Free Cassandra's Conflict by Fredrica Alleyn Page A

that if she ate it she'd be rewarded. Wouldn't you like a reward?'
    Cassandra stared back at him, trying to will his hands to reach out and comfort her, fondle her aching breasts. The thought horrified her, she knew it was lewd and wrong, but at that moment it was all that mattered.
    'Please,' she whispered.
    'What?' He smiled his most charming smile and smoothed a strand of hair back off her face.
    'Touch me,' she implored him.
    'Where?' He was still smiling indulgently.
    She couldn't say it; even drunk and semi-drugged she couldn't bring herself to say it and shook her head helplessly.
    'Tell me what you want,' he said softly. 'How can I help you if I don't know what you need?'
    'I want ...' She swallowed hard. Her breasts were still tight aching knots, the nipples painful against the bodice of the dress, but nothing on earth could make her express her need.
    'Yes?'
    Tears filled Cassandra's eyes. 'I can't tell you,' she whimpered.
    'Silly girl! Here, drink a little more wine.'
    She tried to push the glass away, but he persisted, holding the rim of the crystal goblet against her lips until she finally opened her mouth and tipped her head back, letting him dribble the wine down between her teeth and feeling its coolness as it slid down the back of her throat.
    'There, that will help. In a few minutes we'll try again.' He got to his feet. 'Katya,' the voice was less gentle now. 'You can leave us.'
    Katya stood frozen with astonishment in the middle of the room. 'No! I stay, that's always the way it's been.'
    He turned away from Cassandra, his face twisted with temper. 'This is a different game, remember? You've done well tonight, but one wrong move can set you back several places!'
    'You bastard!' She was furious with him.
    He dropped his voice. 'Don't worry, I won't seduce her tonight. This is just to get her started.'
    'This is just for you,' Katya snarled.
    'You're free to drop out of the game,' the baron reminded her, and now his eyes were cool. 'Is that what you want?'
    'Of course not.'
    'Then go; you can always have Peter for the night. I may join you later.'
    As a furious Katya left the room, the baron turned back to the heavy-eyed Cassandra lying semi-sprawled in the chair. 'Now my dear, one more sip of the wine and then we'll try again, yes?'
    Cassandra was beyond protest. This time she reached towards him almost greedily as he put the goblet to her mouth, but before he let her drink he dipped his finger in the liquid and carefully inserted it between her lips, running it round the velvet softness of her warm moist mouth and mentally comparing it to the other lips, the other entrance, that would one day be his too.
    For a moment she was taken by surprise, but then she found herself sucking on the finger, delighting in the feel of her tongue round the wine soaked smooth skin. She heard him give a sigh, then the finger was withdrawn and the glass was there again.
    'Drink deeply, Cassandra,' he urged her. 'Open your throat wide, take it all.' He poured the liquid slowly at first, but as he saw the muscles of her throat relax he tipped the glass more sharply and Cassandra felt the wine flooding her until she began to choke. 'Relax, savour it, the taste, the feel, all the sensations should be appreciated,' he whispered. His voice calmed her so that she was able to swallow it all, and when it was gone she felt a sense of loss.
    Slowly she lifted her head again and found that the baron was sitting on the arm of her chair, his wide brown eyes softer than usual as he nodded his approval. 'That was good. So good that I'd like to give you a reward, but the rules must be obeyed.'
    'Rules?'
    He laughed. 'You have to ask for what you want, remember?'
    Cassandra nodded, and her eyes went to the baron's hands resting lightly on his knees. He followed the direction of her gaze. 'Say it,' he urged her. 'Tell me what you want me to do.'
    'I want you to do what you did to Katya.'
    He shook his head. 'That's not enough.'
    Cassandra's