Into the Goodnight

"Never. And why should I?" She dared him to find fault in her lack of exposure. "I'm a princess. Not a harlot."

He quirked his eyebrow, his mouth smiling absently as he finished the last of his scrubbing. He began pouring water over his body, the white suds racing down in disjointed lines. "And now a wife. Some would argue there are certain duties of a wife that knowledge of the male form would be beneficial, do you not agree?" He looked up at her then, those dark eyes as burning as the fire that illuminated him.

Aurelia swallowed, too warmed by that gaze to think of much animosity or coyness. "And what would those be?"

"For starters," Maks began as he stood unannounced, water violently sluicing down his large from.

Aurelia sucked in her breath as her mouth fell open. Nerves bundled in her stomach while her skin simultaneously lit on fire. Maks reached for the drying cloth hanging near the fire. While he went about drying himself, Aurelia took in both the beauty and mystery of the man, shock giving way to fascination.

Her riveted inspection came to a paralyzing halt, however, when her gaze landed on his manhood. Though she had seen no others for a comparison, she couldn't help but find the large, dangling bit of flesh as equally alluring as it was disconcerting.

"Seeing your husband naked wouldn't be such a shock," he finished stating. Her eyes snapped up to his face and if possible, blushed even redder at being caught studying him. "But then again, perhaps you would find me shocking no matter how many male bodies you had previously seen." There was almost a hint of self-deprecating mock in his tone.

Her eyes held his as he dried himself. "I think you flatter yourself," she answered slowly.

Maks only looked at her, his expression self-satisfied as he modestly tied the towel about his waist so it reached midthigh.

"Care to help me?" he asked nodding to the wash basin.

"What? All those muscles and no strength to go with them?" she quipped smartly, desperate to rid herself of her attraction.

"If it were a sack of wheat, I could haul it out. But as it's a cumbersome tub of water—likely to splash all over your clean floor—I'd prefer a little return on the assistance I earlier gave you."

"Very well," she sighed, and stood up to lend a hand. The task was as easily done as the previous, and when he had returned the washing basin to sit next to the fire, he took a candle from where it sat on the mantel. Maks lit it in the dying fire and then placed it on the little table next to Aurelia's side of the bed. She fought to keep her attention elsewhere as he boldly stripped off the towel and tossed it over a rack by the fireplace and then stretched out on the bed.

Aurelia wandered idle about their small home in fearful anticipation of what was to come. She wasn't a fool. She was now a married woman, and though before that evening she would have had every conviction of her ability to rebuff any attempts at intimacy, she was no longer as certain. Despite his low station, Maks had an appeal that she hadn't encountered in any other man. And while she had refused all the many suitors with the great conviction that all men were below her, something about her husband made her rethink that belief.

"Is this a nightly ritual that I will have to become accustomed to?" he asked, laying with his hand folded under his head.

"Hm?" she asked, stopping in midstride, mid-thought.

His hand gestured at her. "This fruitless wandering about the room," he clarified, indicating her mindless pacing to and fro.

She made a sound indicating she realized what she had been doing, and seemed to regather herself. Clenching her hands at her sides, she was about to retort something to the effect that as a princess she could do as she pleased, and he should be accustomed to that, but as she opened her mouth, he interrupted her.

"Come, it's time for bed." His head gestured to the empty, but small space at his side.

Aurelia swallowed, apprehension evident on the creasing in her brow. "As it so happens, I'm not much in the mood for sleep," she stalled.

That smirk was back. "As it so happens, neither am I," he answered meaningfully.

She scowled a little at that. "I know your intentions, and I'll have none of it."

"Oh, I'm certain you'll have it all."

She huffed and looked away, gathering her wits. "Do you forget who I am?"

His head cocked a little to the side, but he gave no answer.

"I am Aurelia Sidereus, princess of Orfeo. Not only am I royalty, born under a golden ceiling, the child of holy kings, I am also the most beautiful woman alive. What in this wide world would make you think I would allow you to touch me?"

"Because you want me to," he replied in such a gentle, coaxing tone that she felt it like a caress down her spine. Much to her chagrin, she recognized he was correct, though she was at a loss as to why.

