Vows of Blood and Honor

Sebastian kept up his pretense of bored gentility until they reached his room. The moment the door closed he pulled Briar into his arms, his mouth trailing kisses over her upturned face.

He could feel her trembling, from either fear or desire, he couldn't be sure. And he knew it was relief as much as desire that shook his hands. That her uncle had been anywhere near her sent rage pulsing through him.

The prince had never been grateful in his life for his rank until he'd realized that because of it he could protect his love.

Briar knew she was shaking, a delayed reaction to fear and shock and if part of her need for Sebastian was due to that she didn't care. Her hands fumbled and untied his tunic laces and slid then beneath his shirt finally touching his skin. A moan emerged from his throat at her touch and she pressed her mouth to his neck. "Sebastian." She whispered, tasting his skin. "Oh love." She pressed herself hungrily against him. "Do we have time?"

The young man half groaned half laughed. "I will make time Rose." He told her. "I need to feel you in my arms and know you are safe." He made further speech impossible as he fastened his mouth to hers.

Briar could feel her knees buckling as his lips burned over her own. Her hands slid from his chest to twine around his neck pushing her breasts up to rub against his chest. Sebastian groaned in his throat tearing his mouth from hers.

"Enough play." He said huskily and before she could react he had picked her up and swung her like a sack over his shoulder, his hand possessively rubbing her thighs.

Briar shrieked with surprise and laughter as he carried her to his bed and let her fall onto it with a bounce. The giggles that bubbled out of her faded at his hungry gaze. He unlaced his shirt and tunic completely, pulling them off to throw carelessly on a chair. Entranced she watched him unlace his cannons and sit down on the edge of the bed, pulling her towards him.

"My shadow prince, my Sebastian." Briar whispered as she curled up to him. Her hand reached up to stroke his face and she smiled as his eyes darkened hotly. "I love you so much."

"And I you." He murmured as his nimble fingers began to unlace her bodice. "I must remember to visit a jewelers." He said as if to himself parting the silk of her gown and exposing the lacy shift beneath it. "I have this desire to see you with a necklace of black pearls and emeralds dripping down from your neck and nothing else clothing you but your silken hair."

"I don't need jewels." Briar told him with a smile of delight at his erotic thoughts. His fingers drew her gown down to her waist trapping her arms and she gasped as he bent her over his arm and began to run his tongue in circles over her nipples. "Ohhh…" A cry of pleasure left her lips.

"It gives me such pleasure to gift you with baubles that are lovely, even if they can't match you for beauty." Sebastian lifted his mouth from her breasts and regarded her with a smile. "You will allow me to do so? I know in comparison to your gifts of music I can give you nothing of value. But I would love to shower you with jewels to match every gown you own. I cannot purchase your love, nor do I attempt it." Gentle fingers stroked her skin erotically and she gasped. "Say that I may, my love."

"Sebastian…please…" Briar begged helplessly as he teased her with pleasure. "I want to touch you, and you're making it impossible for me to move."

"Hmm…" Sebastian removed her gown and shift, laying them to the side and ran his hands over her body, down the length of her and lingering on her mound with delicate tempting strokes on her nether lips. Her hands began to run over his shoulders and chest. "Love…" His breath hissed through his teeth as her slim fingers drew the length of his cock carefully from within his cannons and stroked him. "If you keep doing that this will be over very quickly." He warned her with a rueful chuckle.

Briar regarded him through her lashes and smiled. "You will let me taste you again?" She asked licking her lips.

Sebastian smiled wickedly and shifted his groin so that he rubbed against the palm of her hand. "Only after you allow me to feast upon you." He told her, enjoying the pink blush that tinted her cheeks. "I love how your hands grip my hair and you wrap your legs around my shoulders."

"Sebastian!" Briar groaned as she turned even pinker and hid her face against his shoulder.

"Do not hide from me Rose." Sebastian drew her back and kissed her passionately. "Can't you see how I adore your passionate nature? How I enjoy your body? How pleased I am that my touch gives you pleasure enough that you forget everything but seeking it?" He began to stroke her thighs, until they relaxed and eased apart for him. "You are my love, my beloved honored lady, and I am humbled that you gift me with your pleasure. Let me consume you, I wish to dream of tasting you tonight."

