an order, and Julian hastens to obey, moving on wobbly knees to the small steps leading into the baths. The water is perfectly warm, subtly scented, and he looses a small sigh as he steps into it. His height works against him here, because standing, the water crests just above his knees, leaving him nowhere to hide.
He glances again at the window.
Nadia chuckles and moves to meet him, her hands warm as they cup his hips and slide up, up, up, tickling along his sides. “You seem spooked, Ilya,” she murmurs, and he shivers again, like she knows what the sound of his name does to him. “What can I do to help assuage your concerns?”
“Me? Spooked? Of course not. I’m as brave as they come.” Julian tucks a few stray strands of hair behind Nadia’s ear, bending down to kiss her as she tilts her head up to meet him.
Kissing Nadia is a singularly powerful experience.
She is quick to take control of the kiss, to part his lips with her tongue, like staking a claim, and Julian is even quicker to relent to her. He can’t imagine doing anything else, and even now, all he wants to do is sink to his knees before her. He can’t abide being above her. It feels wrong somehow.
“The bravest,” Nadia agrees against his mouth, and her manicured nails drag along his skin, raising goosepimples. “And a bit dirty from the day. Why don’t you sit and let me wash you?”
Julian makes a choked sound. “I should be the one washing you,” he says, and he twists in her arms, trying to find the basket of soaps and cloths which should be nearby.
Nadia, however, reaches up and tangles her fingers in his hair. “But I am already clean,” she says, and there’s enough of a tug that a wave of heat floods Julian’s body, and his dick thickens to full. “And you are not. So please kneel if you would, so that I might wash you easier.”
“That seems strangely backward,” Julian says, but he can’t resist the tug of his hair, or the pressure of her fingers on his shoulder. He sinks into the water, curling his legs beneath him. “You’re the Countess.”
“You conflate my desire to clean you with something that is beneath me?” Nadia asks, as she wades out of reach, but only long enough to retrieve a bucket and tow it closer.
Julian watches said bucket bob on the surface of the water. “I have a feeling that is a loaded question, and I’m better not answering it.”
Nadia laughs and soaps up a cloth, sweeping it over his skin at the perfect pressure to wipe away stress and dirt. “You are wiser than most give you credit then.” She leans forward, her hands on his shoulders and whispers into his ear, “Service is part of leadership, but barring that, I quite enjoy putting my hands on you.” She nips his earlobe.
Julian shivers, and his cock twitches, and his hand dives beneath the water before he thinks twice about it, squeezing himself to try and forestall the inevitable.
Nadia had not missed the motion. “That’s for later,” she says with a flick to his earlobe, and goes back to washing him. She leans around him to do so, pressing close, her skin soft and perfumed against his.
Julian wisely puts his hands on his knees, and tilts his head back when she tells him, so that cupfuls of water soak his hair. His eyes shutter closed, and he breathes a soft moan as her fingers rake over his scalp, rubbing soap into his hair.
More gooseflesh coats his body, despite the heat of the water, and his nipples tighten into nubs. He grips his knees to keep from touching himself, counting the press of his fingers against his skin. She’s driving him mad, and he likes it perhaps a little too much.
Nadia hums a laugh. “Do you enjoy my hands on you, Doctor?” and the silkiness of her voice sends a thrill down his spine.
Her fingers thread through his hair, over and over, first to work in the soap, and then to rinse it free, until his scalp tingles. All the tension he’d brought with him seeps from his body and into the water.
Julian makes a noise he can’t really define, and he blushes at her soft laugh. “Yes, milady, I do,” he manages. For once, he doesn’t stammer.
She tilts his head back with a touch to his chin and leans closer, the softness of her breasts on his shoulderblades, the point of her nipples matching his own. It’s a relief to know she’s isn’t unaffected. He can arouse her as easily as she arouses him, though she hides it far better.
“I’m glad to hear it.” Nadia’s hands brush his belly, and his muscles subconsciously twitch. Julian’s face heats, and he hopes she doesn’t notice.
One of Nadia’s hands palms his heart and holds steady, pressing him back into the pillowy softness of her breasts. “I haven’t made up my mind what I’ll do with you. Any suggestions?”
Julian leans back into her, head tilted for the press of her mouth to the side of his neck. Her lips are warm and tender, but she tweaks his nipple, and his whole body jerks. Heat floods him from head to toe, his cock twitching with a spurt of pre-come into the water.
“Hnngh,” he says, very intelligibly, and then he licks his lips. “Let me taste you,” he begs.
He can imagine it already. Her perched over him, her thighs framing his face, the wet slick of her on his lips. She’ll make such sweet sounds for him. She’ll grind on his face, taking her pleasure, and he’ll have no choice but to give it to her.
He shivers.
“I have a talented mouth,” Julian promises.
Nadia tugs on his earlobe with her teeth. “Yes, you do. And were I to allow that here, why, anyone could walk by and see how talented you are, couldn’t they?” She gets a firm grip on his hair, tugging at his scalp.
Julian freezes.
