She rolled her eyes and turned to make a comment of her own about it not being literal at all, but he was already focused somewhere else. She saw the appreciative heat in his eye and followed the line of his gaze back to one of the dancers.
Her oiled skin was dark and gleamed in the bright lights of the hall. Not as dark as Lady Nagi, more the color of a roasted Sardinian nut, and just as gleaming and smooth. At the moment she was on her knees and had bent backward toward them until the fullness of her lips and the rise of her naked breasts came into view. She arched her back, displaying their dark tips and perfect roundness most admirably.
Calliope sighed again and slouched slightly into the pillows and back against the couch. She felt an urge to dislike the girl… but suppressed it easily enough. It wasn’t her fault she was beautiful.
It was just… that she’d seen Thelios looking at her with… that look he gets. But there was nothing that could be done about that. She’d merely have to swallow her jealously and make her peace with it. Still, she couldn’t help but wonder if he would look at her like that if she danced for him.
Her lips twisted into a humorless smile. It was most doubtful… she’d never danced like that in her life, and she probably couldn’t if she tried. And if she did, he’d probably think it a great joke and tease her mercilessly for it. To this day she couldn’t wear that one gold dress without him getting that glint of wicked humor in his eye followed by him asking what she’d ‘done wrong this time.’
She was startled out of her thoughts by a large, heavy hand coming down to grip her shoulder. “Come, we’re leaving.”
“Leaving?” She twisted to look up at him as he rose from his seat.
“Yes.”
And that was apparently that.
He did offer her a hand, which she took as she too rose to her feet.
A glance in Demitri’s direction told her he wasn’t planning on going anywhere. He was still sitting with Kara and the two of them seemed to have started a running commentary on the dancers they were watching. Based on their expressions she imagined it was a mixture of scathing and appropriately lewd observations.
He spared her a glance and a nod as they turned to leave. Lady Nagi, made a halfhearted gesture at asking them to stay. She didn’t press the issue, and thanked her master for ‘deigning to join them.’ She gave Calliope a little smirk and a mouthed ‘thank you’ once Thelios had turned his back. For some reason that embarrassed her, but she simply bowed with as much good grace as she could manage.
Thelios was silent as they left, and she followed just as silently behind him. She felt eyes on them as they left… many in fact, but it was significantly easier to ignore now. She was almost used to it, and it had simply become more background noise, much like the beauty and brilliance of the palace and its inhabitants.
Besides, they were staring as much or more at him, as they were her. They were both displaced here: her by her prim, citizen-class modesty and he with his simple workers garb and obvious, blanket contempt for their excesses. She smiled lightly at his back. At least she was in good company.
As they neared the rooms she took a deep breath and composed herself. Demitri said she shouldn’t delay too long in telling him her news… and now seemed as good a time as any. He left her a moment, ordering her to wait, and went looking for a servant. So she was obliged to wait until he returned and they were in the enclosed sitting room outside of the private chambers.
She looked nervously up at the solid wall of muscle that was his back and cleared her throat. “My lord, I have something I wanted to tal-a-ah!” She stumbled as he turned rapidly on her, grabbing her by the waist and hauling her up against him.
She made another smothered sound of surprise against his mouth and clung to his shoulders as she felt herself hefted up into the air until her legs dangled uselessly beneath her. His hands practically encased her middle and held her close enough that the tops of her thighs brushed against what felt to be the incontrovertible evidence of his arousal.
He broke the kiss just long enough for her to gasp for air but didn’t spare her long enough for anything more than that.
There was very little tenderness in the kiss. It was all heat and teeth and tongue, and she had to fight to keep up with him, just to breathe. She was flushed and panting by the time he pulled his mouth from hers, lingering just long enough to pull at her lower lip with his teeth.
The sensation sent an especially fierce shard of heat directly from her swollen mouth down through her belly and straight between her legs. Legs, she realized, which had wrapped themselves around his waist and were now squeezing him like grapes through a wine-press.
He squeezed back. Somehow her tunic had made it’s way to the floor and his rough hands had made their way under her thin dress and were gripping her hips and ass tightly, pulling her hard against him. She could feel the length of him as he ground against her. Even through his wrap she could feel his incredible, searing heat.
She grasped the back of his neck as roughly as he was grasping at her, and pulled him back into the kiss, this time ensuring it was her tongue leading the charge.
She’d made only minor headway in the war when he regained the upper hand by pressing her a little too hard against the nearest wall. It knocked the air from her, forcing her to gasp, and allowing him to reclaim his lost territory. Plus some.
Calliope dug her heels into his lower back in retaliation, but faltered all the more as his fingers casually brushed the soft folds of her sex from behind as his large hands cupped her bottom and kneaded it mercilessly.
Desperate, she went directly to the heart of the matter.
He groaned against her throat as her hand squeezed the thick shaft through the wrap. She thought for a minute she might have him, but it soon enough it became clear that it had only spurred him on. His groan became a growl and he hefted her higher in his arms so that his mouth might go lower, obliging her to release the pulsing heat of his cock and wrap her arms about his neck instead..
She let out her own throaty sound as she felt his fangs graze her shoulder and neck, and a shudder as his fingers continues to tease at the cleft of her ass and lower to the sensitive flesh of her sex and thighs.
“I really hope this isn’t because of the dancer.” She whispered brokenly. He pulled away, frowning at her.
“Who?”
Calliope looked down at him from her new height and smoothed her fingers down the back of his skull. She smirked, satisfied with his response.
“Good enough.”
He didn’t try to stop her from leaning in and playing her lips across his, but he was still frowning when she pulled away.
He cocked a quizzical brow. “I’m not following. Enlighten me.”
“Doesn’t matter. I shouldn’t have interrupted.” He chuckled as she used her hold on the back of his head to pull him back to her throat. He obliged her. She purred happily as his downward momentum continued and toyed suggestively with one of his short horns to show her appreciation.
He turned from the wall, still carrying her, his mouth never entirely leaving her as it moved down her body, his teeth nipping at her breasts through the thin fabric of her dress. To her surprise, he deposited her roughly on the nearest couch.
His hands pressed her back and completed the work of pushing her skirts up over her hips. He took a brief moment to take in the view then gripped and lifted her hips up towards him until only her upper back and shoulders were still resting on the bench. She couldn’t be certain, but his dark laugh sounded unnervingly triumphant.