Briar drew him down to her and wrapped her legs around him. "Just hold me like this for a moment." She whispered. "I love to feel you against me, your body, so different from my own." She kissed his shoulder and chest and he felt her sigh against him. "I feel so safe with you like this. Its strange, when I'm so vulnerable, you are stronger than I, and if you wanted you could just take me, but this is how I feel safest. When you and I are like this together, I feel like you are protecting me."

Sebastian buried his face against her neck and rolled on his back, pulling her so that she was sprawled on top of him. "I am afraid I will crush you sometimes." He told her with a smile against her skin. "I do love to hold you my Rose." He kissed her and looked her solemnly in the eyes. "I will never stop loving you. And I will protect you, I won't ever stop trying to protect you, even though I know you can defend yourself." His gaze grew wicked as he looked down at her breasts and felt her pressed against him. "I am going to make you cry out with pleasure." He whispered erotically. "I'm going to thrust my tongue into you, and consume your juices. I want to suckle on your sweet hot clit until you scream out your climax." He began to lick and nibble the skin under her ear as he described how he was going to pleasure her.

Briar moaned and rubbed body against his. "Sebastian…" She whispered. "Yes."

The prince smiled down at her and rubbed his hand over her back and down her ass and legs. "You will not try to stop me from pleasuring you?" He asked innocently. "You will allow me to do as I wish and not be embarrassed by your response?"

"I'll let you do what you wish with me." She gasped out and was rewarded with the touch of his fingers on her aching mound. "I am yours Sebastian. Please!"

"Yes." Sebastian growled. "Mine. And I'm damned if I'll let anyone try to take you away from me." 'Not even your noble relatives or your father in his dislike of my courtiers guise.' His thoughts continued. He bent and began to make love to her urgently.

"New necklace Briar?" Dragon inquired casually as he kissed her cheek hello.

Briar flushed when she remembered how she'd been persuaded to let Sebastian give her jewels. The prince had waited until she was desperate for release, and then had asked her again, to not protest his gifts of jewelry. She would have consented to anything for him to continue his wicked caresses.

Later she had protested that it had been unfair of him to manipulate her like that. Sebastian had smiled down at her and shaken his head. "I have my reasons for wishing to give you jewels. But you kept refusing me."

"Yes." She touched the pearls and emeralds that were woven in a silver net around her neck. "Sebastian insisted."

Lorelei nodded. "As well he should." She told the bard. When Briar and Dragon looked at her inquiringly she shrugged. "There has been talk that you are falling out of his favor. Courtiers only understand consequence when it is shown by rich gifts. I know he loves to give presents. He delights in birthing days, and thinking of what his loved ones would like or what would suit them. It is a source of constant frustration to him that you would not let him buy you gifts. He knows he cannot buy affection or respect, but he likes to express his by giving gifts. It is the only way he can do so that the courtiers won't suspect there is something beneath his mask."

Briar groaned. "I'm more of a fool than he pretends to be." She shook her head. "Why didn't he tell me that?"

"Didn't he?" Lorelei looked surprised. "That is not like him."

Dragon looked at Briar. "I suspect that he did, and you still refused, wanting only his love, not riches?"

"I did not hear the entire explanation." Briar sighed. "Will you tell him that I understand?" She looked at Dragon. "He wanted to buy me rubies, godawful bright red things..." Her smile was mischievous. "Tell him if he wanted to spend his gold on me, I liked the dark ruby and diamond set better."

Dragon laughed. "Well when you decide you like jewels you do it with a vengeance." He bowed. "I shall fulfill your request immediately my sister, if you will keep my lady company."

Lorelei tucked her arm through Briar's and the two of them sat down on a chaise. Briar smiled almost shyly. "I hadn't thanked you and Dragon for distracting my father the other night." She said.

