Night Terrors

9

Forty-one years was a long time. Far too long. Shuriki's first, last, and only estrus had been the night she'd let her future chancellor have his way with her. Since then she'd felt little pleasure with other lovers. She wanted to taste the ecstasy of release-hers and his.

Shuriki licked her lips at the memory. She swore to Maru she could still feel the warmth of his hands, one holding her wrist, the other her hip to keep her from squirming as he'd ravished her. Closing her eyes, she tried to picture the scene as it had been four decades ago.

The sorceress bit her bottom lip as images filled her mind. Esteban's young, lean body pinning hers, the muffled sound of fabric brushing up against skin as he lifted her layered skirts and yanked her panties down exposing her more mature body to the elements.

Shuriki clenched her jaw to stifle a moan as she kept thinking about the moment he'd laid claim to her. Her breath hitched as she invisioned his fingertips pressed into the sensitive skin of her inner thighs.

She could still see it so clearly, Esteban's handsome face full of determination as he spread her legs, his hips rubbing up against hers as he fought to align their bodies. She'd made him work for it. The sudden, sheer force of penetration, and the way his lengthy shaft had stretched her to the breaking point, still made her quiver even after all these years.

Shuriki felt the heat of arousal flood her veins. Her feminine loins grew so damp she swore some of the gathering dew dripped out of her onto the floor. She shrugged out of her robe and slid under the covers needing to feel the hardness of his still able body close to her smaller, softer, colder frame.

She couldn't help breathing him in. His scent was the most intoxicating mixture of spices and woodsy male musk Shuriki had ever inhaled with hints of cardamom, basil, pepper, violet leaves, cedarwood, vanilla, citrus, and vetiver. She wished she could immerse herself in it.

Esteban was jolted awake when he felt her bury her face in the crook of his long neck. He seemed to be confused at first, then his eyes filled with fear when he realized who it was nuzzling his pulse.

"I'm not here to punish you," she assured him in a whisper. "I know you fear me, but you don't need to, Esteban. I'm upset, yes, but not at you. It's natural to fear what you don't yet understand or are unfamiliar with. I won't fault you for your reaction to my more preternatural appearance. I want you to know that I forgive you for your actions earlier this evening and that I'd never harm you or our little Isabelita." She ran her fingers through his hair in an attempt to calm and comfort him. "I need you beside me, Estebanito. I've told you before the idea of you leaving me is something I simply cannot abide. Is it truly so difficult for you to believe that my affection could be genuine?"

Esteban turned his head when Shuriki tried to kiss him. "I know your affection is a ruse to keep me complacent. Let's be honest for once. You don't care about me or mi primita. We're tools, nothing more. Cristóbal abdicated which makes Isabel and I the last living legitimate members of the royal familia. You only want both of us here to secure your rule."

Shuriki frowned. "That's not true."

Esteban glared at her. "This is true. I've seen you use your false charms and your beauty to entice others into doing things they would never have done otherwise. I know exactly how your mind works, so don't try any of your tricks on me. I won't fall for them anymore. You don't give a damn about our marriage."

"Esteban-"

Esteban turned over onto his side hoping to get Shuriki off of him. It worked. She slid off and fell over onto the empty side of his bed.

"Esteban!"

"I saw you, Shuriki! Grisha's hands were all over you! You sit here and claim you have no intention of hurting me, but that is merely another of your numerous lies, because you already have!" His head and voice lowered. "Pain and grief are all you have given me since the day we first met. I love you and I hate myself for doing so. I should loathe you, but I don't. I have a plethora of reasons to detest you, and I want to despise you, but I can't. All of the pain and the sorrow our association with one another caused, and still causes...just makes me wish that our paths had never crossed at all."