He’s forgotten about the curtains, how easily anyone can see inside, if they care to look. Granted, this far onto the palace grounds it should only be a guard or a servant, but still. They could look and they would know exactly where Doctor Devorak belongs.
Beneath Nadia Satrinava.
Julian whimpers. His cock pulses, and he wants to grab it, but the echo of her reprimand keeps his hands on his knees.
He glances at the windows, the sun streaking pretty rays through the sky as it descends. He can’t see anyone at the moment, but that doesn’t mean there’s no chance.
“Of course, they could look right now and see how pretty you are, flushed and aching for me.”
Nadia’s free hand cups the length of him, giving it a squeeze. Julian arches with a hungry noise, and he wonders how he can spare blood to blush when it seems to all be in his groin.
She strokes him, up and down, up and down, and Julian moves with her, thrusting into her fist, another whine escaping his throat. His head falls back, onto her shoulder, and he grips his knees so tightly, his knuckles ache.
“I wonder… would they stop to watch? Would they be able to take their eyes away from your beauty?” Nadia’s words are like a spell, weaving him into her web. “Would they envy me for having such a beautiful creature all to myself?”
Julian swallows, and his cock pulses, heat and pressure building into a knot in the pit of his stomach. “I… I think you overestimate my appeal, milady. If there’s anyone here so stunning, it’s you.”
Nadia chuckles and abandons his hair, but only so she can seize one of his nipples, pinching and rolling it between her fingers. Julian whines, chest arching forward, the sharp bursts of pleasure-pain-pleasure licking through his body. He gnaws on his bottom lip to muffle the embarrassing cries.
“True, I am stunning, but so are you.” Nadia tightens her grip, stroking him with purpose now, in all the ways he likes, the ways which make his toes curl, and his control falter. “My beautiful, stunning treasure, my very own Ilya.”
He whimpers. He’s not ashamed to admit it. He whimpers, and he rolls his hips into her hand, and he closes his eyes to the open window because at this point, he can’t tell if he’ll hate someone seeing them, or if he’ll celebrate it.
Nadia cups his jaw, tilting his head, and he feels her teeth nip at his throat, not enough to break skin or bruise, but enough to be remembered. “Open your eyes, my dear. I wouldn’t want you to miss anything.”
Julian forces his eyes open, to stare at the window, wondering if a guard or a servant will pass, will see him like this, caught in Nadia’s grip, bent to her will, hovering on the edge of release. Tingles race over his skin. His cock throbs, angry and red, aching.
“Please, milady,” Julian says, though he’s not sure what he’s asking for. Mercy, maybe. Pleasure, for sure.
More, absolutely.
“I do like the sound of you begging,” Nadia squeezes him, root to tip. “I like even more when you say my name.” She rubs the head of his cock, pressure over the slit, bearing gently down. “Will you do me a service, Ilya? Will you give me what I want?”
He’s increasingly glad he gave her his birth name. The sound of it on her lips is intoxicating.
Julian makes a strangled noise, arching against her, his hips moving into her strokes, his toes curling, his hands clawing the air. “I’ll give you -- give you anything you want, milady. Please, don’t stop. Please keep touching me, and then I can touch you, if you’ll let me. Please, Nadia.”
She hums, low and throat in his ear, “Yes, that’s lovely. Now come for me, darling. Give me your spill.”
He comes.
It doesn’t occur to him not to, what with her voice in his ear, and her hand on his cock, and her fingers back in his hair, pulling and pulling and pulling. He arches, a moan torn from his lips, throbbing in her grip, and his spill pulsing in heavy spurts from his cock.
“Lovely,” Nadia says through the roaring in his ears, and the thudding of his heart. She wrings him dry, and he collapses against her, short of breath and shaking, his arms splashing into the water. “Absolutely lovely.”
“I should… tend to you,” Julian pants, trying to get himself to move, but his limbs feel like gelatin and refuse to obey his commands.
Nadia hums a laugh and swings around, straddling his lap. She cups his face with her hands, only a little pruned from the water. “All in due time, darling. She kisses him, so soft and sweet, Julian’s dizzy with it.
He places his hands on her hips, strokes up and down, her skin silky soft and warm, her thighs spread over his, her breasts brushing against his chest, nipples hard. He wants to taste them, drink of her. He still wants to see her above him, taking her pleasure from his mouth. The want of it burns like a fire in his belly, dimmed, but banking the more she kisses him, sucking on his tongue and stroking her fingers along the column of his throat.
“You wish to taste me?” she asks in between kisses, and Julian cups her behind, squeezing it, pulling her toward him in a bold move he wouldn’t dare if she hadn’t gone so willingly with it.
“Yes,” Julian breathes against her lips. He strokes the skin of her back, his cock twitching in a vain attempt to thicken once more. “Perhaps we can dry off and move to a bed or that settee or the floor. Wherever you want honestly. I’m at your disposal.”
Nadia sucks on his bottom lip, giving it a nip. “That won’t be necessary.”
She slides out of his lap and stands, water cascading down her skin. She looms over him, and it’s perfect, it’s so perfect, because there she is. He’s of a perfect height to press his cheek to her mound, to flutter a kiss over the swollen bud of her clit, to lap her damp folds. Nadia hums with delight, her thighs spreading further, giving him more room to work as he cradles her hips and buries his face between her thighs.
