Part Ten: A starry night, some privacy, and each other. It should have been simple...
"And all her face was honey to my mouth, And all her body pasture to mine eyes"
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Senenmut poured the wine with a hand as steady as the surface of the pool, now that the odd ripples had stilled. An errant breeze, a trick of the night air, he mused.
She stood next to him, as poised and comfortable in her skin as if she were still arrayed in her elegant linen gown. They could have been a long-married couple on holiday, love burning bright within them after years of life together. A sharp shard of regret lanced through him and faded as quickly as it had come. They were here, in the now. It would suffice, and he would treasure every moment.
The musicians down in the shadows of the courtyard began a different melody, a slow insistent rhythm as old as life itself, rising and falling, circling in a climbing spiral of notes. He felt it in his blood as he handed her the golden goblet.
They drank their first mouthful of wine together, each holding their cup to the other's lips. Hatshepsut sighed happily. "I will never taste pomegranate wine again without thinking of this night. Come, let us continue in the water."
She turned and sauntered to the stone steps leading into the pool. He watched her hips sway as she walked. If she had not been royal-born, she could have been a dancer, he thought. He watched her body disappear under the water until she reached the bottom, the surface breaking, lapping at her breasts. She gave him a smile of pure pleasure.
"It's lovely, Senenmut. Join me." She gestured towards the table holding the tray of thick flagons of oil and honey. "Bring the tray, please."
He did as she asked, then slowly entered the water, savoring the warmth the pool had gathered during the day's sun. She stood before him, arms loose-limbed in the water, a few tendrils of hair escaping their coils. The scent of lotus blossoms rose from the flowers that had been dropped into the bath hours earlier.
"Do you like it?" Her lips were open in a playful smile.
"Very much. With the stars above and nothing but darkness around us, if not for our torches I would think we were part of Nuit herself, floating through the heavens."
"A lover's thoughts, indeed," she teased.
His erection bobbed against her in the water, sending a jolt up his spine. His last reserve at being with the Lady of Two Lands burned away, and he took her in his arms with a roughness born of passion, holding her tightly and lifting her off her feet.
He silenced her surprised gasp with a soft kiss that quickly turned ravenous, opening her mouth under his. A quick flick of his tongue brought her response, as she gripped his neck and pressed her tongue between his lips. Her breath was sweet and wine-scented against his skin.
She moved her hands to his shoulders and pressed, bringing her legs up around his waist. Senenmut's lips left hers to give her an encouraging smile, delighted at her frank eagerness even as he steeled himself against taking her here, now, as they stood in the scented water.
"Sweet Isis, the heat of you," he murmured against her temple. His lips played along her neck, sucking and nibbling at the delicate skin behind her ear. He slipped his fingers down to where her legs parted around him. Her skin was smooth as polished rose quartz under his touch, pliant and plump…he thought again of the peaches, ripe and bursting.
He stroked her inner thighs, his touch feathering over her skin until she pushed against him, seeking more. He held her still.
"Turn, beloved, and watch the stars. I would make them dance for you."
Her jade eyes were dark as emeralds in the low light as she touched his cheek.
"There's not many men I'd turn my back on, Steward. I pray you take that as a sign of my trust." She unwrapped her legs from his waist and turned in the water as he leaned against the painted tile side, pulling her to him.
"You will never have cause to regret that trust, La'ra."
His sturdy arms curved around her as she gave herself over to his support, her head tilted back against his shoulder. The warmth of her body was a luscious contrast to the cool caress of the water, and a slight shudder ran through him as her shoulder blades brushed his nipples. He kissed the back of her neck, breaking off with a hissing intake of breath as his length slid against her, from the sloping valley between her buttocks to her heated entrance and back again.
Blood pounded in his temples, the urge to plunge into her almost overwhelming.
Senenmut closed his eyes and rested his cheek against hers, reveling in the exhilarating sensations her body was giving him. The perfume from her hair mixed with the fragrance of the night flowers below and made his senses reel.
He palmed the fullness of her breasts, then stroked down her body, tracing her ribs, gliding over her taut stomach to her mound. The moonlight revealed her closed eyes, her slightly parted lips, curving into a blissful smile at his touch.
