Lola had woken frustrated, again, her dreams had been filled with images of Lord Narcisse, his hands, his mouth, his … other body parts, which he used masterfully, acting out scenes from the sex journal, as well as some of her own fantasies, only it was her body that was reaping the rewards of his expertise rather than the mystery author. There were things mentioned in the book that she had never conceived were possibilities, she imagined some of things could be very enjoyable, some a bit scary also. She sighed heavily forcing herself to get up rather than remain in bed to dwell on these dreams and increase her frustration. She didn't know what it was about him, but she couldn't shake him from her mind, she knew he was dangerous, knew by his own admission the depths of his ill deeds, but still she felt drawn to him, he awakened feelings in her no one else had before.
Upon meeting Lord Narcisse she had taken an instant dislike to him, even before she had seen that he had put Estelle in a cage, supposedly in case of infection. This initial assessment had seemed correct after their first few interactions and the rumours she had heard about his wives, but she had softened towards him after he had shared his tragic history of ill-fated marriages. Although she still believed him arrogant and untrustworthy, she had seen that there was another side to him, beyond that which he presented to the rest of the court.
Once she had seen the butterfly mark on his wrist, revealing he was the exalted lover from the journal that she and Kenna had been trying to discover, she had begun to see him in a whole new light. She had not seen him in a sexual nature prior to this but she found it hard not to imagine him using his well-honed skills on her. She was no innocent, but she sensed he would not be like any of her previous lovers. He exuded power and confidence, and if the journal was to be believed that extended to his sexual prowess. She had never thought herself an overly sexual person, she enjoyed sex but she had never been involved with anyone just for sex, it had always just been a consequence of love or affection. She had never found herself thinking about what a man would be like in bed prior to the act itself, but she could not keep thought of Narcisse from her mind, she was worried she was becoming a wanton. In some ways it would be easier if she could just indulge in the pleasures Narcisse offered, but she knew it would not just be sex for her.
She could not deny the attraction but she refused to allow herself to give into it, not yet at least, she was enjoying the banter and flirtation they shared. She feared that once she surrendered to him he would likely lose interest; men like him enjoyed the chase. She also did not know if she could trust him completely, although he had assured her that he had no ulterior motives for pursuing her, she was not sure if he had told the truth, her instincts told her he had been honest with her though.
After the passionate kiss they had shared the other night she knew she would not be able to hold out much longer, she sometimes thought she would prefer it if he would stop pursuing her, but she knew she did not really want him to do this, she wanted, no needed to find out what could be between them.
She was not sure how she had summoned the strength to push him away; she had slapped him more to stop her giving into the kiss again rather than out of any real anger. She had done her best to walk away with dignity waiting until she had turned the corner out of his sight to sag against the wall; she had never experienced such a heated kiss, his firm lips taking possession of hers as no one had done before. Her cheeks flushed, and her body reacted as the memory of the feel of his body strong body pressing her against the wall, one of his thighs pressed between her legs, it had excited her. He was quite a bit older than her and the way he had held her and kissed her really highlighted the difference between him and her previous lovers, who had all been around the same age as her, and therefore did not have the same wealth of experience that he had nor the confidence in their abilities. She would have thought this would make her jealous or his other lovers, but it didn't.
She shook her head trying to shake the memory from taking over again as she realised, she had been stood staring for quite some time at the clothes she had lain out to wear rather than dressing. She needed exercise to work off some of her pent-up energies, so she had decided to go for a ride into the woods alone, which also had the benefit of avoiding any awkward questions from her friends about Narcisse. She didn't want to talk to them about it. She knew how they felt about him, and she could understand their dislike. All apart from Kenna, who thought she should sleep with him for some fun and to test out the validity of the claims made in the sex journal.