Her fingers tangle in his hair. “This shall suffice, don’t you think?” she asks, and Julian is too busy tasting her to reply.
He answers with his lips and his tongue and the gentlest scrape of his teeth along the inside of her thigh. He sucks little red marks in the delicate skin, and goes back to teasing her clit with his tongue. He dares slide two fingers into her -- she’s so hot, so slick, squeezing down on him. She purrs with satisfaction, twists his hair around her fingers, and rides his mouth.
Nadia shifts her weight, and he braces her with his free hand as she throws a leg over one of his shoulders, and he can bury himself further. She’s spicy from the perfumed water, but sweet from her natural slick. He licks into her, as deep as his tongue can manage, his face buried against her swollen folds.
“Very good, Doctor,” Nadia breathes.
He glances up, and it’s all his imagination promised him.
Her face is flushed with high dots of color in her cheeks. The twist of her hair has come unraveled, tumbling it loose over her shoulders and framing her face. She’s absolutely gorgeous as she gnaws on her bottom lip and tangles her fingers in his hair and pulls him against her, hips moving against his mouth.
She thrusts against his face, seeking her pleasure without hesitation, taking it from him.
Julian moans, curving his fingers to stroke her deep. Her effortless control makes his pulse quicken, and his cock twitch again. She’s delicious and beautiful, and every day, he wonders how he stumbled into such luck.
He doesn’t think about the open windows. There’s only Nadia above him, the pull of her fingers, the quiver of her thighs, the low, breathy cries she makes as he licks and nibbles at her, as he takes the hardened nub of her clit and sucks and sucks and sucks until she bucks against him with a sharp cry, her fingers digging into his scalp, her heat squeezing down on his fingers.
She says his name on a warm, breathy exhale, and tingles race across Julian’s skin. He kisses her through the tremors, until she pulls him away because she’s too sensitive and needs time to recover.
Nadia is flushed and beautiful when she drops down into his lap, threading her fingers through his hair, tilting his head back and kissing him, tasting herself on his lips. Julian groans into the kiss, fingers spasming, his cock half-hard and pointing to the apex of her thighs.
“You are a marvel,” Nadia breathes, and each compliment is a syrupy drip toward Julian’s groin. His heart thuds in his ears, but not too loud to drown out her voice. “A stunning treasure I can keep all to myself.” She cants her hips and takes him into her, and Julian drowns in sensation as her heat swallows him, and suddenly, he’s full and throbbing, desperate for her.
Julian remembers, distantly, that the windows are uncovered and anyone could look in, could see Nadia atop him, her body in sinuous motion, hair a wild and tangled fall of tyrian. They can’t hear her, the joyous cries she makes, how she murmurs his name.
But they can see her reddening his lips with her biting kisses, and her manicured nails raising red lines in his pale skin. They’ll see her claiming her own pleasure, and claiming Julian, and rather than embarrass, it delights him.
He’s flush all over, throbbing and eager, and he braces Nadia’s movements, keeps her balanced so she can ride him, up and down, up and down, deep and shallow and deep and shallow, until it’s all he can do to breathe and hope he has enough control to give her pleasure first.
She drags her fingers through his hair, tugs his head back, masters him as surely as she’s mastered her city. Julian’s cock throbs, and he grips her tight enough to bruise, though he certainly hopes it doesn’t.
Nadia’s eyes are bright and hungry, and she mutters something he can’t quite make out before she kisses him and shudders. He realizes a half-second later that she’s coming again, her body rippling and squeezing, so hot and wet and hungry.
Her tongue plunges into his mouth, her teeth clack against his, and he whines into the kiss, thrusting up once and twice, nearly toppling her backward, hips working in a near-frenzy. The need twists and tightens inside of him, tensing his muscles, his abdomen, his fingers curved, and then he’s following her, devouring her mouth, coming in sharp bursts and helpless cries against her lips.
His world goes hot and white, and by the time Julian sinks back into his body, Nadia has started carding her fingers through his hair gently, her forehead pressed to his as she murmurs in Prakran, which never ceases to fill his chest with warmth. She’s got a lovely voice, and it’s amplified by her native tongue.
“Mmm, there you are, my sweet doctor.” Nadia presses a kiss to the tip of his nose, her smile indulgent. “Have I pleasured you so much you lost yourself?”
Julian tries for a lazy grin, but it wobbles around the edges, so he slides his hands across her skin, soaking up the softness of her. “It is an easy thing for you to do, Countess, as lovely as you are. I am ever at your service.”
Nadia laughs and kisses him, though it’s a brief thing, her thighs pressing in on the outside of his hips. “You’re ridiculous,” she says, but it sounds fond rather than exasperated. “I enjoy your company regardless. Shall we finish bathing before we retire for the evening then?”
“Food first. After all, I did bring a tray of delicious things with me,” Julian says, though he can only hope they are actually delicious. He suddenly can’t remember a single thing on it.
