Free Rituals of Passion by Lacey Alexander Page A

himself lightly  through his leather.
    Bracing her hands on  Kells’ chest, she writhed in hot,  sensuous circles, releasing a purring sound that seemed to wrap around  Dane’s concealed shaft. Kells lifted his  hands to her hips, helping her move, then raised them to her lovely pink-tipped breasts. Together, their moans  filled Dane’s tent, and he was glad he’d had the sense not to summon a female for himself tonight,  for just watching was torture enough.
    Soon Lonya’s movements turned rougher, more  animalistic, her breasts bouncing as she rode Kells. Her cries grew higher, more  intense, as did his friend’s growls of pleasure.
    “Oh, now!” Lonya moaned. “ Now !” Dane watched her pretty face contort in the  joyous agony of orgasm as Kells pumped hard up into her. She  had scarcely quieted  when it was Kells’ turn—Dane’s friend thrust  still more  urgently up into  the  lovely girl, both of them  groaning and straining against the other, and though Dane had forced  himself to stop stroking his cock, the damnable thing threatened to erupt anyway.
    Think of Maven. Save yourself for her.
    Think of Enrick, and Caralon. Save  yourself for the Giving Ceremony.
    He breathed a sigh of relief  when the silent pleas worked.

    43

    Lacey Alexander

    Yes, blessed control was his. Control of   all   things. Or at least he  would control all things one day. First he’d taken control of Rawley, next he’d secured the entire northern border of Caralon. Now, after his endeavors of the last few days, he felt  supreme control over  his body. Next would come Maven. And later, all of Caralon.
    Below him  in the grass, Kells gently raked his thumbs over Lonya’s taut nipples as she smiled down at him. “Come to  my tent for the night,” Kells said to her.
    “My pleasure, commander,” she cooed in reply.
    Moments later, the couple departed Dane’s  tent hand  in hand,  Kells tossing backover his shoulder, “You might be ruthless  and feared, Dane, but  you’re also a good friend.”
    After they’d gone, Dane got to his feet and wandered outside. He needed a distraction of some sort to calm his cock  further, enough that he could sleep, for tomorrow was the all-important day.
    As if Ares wanted to punctuate the thought,  the first sight to meet his eyes as  he leftthe tent was the fortress in the distance, lit by  torches. Enrick’s castle. The glowing fort of stone and wood seemed to say he was even closer than he’d realized—closer to claiming everything he wanted.
    * * * * *

    “Take off your clothes,” Lavonia said.
    Glancing to the bathing tub—one of her  mother’s most treasured and valuable  artifacts—which had been brought into her  room earlier, Maven stripped off her silken  sleeping gown.
    Lavonia emptied another ewer of steaming hot water into the tub,  saying, “There— a lovely bath for the bride-to-be.” Maven tossed her pale  pink gown  to  the  fur-covered  bed and walked toward the tub, only to hear  Lavonia say, “Tut, tut, tut—not yet.”
    Maven looked at her maid from where she stood naked, poised to climb in the tub.  “Why not?”
    Lavonia held up a receptacle made of ancient and oh-so-expensive glass.
    Maven saw a blue paste of some sort inside. “What is it?”
    “Come here,” Lavonia said, taking a seat in  the same  chair she’d occupied for the previous Orientation sessions.
    As Maven  approached, her maid  unscrewed the receptacle’s lid and dipped her fingers inside. She reached out to smear the paste on Maven’s thigh without warning.
    “ What is it ?” Maven asked again, flinching.
    “Nothing to be afraid of.” Lavonia reached in for more paste and continued
    smearing it evenly over the length of Maven’s leg. “It will remove your body hair.”
    Maven had never heard of such a thing and she frowned. “Wh-why?”

    44

    Rituals of Passion

    “Men like smooth skin,” Lavonia said, spreading