After feeding John Phillip he had drifted off to sleep again and she returned to her room to finish getting ready. She dressed in a long sleeved, deep red dress with gold trim covering the bodice and sleeves and put her warm dark red velvet cloak on over the top as there was a slight chill in the air as they entered autumn. She laced up her knee-high leather riding boots and headed down to the stables. Her horse Rosie had been readied for the ride and a small snack packed as she didn't want to go to breakfast, in case she bumped into a certain man. She headed out in to the woods. It was a beautiful bright day so she headed out further than had she originally intended, enjoying the freedom that riding gave her, she could imagine continuing on, never returning back to court, not that she had anywhere else she could go to now her family had disowned her, but thanks to Narcisse she would soon have her dowry, which could afford her some freedom in the future perhaps.
She eventually stopped allowing her horse to drink and feed; she meandered into the woods picking a few mushrooms, flowered and pretty leaves from amongst those that had already fallen from the change of weather. She allowed her mind to wander back to the man that so often occupied her thoughts.
She heard a neighing some way off and realised she could no longer see her horse. She looked around starting to worry.
'Rosie?' she called. Not hearing anything in response, she huffed irritated.
'Where are you? You wilful nag'
She hears a horse approaching and turns hoping to see Rosie but instead she sees Lord Narcisse on his horse trotting towards her. For a moment she wondered if her thoughts of him somehow drawn him here to her but realised that was ridiculous.
'Lord Narcisse' she greeted him coolly, a nagging suspicion that his arrival here was no mere coincidence.
'Lady Lola' nodded his head to her.
'Are you looking for your horse?' almost to confirm her suspicions as he continued
'I just saw her ride off, something must have spooked her'
'Or someone' she countered, not amused by whatever game he was playing.
She could not deny how dashing he looked sat upon his dark horse; his expression one of pretend confusion at her words, as if he couldn't fathom her meaning. After the night she had she had no patience to deal with his games now so decided just to ask outright.
'Did you follow me from the castle then scare off my horse?'
'Now why would I do that?' He replied with mock incredulity. He jumped down from his horse; she had to fight to urge to flee from him. His presence always had the same terrifying yet thrilling effect on her senses.
'To enjoy the pleasure of a few moments of your company alone?' she was not sure whether to feel silly for suggesting that he would have done this or to take this as a confession that this was exactly what he had done. She frowned at him trying to decide.
'Would that flatter you?'
'It's not so much flattering as it is inconvenient' she did not bother to hide her irritation
'You can't force me to ride back with you'
'Lady Lola, I would never force you to do anything… you didn't want' he added in a lower flirtatious tone that made her stomach clench.
He walked over to stand next to her now; she steeled herself to retreat from him, at the uncomfortable proximity
'But it is a very long walk back to the castle, oh yes. It's quite far' he turned his head in the direction of the castle.
'Oh, wait what is that I see in the distance; is that someone coming to your aid?' He pronounced.
She looked towards the direction he is facing straining to see what he is referring to, unable to see anything.
'No, sorry'
She turns back to him rolling her eyes in exasperation; everything is a game to him, if only he were not so good at playing. He turned back to her a glint in his eye.
'Perhaps it's a very big wolf'
'You're the wolf!' Unable to resist the retort, she tried not to smile in amusement wanting to continue to be annoyed at his impertinent behaviour but fail to stop her lips curving up in humour. He smiled back at her, his teasing grin widening in a decidedly wolfish fashion.
'Come, you can trust me' he offered his hand out to her, his face grown serious, more earnest than she had ever seen him before, and she wondered if perhaps she could trust him.
She raised her eyebrow at him, scepticism written across her face, but she steps forward to accept his aid as she really had little choice. Just before she reached him, her foot catches on a tree root, sending her stumbling forward straight into Narcisse's arms. On reflex her hands grasped onto whatever they could to try to prevent her fall, this happened to be him. She found herself pressed flush against him, her fingers gripped onto his upper arms. Before she had chance to regain her footing to pull herself back, he wrapped his arms about her securing her tightly against him, his large hands spanning the width of her slim waist.
'Does this mean you have decided to give?' he smiled down at her with a cocky grin, his blues eyes sparkling with mirth, their faces inches apart.
She fought the urge to close the distance, her eyes dipped to his mouth; she remembered the feel of his lips against her own. The feel of him pressed against her similarly to this, his warm masculine scent drawing her in.