Nadia rises, only wobbling a little, and he’s quick to steady her. Water streams down her skin in rivulets, and though he’s come twice, Julian has every urge to chase them with his tongue, to lay her out and explore every inch of her body with his fingers and his tongue.
“I have something to show you as well.” Nadia turns away from him, wading toward the steps to climb out of the water. “I purchased it on a whim, thinking it would suit you, and I cannot wait to see it on you.”
“Oh, what is it?” Julian goes to stand, only for his knees to buckle and for him to crash forward, hitting the water with a smack, and making a huge splash.
He flails, spitting out water, and manages to flip over on his ass, arms braced behind him. He blinks dumbly at the ceiling as tingles spread up and down his outstretched legs.
“Julian, are you all right?” Nadia rushes back into the water, her eyes wide with concern. She kneels down next to him, hands fluttering in a confused, aborted motion to help.
Embarrassment colors his cheeks. “My legs,” he admits with a lopsided smile. “They fell asleep.”
Nadia gives him a keen look before she breaks into laughter. “Is that all?” She scoots closer and draws his nearest leg into her lap. “I kept you on your knees for too long. Allow me to apologize.” Her fingers drag gently up his bare skin before starting at his thigh and massaging his protesting muscles. “I should have known better.”
Julian splutters, “Oh, don’t trouble yourself. I’ll be just fine. Happens to everyone, you know. It’s not a big deal.”
Nadia, however, arches an eyebrow at him. “It is important to me,” she says in such an imperious tone, it is a reminder of her station. “Your comfort, my doctor, is of utmost importance.”
He can’t bring himself to argue otherwise, and knows he shouldn’t anyway. Besides, her hands feel amazing, and as much as he thinks he shouldn’t let her do this, another part of him is quietly groaning at the sensation. He wants to sink into the water, float there, and let her spoil him.
“What did you get me?” he asks instead.
Nadia gives him a sly look and winks, “You’ll just have to wait and see.” She digs her fingers into the meat of his legs -- little though there is -- soothing the pained ripples of them. “I assure you, it’s something we’ll both enjoy.”
Anticipation dances up his spine. “I trust you, Nadia,” Julian says, and the look of delight she gives him is well worth the admission.
She moves to his other leg, every action full of poise and grace, practiced into effortless.
“And I, you,” Nadia says without hesitation, something for which he’s not sure he deserves, but will always be grateful.
She leans in to kiss him, soft and sweet, and Julian cradles her face, soaking up her softness, her warmth, and this moment, and he wonders how in the world he got so lucky.
****
Universe: The Arcana, post-Devil’s defeat
Characters: Nadia Satrinava/Julian Devorak
Rated: M
Enticements: sexual content, dom/sub themes, risk of voyeurism
Description: Nadia’s mastery of him is effortless, and all the more intoxicating for it. Julian still can’t believe how lucky he is.
Julian is late.
It is an insult of the highest degree, but he can only hope Nadia will be forgiving.
He has a good reason!
His last patient of the day had required more soothing than usual, and while their ills had only been a minor rash, someone had filled their head with more terrible ailments, until they were quite certain they were dying.
It had taken Julian far too long to reassure them that no, it is only a rash, probably because of the new dress they bought, which they should launder before wearing again. The material is quite scratchy.
Julian received profuse thanks for his patience, and apologies for taking up so much of his time, and that took even longer. He’d had to shoo the poor dear on their way and sloppily close up behind him, leaving his assistant with a babbled apology as he ran out the door.
It’s only after he’s more than halfway to the Countess’ private bath that he realizes he’s left his coat behind, and his vest is only half-buttoned.
Ah, well. He’d have had to remove them anyway.
He passes Portia in the hall, and of course she has something to say.
“You’re late! Milady’s going to scold you,” she says as he hurries past.
“Oh, hush!” Julian retorts, and nearly knocks over a servant carrying a tray of sliced fruits and vegetables, going in the same direction as him. “Sorry, sorry. Oh, is that for us? I can take that, no worries.”
He liberates the tray from the swirly-eyed servant, and grins at the assortment of fine foods and treats. He has a mind what he can do with those grapes, and he knows Nadia is a fan of strawberries. It’ll spoil their dinner, but isn’t that the point?
Julian wields the tray as an apology, and eases into Nadia’s private bath, peeking in before sliding his whole body inside, dishware rattling on the tray. It’s warm and humid, the scent of bath soaps and perfumes thick in the air. Not unpleasant, but heady. He hears light splashing, the quiet trickle of a constant water flow.
“Is that you, Julian?” Nadia’s voice floats to him from around the corner, past the changing area, where the main baths are to be found.
“Yes! I brought snacks,” Julian replies as he inches around the corner, braced for the chastisement to come.
Nadia is already within the pool, arms braced on the edge, her head tilted back against a rolled up towel, steam rising in light curls around her shoulders.
If he’d gotten here on time, he could have helped her undress. Damn.
“Sorry, I’m late.” Julian sets the tray aside, and her eyes slit open, finding him with an amused tilt to her lips. “There was this patient, and they were convinced they had the plague, and I tried to tell them that was impossible, but they were insistent…”
He trails off as Nadia arches one perfectly sculpted eyebrow at him.