"What makes you say that?" she questioned him.

"Because you look at me in a way, I dare say, you've never looked at another man," he claimed calmly.

"And how would you know how I look at other men?"

"Because you are surprised by it, the attraction, I mean. The confusion comes into your eyes whenever you realize your feelings. And if I'm not mistaken, you were so put out by the idea of marriage that I'm guessing attraction to anyone in particular hadn't much entered your mind. What? Did you think yourself too good? That no man could possibly be your equal?"

She scowled at the near-mockery she heard in his voice as he too accurately summarized her most recent realizations. But no man was worthy of her, were they? After all, even her husband, though she couldn't find exact fault with his face, and especially not his body, wasn't anywhere near as attractive as she. And yet, his appeal was undeniable.

"You've made the mistake of confusing beauty with attraction, believing that being the most beautiful implies no one could possibly be attractive to you, and have therefore discredited anyone who doesn't match you in beauty. And that fault will lead you to miss something quite spectacular."

"And what would that be?"

"Come here and I'll show you."

Apprehension was visible on her face, even in the dimming light of the small house. She considered it, considered all he said and all the many disturbing things that had begun swirling in her head since that morning. Maks was correct, after all; no other man had piqued her attention as he had. There was something uniquely appealing about him that broke through her wall of disregard. And without warning and without weapons against it, she found herself attracted to her husband. But was that enough to entitle him to her body?

Skeptically, Aurelia approached the bed. Standing next to it, she let the robe that had been donned for modesty's sake slip from her shoulders and placed it carefully at the foot of the bed. She eyed him a moment, uneasy contemplation marring her pretty features.

Was it likely any other man would be more satisfactory than he? Not from her experience, she reasoned. Looking at him with resolve, she decided if she was going to allow this thing, she might as well face it with all the bravery she had. Without further ado, Aurelia lifted the hem of her night gown and pulled it swiftly over her head. She tossed it carelessly over her laid out robe and slowly turned to look at her husband.

Her stomach burned with such embarrassment she thought she might be sick, but Aurelia refused to cower, to appear as anything other than what she was: the most desirable woman in the world. And so she lifted chin high, as if to dare him to find fault with her.

Though he said nothing, his approval was evident. His dark eyes were thunderous, powerful and raging, and they conveyed such promise that she found herself leaning forward to crawl on the bed and kneel over him. Still he said nothing as the length of her hair slid over one shoulder and cascaded like a pool onto his chest. He seemed to appreciate the contact, and in the flickering light she could see his member twitch as it began swelling. While she may have been fascinated by it and its transformation, she was still too shy to openly examine him and so kept her cool gaze on his face.

She studied his lips, by far the most sensual part of him—though those dark eyes never wanted for power to affect her—and in that moment, as she felt a surging sense of control, she lowered her mouth to his. She didn't know how to kiss, despite what she had experienced that morning, but was enthralled by the simple caress of running her lips over his as it sent shivers racing down her spine and cinched her nipples until they stood erect. And she was quite certain the depths of her sex were beginning to warm with her arousal.

He still made no move, and as she had no idea what to do or what was expected, she gave his lips a quick lick of her pink tongue, a teasing move, a tempting move. Her eyes stared into his. But still no response. She continued rubbing her mouth against him and spoke.

"I thought you were going to show me," she taunted softly.

Suddenly, she was no longer suspended above him, but pressed into the bed beneath him. He had flipped them so quickly she blinked as she oriented herself under the weight of his large frame. The quick move startled her, spooking away a bit of the courage she had displayed. Any control she might have felt had simply been an illusion.

Aurelia didn't notice the quickening of her breath as she stared blinking up into his face, now hovering above hers.

"So I did," he replied. She shivered again at the rough quality of his voice. "Your hands, put the above your head and do not move. Understand?"

She frowned in response. It was the allure of him, his body included, that had drawn her to his bed, and as such she had very much hoped be able to explore him with her hands. Maks' black eyebrow was raised, as if he were daring her to comply. And despite the gnawing desire to do otherwise, Aurelia nodded as she exhaled heavily. Maks rolled to the side, lying next to her propped up on one of his elbows. When she was stretched long before him, the curves of her body magnificently displayed, he began an unhurried perusal of his naked wife.