His erection twitched against her alabaster skin as he pressed against her open vulva, her pearl set deep in the slick folds. He could feel her pulse there, thrumming against his fingers like the heartbeat of a songbird as he played over her flesh, varying the pressure and speed of his touch until she was moving against him. Her hands gripped his arms hard when he slipped one finger, then two into her lush center, circling her pearl with his thumb.
"You're driving me mad, Senenmut…my honey flows for you-I can feel its heat in the cool of the water," she whimpered. She hesitantly brushed her fingers against his skillful hand. "Shall I show you how I strike the spark, bringing the final flame? It's so near, and I die with the waiting."
"Do you trust my judgment, beloved? I want more for you than you seek yourself."
"I trust you, by Isis, but I—" She broke off, gasping and throwing her head back as he started again, setting a rhythm that had her gasping into the night air.
"Open your eyes, La'ra. Fall into the stars for me."
Her eyes were open then and staring at the heavens, a soft keening coming from her throat. He could feel the backs of her thighs straining against him, her back arching against his chest.
Her body twisted in his hands as she strained to move against him to take her pleasure deeper, faster. Hatshepsut began to shake, mild tremors building to a crescendo as her nails dug into his arms. She jerked against him, crying out to the star-ridden blackness above them, finally going limp, her cheek against his shoulder.
As her movements quieted, he turned her towards him and gathered her up in his arms, letting the water rock their bodies together. Her beauty in this moment brought unexpected tears to his eyes. In this moment he didn't care what all the graven cartouches in the kingdom gave as her names.
She was La'ra, and she was his.
She drew a deep breath, releasing it in a contented hum. "I won't doubt you again, Steward. You piloted me through the dancing stars, as you promised." She looked up at him, jade eyes twinkling. "But you've made me even greedier to feel you within me."
The cooling water had lessened his erection, but her words brought him up again.
"Shall we leave the pool, then, beloved? I've has been aching for you for hours, and I would satisfy your greed and match it with my own." Her hum of agreement was its own music, as sweet as the palace musicians.
He helped her out of the water and lifted her into his arms again, the guttering torches guiding them to the wide couch. A light breeze pebbled their still-wet skin, and then their heat washed over them, warming them in the softly scented night air.
They wrapped themselves in thick towels as they lounged on the couch together, drinking more wine and eating the fruit laid out for them. He grinned as she bit into the fattest, juiciest peach in the bowl, letting the sweet nectar drip down her chin and trickle onto her breast.
"Shall I slice your fruit for you, so you won't need another bath so soon?"
She tilted her eyes up to him. "I imagine you can find a way to clean me without the pool."
He took the peach from her hand and tipped her onto her back, lapping at every drop of juice until they were laughing between kisses again, rolling their bodies together with abandon. Finally, he found himself above her, surprised to see the stars reflected in her eyes as they welled with tears. She was biting her lip, as if in some distress.
"La'ra, love, what's wrong?" He was kneeling between her legs, stroking her from ankle to thigh.
She looked away. "Senenmut, I'm no virgin, as you know."
He gave her a puzzled look. He knew this well enough; she had been Great Wife to Thutmose II in his day, and had borne him a daughter. Everything he knew of her said that she was skilled in the erotic arts, and her responses told him she was born to sensuality.
"What would you tell me, sweeting? Something troubles you, and I'd not go further until your heart is calm."
"It's more melancholy than you deserve tonight, I think." She reached up and smoothed the hair over his brow.
"I deserve your truth, beloved." He turned and stretched on his side, next to her, and began stroking the long hair that had fallen from its pins.
She drew a deep breath. "You put me in mind of certain dreams…."
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She was furious with her traitorous mind. As soon as his rugged angular face. with those soft full lips, had bent over her, and those deep blue eyes were trained on hers, the dreams flowed into her mind like the Great Flood. The first trickles of love that had been building since the day they met were developing into foaming cataracts, ready to wash her over a high rocky cliff.
The power of her feelings for him shook her to her soul. After he had brought her to bliss in the pool, making her soar into the stars, she realized the truth: if they went further, she would be bound to him forever. It was so tempting…even now, as she frustrated his need, she felt his loving regard in his look, his touch.
Lovemaking had never felt so dangerous.
"I dreamed of you, I think, before I ever met you. I dreamed of a blue-eyed lover…no, more than a lover. A man to be with me, through every trial and joy. Someone who would love me long past my journey to the land of the dead, and I, him."