“Ilya.”
The sound of her name raises gooseflesh across his skin. He’s so glad he asked her to use it.
Julian shivers and swallows thickly. “Yes, milady?”
“Undress,” she says, and he shivers again.
He sets the tray aside. “Of course.” He pulls off his gloves, feeling the warmth of her gaze on him, and only then does he realize why it’s so bright in the baths.
The gauzy curtains have been drawn wide, allowing the rays of the dying sun as it sinks toward the horizon. Anyone with half a curious thought could peer inside, could see him stripping for the Countess, and her gaze on him, hungry and waiting.
He pauses, mid-unbuttoning, and the tips of his ears heat. He’s always been something of a showman, but this is a different kind of show.
“Something wrong?” Nadia asks, and her tone sounds amused, as if she already knows what’s caused him to pause, and is just waiting for him to say something.
Julian continues to unbutton, though he keeps glancing at the windows. “The curtains,” he says, and when her smile widens, he knows he’d hit the nail on the head. “They’re open.”
“Yes. I thought we might enjoy the sunset while we bathe.” Nadia sits up, her breasts bobbing in the water as rivulets of it run over her skin. “Does it bother you?”
Oooo. There’s challenge in her tone.
Julian slides his jacket off, lying it to the side, and starts working on his boots. “Of course not,” he lies, where she can’t see his face and the red spreading across the bridge of his nose.
“Only if you’re sure,” Nadia says, and water splashes as she moves through it.
Julian tugs off one boot and sneaks a look, nearly losing his balance. She’s stood, Nadia has, her hair clinging to her body wetly, water cascading down her amber skin. The water comes to mid-thigh, so little is left to the imagination.
His mouth waters. His cock twitches. Especially when Nadia starts to gather up her hair, twisting it into a loose fall to drape over one shoulder.
“Doctor,” she prompts. “You can’t join me if you’re still dressed.”
“Right.” Julian flushes and tugs off his other boot. He wriggles out of his shirt. His pants are something of a difficulty, since his cock has decided to wake up and thicken, but he manages well enough, and all the while, she watches him, eating him up with her eyes.
It’s intoxicating.
He stands there, cock half-firm, and the flush spreads all across his face, down his neck, across his chest. She looks at him as if she wants to consume him, and it’s a heady thing, to be the focus of desire from so powerful a woman. Even more when he knows the strength of her: the strength of her will, her convictions, and, well, her grip, too.
“Better,” Nadia says, and her lips curve, unstained thanks to her bath but no less appealing for it. “Join me?”
It sounds like a question, but it’s not one. It’s an order, and Julian hastens to obey, moving on wobbly knees to the small steps leading into the baths. The water is perfectly warm, subtly scented, and he looses a small sigh as he steps into it. His height works against him here, because standing, the water crests just above his knees, leaving him nowhere to hide.
He glances again at the window.
Nadia chuckles and moves to meet him, her hands warm as they cup his hips and slide up, up, up, tickling along his sides. “You seem spooked, Ilya,” she murmurs, and he shivers again, like she knows what the sound of his name does to him. “What can I do to help assuage your concerns?”
“Me? Spooked? Of course not. I’m as brave as they come.” Julian tucks a few stray strands of hair behind Nadia’s ear, bending down to kiss her as she tilts her head up to meet him.
Kissing Nadia is a singularly powerful experience.
She is quick to take control of the kiss, to part his lips with her tongue, like staking a claim, and Julian is even quicker to relent to her. He can’t imagine doing anything else, and even now, all he wants to do is sink to his knees before her. He can’t abide being above her. It feels wrong somehow.
“The bravest,” Nadia agrees against his mouth, and her manicured nails drag along his skin, raising goosepimples. “And a bit dirty from the day. Why don’t you sit and let me wash you?”
Julian makes a choked sound. “I should be the one washing you,” he says, and he twists in her arms, trying to find the basket of soaps and cloths which should be nearby.
Nadia, however, reaches up and tangles her fingers in his hair. “But I am already clean,” she says, and there’s enough of a tug that a wave of heat floods Julian’s body, and his dick thickens to full. “And you are not. So please kneel if you would, so that I might wash you easier.”
“That seems strangely backward,” Julian says, but he can’t resist the tug of his hair, or the pressure of her fingers on his shoulder. He sinks into the water, curling his legs beneath him. “You’re the Countess.”
“You conflate my desire to clean you with something that is beneath me?” Nadia asks, as she wades out of reach, but only long enough to retrieve a bucket and tow it closer.
Julian watches said bucket bob on the surface of the water. “I have a feeling that is a loaded question, and I’m better not answering it.”
Nadia laughs and soaps up a cloth, sweeping it over his skin at the perfect pressure to wipe away stress and dirt. “You are wiser than most give you credit then.” She leans forward, her hands on his shoulders and whispers into his ear, “Service is part of leadership, but barring that, I quite enjoy putting my hands on you.” She nips his earlobe.
Julian shivers, and his cock twitches, and his hand dives beneath the water before he thinks twice about it, squeezing himself to try and forestall the inevitable.