Aurelia was filled with warring sensations as Maks' eyes roamed over her, scorching her skin wherever they went, filling her belly with firey bubbles. He took his time, never rushed by what he saw.

Just when she believed she couldn't withstand the heat of his gaze a second longer, he spoke. "It must be true," he began, his voice low and rough. "What they say about you. For I've never seen anything..." but his voice died away as he seemed unable to express more. His lips were tightly pressed together a moment before he finished, "as beautiful." And here his eyes met hers finally and held them. Virgin though she may have been, there was no mistaking the dark look of male need that glittered in his eyes, or her own responding arousal to it.

When Maks seemed in no hurry to end the torture and be done with the task, she prompted him along. "Well?"

"Eager, are you, wife?"

"Perhaps," she replied on a breath, thoughtfully honest. "Besides, staring at me isn't very productive, is it?" she provoked him.

Maks had that amused expression back, the one that usually accompanied whenever he was about to demonstrate how wrong he thought she was. "You think not?" She lifted a brow as a corner of her mouth tightened in the slightest of smirks. "Then if I were to touch that pretty little pussy of yours, I wouldn't find it the least bit wet. Is that what you're telling me?"

Aurelia felt her cheeks heat as though she stood too close to the fire. She knew to what he referred, though she had never used that particular vernacular in her life, nor spent time in the presence of those who did. And vulgar as it might have been, the visceral effect on her body was immediate and powerful.

His gleaming eyes held hers a moment longer, and then with one hand, one lone taunting finger, he finally touched her. Such a simple touch to her collar bone, but so enlivening that she drew a deep breath. Slowly, back and forth the finger drew along the lines from throat to shoulder and back to center. Her nipples, erect as they were, only tightened all the more as goosebumps spread like wildfire over her skin. She breathed deep again, drawing up into his touch, seeking more.

Satisfied with that small part of her, his lone finger began a tantalizing trek over her body, first down the valley between her breasts, then under one and over the grooves of her ribcage before returning back to draw the underline of the other. And then down a side, to which she might have thought it ticklish if not for the fire steadily building in her. Aurelia's arms were beginning to itch with the need to move, to touch him in response, to touch herself. Just when they twitched to respond to primal need, Maks' eyes shot to her, holding her immobile. He silently communicated she was to remain still. In frustration, Aurelia huffed heavily, but remained as commanded.

"I understand what you want," he stated as his eyes began following the taunting finger as he continued exploring the lines and curves of her torso and thighs while never touching any spot one might consider sexual. "But you'll just have to learn to be patient and do as you're told."

She scowled at that. Aurelia placed her hands on his shoulders. "What? Do as I'm told? Why you pompous, low-born—" but her furious tirade was cut short when he grabbed her wrists and forced them back above her head. His solid body settled forcefully on hers, and at last she could feel every hard inch of him. As she continued to struggle against his hold despite his insurmountable weight, her legs parted and Maks took advantage, sliding down between them.

Aurelia stilled instantly when she felt the hard rod of his manhood pressed intimately against the folds of her virginity. She was panting heavily as she stared up at him, wrath and arousal wrestling. He returned her stare with those dark eyes that sparked with his ire. His hips shifted, causing his erection to slide through the lips of her sex. And then he smirked.

At first, Aurelia wasn't certain the cause in his shift in mood, until he rolled his hips again, once more causing the hardness to glide intimately against her, hitting something very sensitive in the lips of her sex and sending skittering quakes through her stomach.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here?" he teased as he performed the movement again, forcing her to understand his meaning. Her cheeks pinked brightly as she realized just how slick she was. He grinned like a wolf and began slowly but forcefully sliding himself against her. "Appears someone is wet. Very wet. You like it when I stare at you after all, little bud?"