He ran his thumb over her lips, soothing her. "And you have him, in me, La'ra. Does this not lighten your heart?"
She felt tears well up again. "I will cause you pain, Senenmut. I see you standing at my tomb, your heart breaking. The act of love has never been so fraught with import before…and it frightens me."
"Is that what you speak of? That you are inexperienced in lovemaking being so…heart-felt?"
She nodded miserably. His quick guess spoke of his ability to see her thoughts as fast as she formed them, which shook her all the more.
"In my time, my husband joined with me until my daughter formed in my womb. His taste for me was no greater than mine for him, so I learned a courtesan's tricks to ready him...to ready us both."
She looked at the table with the untouched flagons of honey and oil. "It became habit, I suppose, to use honey to hide unwelcome tastes, and to use oil to prepare myself when I felt my body's reluctance."
The sympathy in his eyes was a torment to her heart. He looked as though he would give all that he had to take away her bitter memories.
"Later, after his death, I took lovers as it suited my wishes, for a night, or a week. Once, even for a season." She waited for a look of judgment, but there was nothing save kindness there.
"And did that ease you?"
Hatshepsut twisted her lips in a bitter smile. "For a while. I am who I am, though, and Pharaoh's favor is a strong currency. Ultimately, I realized my ivory dildos would ease me almost as well, and I'd not need to watch for intrigue and political machinations from them."
It was Senenmut's turn to regard her with somber eyes. "I wish I'd been with you from the start, La'ra. Before Thutmose, before everything that brought you such sadness."
She began to relax in his arms, molding herself to him. "In some ways, it feels as though you have. The man of my dreams, made flesh."
Again.
She blinked at the stray thought that whispered in her mind.
Hatshepsut tucked her head under his chin, suddenly shy. His strong heartbeat reverberated against the hand she'd laid on his chest, lulling her fears.
His tone was soft. "So when you speak of virginity, you mean to say your body is well-accustomed to physical pleasure, but your heart..."
"My heart has never been fully opened by a man's words, or touch. And I would not have you couple with me without you knowing that truth."
His hand was warm on her skin where he touched her over her heart. He shifted as he lay next to her, leaning to bring his lips down to kiss her there as well.
"I would enter your heart with all my love and trust, then, as I enter your body. And if that binds us together for all time…I can think of nothing I'd like better."
Joy rose within her, permeating every fiber of her being. The melancholy moment was burned away by the look in his eyes, and she felt cool and untroubled, all the parts of her spirit in perfect balance. His gaze held the light and dark of every night sky she'd ever seen.
The heat built again, rolling through her, softening her limbs until she was pliable as molten wax waiting for the press of a signet ring—his mark, signifying validity of what had grown between them.
The act of taking that which is hard and pressing it into that which is soft and yielding…that act has always had the power to change lives, for good or ill.
It could only be good, with him. She knew this as well as she knew her name.
This time, when he rose over her, she opened her thighs to him with hopeful abandon. She could feel her heart opening as well, welcoming him there as her delta welcomed his marble-hard thickness. His girth made her gasp as he covered her lips and throat with kisses. She stilled him with a hand on his hip.
"A second, beloved, to become used to this."
He gave her a languid smile full of love. "Take what you need, dearest one. To be sheathed within your heat, to feel you like this…it's no hardship to wait a bit."
Her hips rocked against his, tentatively at first, then harder, drawing him deep. His flexing movements answered her own, his curls feathering against her skin, igniting sparks of rich delight. His blue eyes remained fixed on hers as he slipped a hand between them and began circling her pearl with a light, rhythmic touch.
Heart quickening, she recognized the sensation of flying towards completion again. She moved against his hand, holding his shoulders tightly as stroked against her, within her.
"Now, take me fully, Architect." Her legs captured his muscular thighs as she thrust against him.
"I would take you all the way, La'ra," he gasped, sweat beginning to bead on his skin as he worked his hips with hers. "All the way to the end."
His thrusts were measured and sure as she moved in a rhythm of her own under him, finally arching in release and crying out against his shoulder. He groaned into the hollow of her throat as he shuddered and spilled himself within her clenching sex, roaring into the night as he finished.
"Yes, my love—by the gods, yes," she cried.
Their words seemed to ring through the dark night sky to the stars, from the beginning of time to the land of the dead.
All the way to the end.
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TBC...