Nadia had not missed the motion. “That’s for later,” she says with a flick to his earlobe, and goes back to washing him. She leans around him to do so, pressing close, her skin soft and perfumed against his.
Julian wisely puts his hands on his knees, and tilts his head back when she tells him, so that cupfuls of water soak his hair. His eyes shutter closed, and he breathes a soft moan as her fingers rake over his scalp, rubbing soap into his hair.
More gooseflesh coats his body, despite the heat of the water, and his nipples tighten into nubs. He grips his knees to keep from touching himself, counting the press of his fingers against his skin. She’s driving him mad, and he likes it perhaps a little too much.
Nadia hums a laugh. “Do you enjoy my hands on you, Doctor?” and the silkiness of her voice sends a thrill down his spine.
Her fingers thread through his hair, over and over, first to work in the soap, and then to rinse it free, until his scalp tingles. All the tension he’d brought with him seeps from his body and into the water.
Julian makes a noise he can’t really define, and he blushes at her soft laugh. “Yes, milady, I do,” he manages. For once, he doesn’t stammer.
She tilts his head back with a touch to his chin and leans closer, the softness of her breasts on his shoulderblades, the point of her nipples matching his own. It’s a relief to know she’s isn’t unaffected. He can arouse her as easily as she arouses him, though she hides it far better.
“I’m glad to hear it.” Nadia’s hands brush his belly, and his muscles subconsciously twitch. Julian’s face heats, and he hopes she doesn’t notice.
One of Nadia’s hands palms his heart and holds steady, pressing him back into the pillowy softness of her breasts. “I haven’t made up my mind what I’ll do with you. Any suggestions?”
Julian leans back into her, head tilted for the press of her mouth to the side of his neck. Her lips are warm and tender, but she tweaks his nipple, and his whole body jerks. Heat floods him from head to toe, his cock twitching with a spurt of pre-come into the water.
“Hnngh,” he says, very intelligibly, and then he licks his lips. “Let me taste you,” he begs.
He can imagine it already. Her perched over him, her thighs framing his face, the wet slick of her on his lips. She’ll make such sweet sounds for him. She’ll grind on his face, taking her pleasure, and he’ll have no choice but to give it to her.
He shivers.
“I have a talented mouth,” Julian promises.
Nadia tugs on his earlobe with her teeth. “Yes, you do. And were I to allow that here, why, anyone could walk by and see how talented you are, couldn’t they?” She gets a firm grip on his hair, tugging at his scalp.
Julian freezes.
He’s forgotten about the curtains, how easily anyone can see inside, if they care to look. Granted, this far onto the palace grounds it should only be a guard or a servant, but still. They could look and they would know exactly where Doctor Devorak belongs.
Beneath Nadia Satrinava.
Julian whimpers. His cock pulses, and he wants to grab it, but the echo of her reprimand keeps his hands on his knees.
He glances at the windows, the sun streaking pretty rays through the sky as it descends. He can’t see anyone at the moment, but that doesn’t mean there’s no chance.
“Of course, they could look right now and see how pretty you are, flushed and aching for me.”
Nadia’s free hand cups the length of him, giving it a squeeze. Julian arches with a hungry noise, and he wonders how he can spare blood to blush when it seems to all be in his groin.
She strokes him, up and down, up and down, and Julian moves with her, thrusting into her fist, another whine escaping his throat. His head falls back, onto her shoulder, and he grips his knees so tightly, his knuckles ache.
“I wonder… would they stop to watch? Would they be able to take their eyes away from your beauty?” Nadia’s words are like a spell, weaving him into her web. “Would they envy me for having such a beautiful creature all to myself?”
Julian swallows, and his cock pulses, heat and pressure building into a knot in the pit of his stomach. “I… I think you overestimate my appeal, milady. If there’s anyone here so stunning, it’s you.”
Nadia chuckles and abandons his hair, but only so she can seize one of his nipples, pinching and rolling it between her fingers. Julian whines, chest arching forward, the sharp bursts of pleasure-pain-pleasure licking through his body. He gnaws on his bottom lip to muffle the embarrassing cries.
“True, I am stunning, but so are you.” Nadia tightens her grip, stroking him with purpose now, in all the ways he likes, the ways which make his toes curl, and his control falter. “My beautiful, stunning treasure, my very own Ilya.”
He whimpers. He’s not ashamed to admit it. He whimpers, and he rolls his hips into her hand, and he closes his eyes to the open window because at this point, he can’t tell if he’ll hate someone seeing them, or if he’ll celebrate it.
Nadia cups his jaw, tilting his head, and he feels her teeth nip at his throat, not enough to break skin or bruise, but enough to be remembered. “Open your eyes, my dear. I wouldn’t want you to miss anything.”
Julian forces his eyes open, to stare at the window, wondering if a guard or a servant will pass, will see him like this, caught in Nadia’s grip, bent to her will, hovering on the edge of release. Tingles race over his skin. His cock throbs, angry and red, aching.
“Please, milady,” Julian says, though he’s not sure what he’s asking for. Mercy, maybe. Pleasure, for sure.