"You're petty," Aurelia fumed breathlessly as he held her pinned to the bed and ground down against her. And though she wanted to hold onto her annoyance, the task was made difficult as shooting sensations sparked every time he rubbed that little nub at the top of her sex. Her hips began shifting beneath him, perhaps in gesture to get away from his assault, perhaps in instinct to aid him, but whatever the purpose, it caused him to grin like a predator all the more. And before Aurelia understood what was happening, a seizure rushed up on her, a thunderstorm of all the wonderful sensations she had been having, as if a great event would take place. Though she had never before experienced it, she thought this must have been the something 'spectacular' to which Maks had alluded. And just when she thought she might explode with the pleasure, Maks changed the angle of his hips, causing the fat tip of his length to catch at her tight entrance.

The moment Aurelia kenned his intent, she stilled, her eyes searching his for confirmation. And it was there, the promise that he would claim her. The teasing was gone, replaced with an intensity that stole away her breath. And then he nudged forward, splitting her sex. At first the sensation was just a dull pressure, but quickly it became more. And the moment pain marred her features, Maks leaned down and kissed her ferociously. Aurelia was devoured with tongue and lips and teeth. And though the pleasure wasn't similar to what had been building in her sex, it was wonderful nonetheless, and for a moment, she was adequately distracted from the intruder at her gate.

That was until Maks, without warning, plunged forward, driving his shaft deep into her. Aurelia screamed at the tearing, personal pain, and pushed against him in attempt to stop. But he wasn't to be deterred from his purpose, but would, like a wildfire, consume her to the last. He did have the sensitivity to hold himself still against her, ignoring for a moment his own pleasure while she adjusted to the pain. Every breath seemed to bring in the fire of his invasion, and it took several long minutes of agony for both of them until Aurelia's panting had lessened enough to ask if it would be possible to convince him to stop. Maks gave a hoarse chuckle, his hot breath flowing down her neck. "Be brave, little bud. The pain will ease."

"Says the man who caused it," she retorted through gritted teeth, her eyes screwed tightly shut. "And I notice you didn't really answer my question."

Though it seemed to counterpoint the violent action he had just performed against her, Maks fingers swept the pain-induced sweat gently from her brow and began kissing her lightly. First over the fine bone above her eyes, then the delicate bridge of her nose. And when he slowly began on her lips, it was tender and coaxing. "If you truly wish. Though what's done is done, and it will only become better."

The pain was still the dominant sensation, but its intensity was waning with every passing heartbeat. She knew he spoke the truth. "Promise?" she whispered against his lips.

"Promise." He began to kiss her in earnest then.

With patience, he taught her to kiss him in return, to use her lips and tongue, to stroke against his, to follow him into the cavern of his mouth so he could suckle her tongue and then to return the favor by luring him in and reciprocating. Without awareness, Aurelia began to respond, began shifting her thighs, bending her knees and lifting her legs.

Continuing his kissing seduction, Maks allowed his hands to wander back over her body, down to her round hip and along a thigh. He guided it to bend even further and lay across his hip. And the moment she shifted her hips invitingly, he took that as his cue to begin his final assault. Slowly at first he began to withdraw and then slide back in.

There was a residual sting and general discomfort as she adjusted to being filled, but the acute pain had subsided enough that she didn't protest. She did gasp, however, when Maks shockingly reached down between their bodies, his fingers connecting with that sensitive little bud that he had previously rubbed with his shaft. His fingers were so much better, she thought in a sigh, so much more intelligent than that blunt instrument that was his manhood. His fingers played and stroked and rolled and even pinched, rebuilding that delicious pleasure until Aurelia was moaning as she continued to return his melting kiss.

And then she was gasping, panting forcefully as she felt that same journey to the mysterious cliff. She was pulled along in overwhelming pleasure, and just when the something spectacular was rushing up to overtake her, Maks withdrew his pleasing mouth as well as those delightful fingers. He knelt back off her body settling between her thighs, though his cock remained embedded in her tight body.

She was thoroughly enjoying what they had been doing and didn't like for him to change midcourse. She told him so, to which he chuckled again. "It's that habit you have of trying to tell me what to do that'll get you into trouble," he seemed to tease good-naturedly, though something dark glittered in his eyes. Aurelia gasped in surprise when he lifted her legs from around his waist and positioned them straight up in the air between them before he laid her knees to rest over his shoulders.