Realising she had just been staring dumbly up at him she forced herself to look away and hastened to right herself, as her hands pushed against his chest she tried to ignore the hard muscles she could feel beneath his doublet, but he didn't loosen the his hold around her waist so she didn't manage to create any further space between them.
'I tripped' she explained as she scowled up at him.
'No need to make excuses my dear Lady Lola, if you wish to be in my embrace you had but to ask.' She could hear the laugh in his tone, his hands tightened their grip slightly to emphasise his point, as if she could have somehow not noticed he had his arms wrapped around her before.
'Just help me up' she huffed, pushing herself off him
'The sooner we get going to sooner we will get back' she moved around him to the side of his horse and began to ready her skirts to get up onto the horse.
'Of course Lady Lola' His rich deep voice acting like a soothing balm and a stimulant to her senses at the same time. She couldn't understand how he could make saying her name so seductive, he could probably make reading the Angelus sound erotic, almost everything he said sounded as though there was a second, dirty meaning behind it.
He came up behind her putting his hands on her hips, holding her firm, the warmth of his hands seeping through the fabric of her dress.
'Although I don't see any need to rush, it is such a beautiful day, perfect for a long slow ride' She barely had time to take in his thinly veiled innuendo when he abruptly lifted her up onto the horse as though she weighted nothing, she gasped in surprise at the sudden movement.
After she has settled into the saddle, he placed his foot in the stirrup and swung himself up onto the horse in one fluid action, she could feel the heat radiating off him against her back, she pressed herself as far forward as she could to avoid touching him as much as possible, she thought she heard him chuckle but he didn't say anything as he indicated to his steed to start moving.
They rode in silence for some time, Lola began to relax and enjoyed taking in the beauty of autumn leaves around them as they trotted through the woods.
'My second wife loved to ride as you do, sitting forward pressed against the pommel. She would ride around our estate for hours.' he startled her with this sudden statement.
'How interesting'. She replied her tone droll, not sure how to respond to such random information.
'Yes, I thought so. Especially after she told me that that position is particularly invigorating for a lady'
She slid back quickly colour rising to her cheeks in realisation of his suggestion, she shifted herself further back in the saddle slightly to ensure there was space between her on the pommel, she realised her error when this left her pressed up against him instead.
'I was trying not to crowd you'
'Oh, I don't mind, though if you'd truly prefer to be pressed up ...' he trailed off allowing the implication to hang in the air.
She slid forward a bit to create more space between them.
'I'm fine'
'You don't have to be shy, you know.'
He moved himself forward, closing the gap between them she had just created. His chest pressed against her back, she could feel the heat of him through her cloak, his warm breath on her neck as his continues in a hushed intimate tone, his lips ghosted over the shell of her ear as he spoke, she shivered in response, the memory of his lips against her own once again assailed her.
'I have seen you in the bath.'
She was glad she had her back to him, so he couldn't see her blush scarlet, she recalled how his eyes had devoured every inch of exposed skin he could see whilst she had bathed, he'd had a predatory glint in his eyes that had excited her.
'Wolf!' She called him again. He chuckled, the sound vibrating through his chest.
'And you little red riding hood?' he tugs her red hooded cloak gently from behind.
She snorted at his suggestion
'Perhaps I am the huntsman, coming to your rescue.'
'I don't believe the huntsman contrived the position of danger, it doesn't count as coming to my rescue when you have created this situation.' She retorted, the laugh in her voice assured him she was not truly offended by his actions today.
'We cannot rely on fate to present such an opportunity; we must take our pleasures into our own hands.' As he said this, he grasped her around the waist with one hand moving them both forward, so she was pressed up against the pommel again with him pressed firmly against her back. She could feel the evidence of his desire pressed against her lower back. She gasped at the sudden movement her hand gasping onto this arm to steady herself. She opened her mouth to protest but she couldn't find the words.
'Relax Lola; I do not intend to take anything, until it is given.' He whispered against her neck, kissing slowly down the column of her throat.