More, absolutely.
“I do like the sound of you begging,” Nadia squeezes him, root to tip. “I like even more when you say my name.” She rubs the head of his cock, pressure over the slit, bearing gently down. “Will you do me a service, Ilya? Will you give me what I want?”
He’s increasingly glad he gave her his birth name. The sound of it on her lips is intoxicating.
Julian makes a strangled noise, arching against her, his hips moving into her strokes, his toes curling, his hands clawing the air. “I’ll give you -- give you anything you want, milady. Please, don’t stop. Please keep touching me, and then I can touch you, if you’ll let me. Please, Nadia.”
She hums, low and throat in his ear, “Yes, that’s lovely. Now come for me, darling. Give me your spill.”
He comes.
It doesn’t occur to him not to, what with her voice in his ear, and her hand on his cock, and her fingers back in his hair, pulling and pulling and pulling. He arches, a moan torn from his lips, throbbing in her grip, and his spill pulsing in heavy spurts from his cock.
“Lovely,” Nadia says through the roaring in his ears, and the thudding of his heart. She wrings him dry, and he collapses against her, short of breath and shaking, his arms splashing into the water. “Absolutely lovely.”
“I should… tend to you,” Julian pants, trying to get himself to move, but his limbs feel like gelatin and refuse to obey his commands.
Nadia hums a laugh and swings around, straddling his lap. She cups his face with her hands, only a little pruned from the water. “All in due time, darling. She kisses him, so soft and sweet, Julian’s dizzy with it.
He places his hands on her hips, strokes up and down, her skin silky soft and warm, her thighs spread over his, her breasts brushing against his chest, nipples hard. He wants to taste them, drink of her. He still wants to see her above him, taking her pleasure from his mouth. The want of it burns like a fire in his belly, dimmed, but banking the more she kisses him, sucking on his tongue and stroking her fingers along the column of his throat.
“You wish to taste me?” she asks in between kisses, and Julian cups her behind, squeezing it, pulling her toward him in a bold move he wouldn’t dare if she hadn’t gone so willingly with it.
“Yes,” Julian breathes against her lips. He strokes the skin of her back, his cock twitching in a vain attempt to thicken once more. “Perhaps we can dry off and move to a bed or that settee or the floor. Wherever you want honestly. I’m at your disposal.”
Nadia sucks on his bottom lip, giving it a nip. “That won’t be necessary.”
She slides out of his lap and stands, water cascading down her skin. She looms over him, and it’s perfect, it’s so perfect, because there she is. He’s of a perfect height to press his cheek to her mound, to flutter a kiss over the swollen bud of her clit, to lap her damp folds. Nadia hums with delight, her thighs spreading further, giving him more room to work as he cradles her hips and buries his face between her thighs.
Her fingers tangle in his hair. “This shall suffice, don’t you think?” she asks, and Julian is too busy tasting her to reply.
He answers with his lips and his tongue and the gentlest scrape of his teeth along the inside of her thigh. He sucks little red marks in the delicate skin, and goes back to teasing her clit with his tongue. He dares slide two fingers into her -- she’s so hot, so slick, squeezing down on him. She purrs with satisfaction, twists his hair around her fingers, and rides his mouth.
Nadia shifts her weight, and he braces her with his free hand as she throws a leg over one of his shoulders, and he can bury himself further. She’s spicy from the perfumed water, but sweet from her natural slick. He licks into her, as deep as his tongue can manage, his face buried against her swollen folds.
“Very good, Doctor,” Nadia breathes.
He glances up, and it’s all his imagination promised him.
Her face is flushed with high dots of color in her cheeks. The twist of her hair has come unraveled, tumbling it loose over her shoulders and framing her face. She’s absolutely gorgeous as she gnaws on her bottom lip and tangles her fingers in his hair and pulls him against her, hips moving against his mouth.
She thrusts against his face, seeking her pleasure without hesitation, taking it from him.
Julian moans, curving his fingers to stroke her deep. Her effortless control makes his pulse quicken, and his cock twitch again. She’s delicious and beautiful, and every day, he wonders how he stumbled into such luck.
He doesn’t think about the open windows. There’s only Nadia above him, the pull of her fingers, the quiver of her thighs, the low, breathy cries she makes as he licks and nibbles at her, as he takes the hardened nub of her clit and sucks and sucks and sucks until she bucks against him with a sharp cry, her fingers digging into his scalp, her heat squeezing down on his fingers.
She says his name on a warm, breathy exhale, and tingles race across Julian’s skin. He kisses her through the tremors, until she pulls him away because she’s too sensitive and needs time to recover.
Nadia is flushed and beautiful when she drops down into his lap, threading her fingers through his hair, tilting his head back and kissing him, tasting herself on his lips. Julian groans into the kiss, fingers spasming, his cock half-hard and pointing to the apex of her thighs.
“You are a marvel,” Nadia breathes, and each compliment is a syrupy drip toward Julian’s groin. His heart thuds in his ears, but not too loud to drown out her voice. “A stunning treasure I can keep all to myself.” She cants her hips and takes him into her, and Julian drowns in sensation as her heat swallows him, and suddenly, he’s full and throbbing, desperate for her.
Julian remembers, distantly, that the windows are uncovered and anyone could look in, could see Nadia atop him, her body in sinuous motion, hair a wild and tangled fall of tyrian. They can’t hear her, the joyous cries she makes, how she murmurs his name.
But they can see her reddening his lips with her biting kisses, and her manicured nails raising red lines in his pale skin. They’ll see her claiming her own pleasure, and claiming Julian, and rather than embarrass, it delights him.
He’s flush all over, throbbing and eager, and he braces Nadia’s movements, keeps her balanced so she can ride him, up and down, up and down, deep and shallow and deep and shallow, until it’s all he can do to breathe and hope he has enough control to give her pleasure first.
She drags her fingers through his hair, tugs his head back, masters him as surely as she’s mastered her city. Julian’s cock throbs, and he grips her tight enough to bruise, though he certainly hopes it doesn’t.
Nadia’s eyes are bright and hungry, and she mutters something he can’t quite make out before she kisses him and shudders. He realizes a half-second later that she’s coming again, her body rippling and squeezing, so hot and wet and hungry.
Her tongue plunges into his mouth, her teeth clack against his, and he whines into the kiss, thrusting up once and twice, nearly toppling her backward, hips working in a near-frenzy. The need twists and tightens inside of him, tensing his muscles, his abdomen, his fingers curved, and then he’s following her, devouring her mouth, coming in sharp bursts and helpless cries against her lips.
His world goes hot and white, and by the time Julian sinks back into his body, Nadia has started carding her fingers through his hair gently, her forehead pressed to his as she murmurs in Prakran, which never ceases to fill his chest with warmth. She’s got a lovely voice, and it’s amplified by her native tongue.
“Mmm, there you are, my sweet doctor.” Nadia presses a kiss to the tip of his nose, her smile indulgent. “Have I pleasured you so much you lost yourself?”
Julian tries for a lazy grin, but it wobbles around the edges, so he slides his hands across her skin, soaking up the softness of her. “It is an easy thing for you to do, Countess, as lovely as you are. I am ever at your service.”
Nadia laughs and kisses him, though it’s a brief thing, her thighs pressing in on the outside of his hips. “You’re ridiculous,” she says, but it sounds fond rather than exasperated. “I enjoy your company regardless. Shall we finish bathing before we retire for the evening then?”
“Food first. After all, I did bring a tray of delicious things with me,” Julian says, though he can only hope they are actually delicious. He suddenly can’t remember a single thing on it.
Nadia rises, only wobbling a little, and he’s quick to steady her. Water streams down her skin in rivulets, and though he’s come twice, Julian has every urge to chase them with his tongue, to lay her out and explore every inch of her body with his fingers and his tongue.
“I have something to show you as well.” Nadia turns away from him, wading toward the steps to climb out of the water. “I purchased it on a whim, thinking it would suit you, and I cannot wait to see it on you.”
“Oh, what is it?” Julian goes to stand, only for his knees to buckle and for him to crash forward, hitting the water with a smack, and making a huge splash.
He flails, spitting out water, and manages to flip over on his ass, arms braced behind him. He blinks dumbly at the ceiling as tingles spread up and down his outstretched legs.
“Julian, are you all right?” Nadia rushes back into the water, her eyes wide with concern. She kneels down next to him, hands fluttering in a confused, aborted motion to help.
Embarrassment colors his cheeks. “My legs,” he admits with a lopsided smile. “They fell asleep.”
Nadia gives him a keen look before she breaks into laughter. “Is that all?” She scoots closer and draws his nearest leg into her lap. “I kept you on your knees for too long. Allow me to apologize.” Her fingers drag gently up his bare skin before starting at his thigh and massaging his protesting muscles. “I should have known better.”
Julian splutters, “Oh, don’t trouble yourself. I’ll be just fine. Happens to everyone, you know. It’s not a big deal.”
Nadia, however, arches an eyebrow at him. “It is important to me,” she says in such an imperious tone, it is a reminder of her station. “Your comfort, my doctor, is of utmost importance.”
He can’t bring himself to argue otherwise, and knows he shouldn’t anyway. Besides, her hands feel amazing, and as much as he thinks he shouldn’t let her do this, another part of him is quietly groaning at the sensation. He wants to sink into the water, float there, and let her spoil him.
“What did you get me?” he asks instead.
Nadia gives him a sly look and winks, “You’ll just have to wait and see.” She digs her fingers into the meat of his legs -- little though there is -- soothing the pained ripples of them. “I assure you, it’s something we’ll both enjoy.”
Anticipation dances up his spine. “I trust you, Nadia,” Julian says, and the look of delight she gives him is well worth the admission.
She moves to his other leg, every action full of poise and grace, practiced into effortless.
“And I, you,” Nadia says without hesitation, something for which he’s not sure he deserves, but will always be grateful.
She leans in to kiss him, soft and sweet, and Julian cradles her face, soaking up her softness, her warmth, and this moment, and he wonders how in the world he got so lucky.