He steered the horse off the main path down a small side trail, she didn't argue even if she had been able to find her voice. He looped the reins to the front of the saddle securing them there. The horse continued at a steady cantor along the pathway, the gentle motion causing her to rock against the pommel between her legs, creating a delicious friction. This sensation along with feeling Narcisse pressed tight against her back, pressing soft kisses on her neck, eradicated any resistance she had left; familiar warmth grew in her belly. Her heart was beating so hard she was sure he would be able to hear it.
'You seem very tense of late, I wish to offer some relief' he gently brushed her hair to the side, running his fingers down the pale column of her throat. Her head dropped to the side unbidden to grant him further access. He did not need further invitation, he descended upon her flesh, his lips replacing his fingers as he pressed hot open-mouthed kisses there, his teeth grazing, tongue lathing the sensitive skin.
She captured her bottom lip between her teeth to prevent her from crying out in pleasure at the assault on her senses. She could feel pressure coiling low in her belly and she knew she was close to release. He clicked his tongue commanding his horse to speed up slightly, she allowed herself to lean fully into him as her hips began to circle instinctually, chasing down her pleasure. He ran his hands down her front skimming over her breasts, down the sides of her waist and hips, placing his hands on her inner thighs he pressed her legs further apart.
She whimpered, so close now, beyond the point of no return she did not care or notice what noises she was making. He groaned against her throat as she reached back to hold his thighs, her fingers dug into the hard muscle there as she writhed between him and the pommel. He bit down on her pulse point triggering her orgasm, her cries echoed around them in the woods.
He wrapped his arms tight around her trembling form as she recovered; placing a tender kiss to the side of her head. She felt more relaxed than she had in a long time and she allowed herself to relish the feel of his arms around her. After some time she noticed they had turned back onto the main path back to court, although she could feel his hardness pressed against her back for the remainder of the ride he made no move to instigate anything further between them. As they got closer to the castle he released her from his hold, she immediately felt the loss but was glad, if anyone were to see them in such an embrace it would ruin her reputation even further than it already was. Taking the reins back up again and he guided them to the back of the stables, a boy came out to receive them but he sent him away advising he would tend to his own horse.
Once inside he got down from the horse and assisted her down, she started to feel embarrassed now they were out of their woodland haven and back to the realities of the court. Unable to meet his eyes she started to leave but he stood in her way, placing a finger under her chin he tilted her head up to look at him.
'I regret our time together will be over, it doesn't have to be that way' his eyes searching hers as he rubs his thumb over her cheekbone.
'What do you mean?' she glances cautiously around the stables but no one else is in sight.
'You are reluctant to be seen with me because you fear complication, disapproval from your king, your queen who you serve'
'Ah, there are many other reasons I assure you' she turns her face from his touch stepping sideways around him to create some space between them.
'All of which would be moot if our meetings were say clandestine'
'You're proposing we meet in secret, like thieves or adulterers?' she narrows her eyes at him, unable to help feeling offended he wouldn't want other to know they were involved, even though she had just been worried other would see them.
'Well fruit often tastes sweeter when it's forbidden' he gives her his usual wolfish smile, his eyes sweeping down her body as he advanced on her.
'Admit it, the prospect intrigues you, to do something free from the tedium and responsibility of court life, something you don't have to explain or defend' he backed her into the corner, his arm braced against the wall, careful not to actually touch her are he towered over.
He leaned down his eyes flicking from hers to her plump lips, he paused face just inches away from hers.
'Something purely for you pleasure' his seductive voice like a spell, her tongue darted out and moistened her slightly parted lips in anticipation, her eyes fluttered closed as she raised her face to his. But the kiss didn't come; he straightened up and backed away from her again.
'I won't press you for a response now, but you do inspire impatience, so I would like an answer soon' and with that her turned and left her there, just as frustrated as she has been this morning, possibly more. She clenched her fists together, infuriating man!
As she thought through his proposal, she realised she was in serious trouble, she was seriously considering accepting.