Lorelei's mouth twisted ironically. "Well since your brother insists on keeping me chaste, I may as well aid and abet you and Sebastian."

Briar looked at her in humorous shock. "You do not believe that I am pure and chaste?" She inquired with a gleam in her eyes.

"Certainly I do." Lorelei replied dryly. "Sebastian has chased you until you caught him." Her lips twitched and both of them burst out laughing.

Dragon turned from where he stood with Sebastian, interrupting his own sentence at the sound of their amusement. With an ironic gleam in his eye he said to the prince. "My sister wished me to convey a message to you."

Sebastian's hand rose to pinch the bridge of his nose as if weary. "She is still angry about the necklace?" He asked resignedly.

Dragon shook his head. "Actually, once Lorelei explained to her why you wished to do it, and your way of giving gifts to your loved ones, Briar was sorry she had objected so strongly."

Sebastian smiled slightly. "Well at least I won't have a fight on my hands the next time then."

"No…" Dragon drawled out in his macabre voice. "She actually said that if you must spend your gold upon her, that she prefers the deep ruby and diamond set to the 'godawful' bright ruby one." He clapped his hand on the princes shoulder and speculated. "I know for a fact that she adores the gifts you give her, she is overcoming that fear of being seen as a kept woman. If no one objects to your spending habits, shower her with gifts and make her feel pampered." He looked over at Lorelei thoughtfully. "I may just go with you and select a few things myself."

"You, go shopping?" Sebastian regarded him in awe. "Dragon are you feeling well?"

"Your sister is trying very hard to concede to my wishes in certain matters." Dragon said carefully. "I would like to express tangibly the appreciation I have for her efforts, even when she fails at times."

Sebastian grinned. "We'll go tomorrow afternoon. I know for a fact that Lorelei, Asrai and Briar are spending the afternoon with my mother and her ladies. Merrila is coming as well. I have no idea what they're up to and I don't want to know." He shuddered. "Now if you will excuse me, Briar's father has arrived at court and I make it a practice to be at Briars side. He dislikes me," the prince explained at Dragons questioning look, "and I'm trying to encourage that. I'm hoping he'll figure out that his daughter has better taste than to love such a fool so there must be more to me. Being obnoxious in the meantime is extremely enjoyable."

"Hmm… Lorelei commented that you're almost bearable in Briar's presence." Dragon's rare smile lit his face as he accompanied Sebastian back to where their ladies were still sitting and trading affectionate jibes. He bowed over the princess's hand and helped her to rise. As always his mannerisms seemed at times archaic and gentle but extremely graceful. It was as if he knew the proper way to behave very well but seldom felt it worth the effort of bothering.

The two of them drifted off through the crowd one very dark and the other bright. Sebastian watched them go his eyes narrowing thoughtfully. His mother had noticed something about Dragon that he had overlooked in his passion for Briar. Mentally he made a note to speak with her about it.

Just then one of the newly arrived Waterdavian nobles caught his eye. The girls name was Katharine, the Lady Katherine. She had soft brown hair, gently rounded, though not childish features and a diminutive figure. She was exquisitely lovely in a completely human way. There was a playful kittenish quality about her as she stood by her father. She looked adorable.

Sebastian stroked Briar's palm absently as he regarded the girl. She was younger than Lorelei, probably about Briar's age, or his own. Her manner was very sweet, almost innocent, as if butter wouldn't melt in her mouth. However, something in her eyes didn't ring true with her expression. She was scanning the court much as he did at times, as if bored by the entire thing and seeking anything of interest as a distraction.

Then she caught someone's eye and moved to a group of younger courtiers and Sebastian's eyes narrowed. Lady Katherine moved with twitching hips, languid strides and she breathed in a way that pushed her breasts up against her low bodice even more.

With a sense of foreboding Sebastian followed her gaze and stifled a curse. The look in her eyes was one of a predator, or a courtier who had found a challenge. Her gaze had settled on Dragon and a slow smile of satisfaction curved her lips. She also appeared to note Lorelei on Dragon's arm, and that Dragon was Lorelei's suitor. For Sebastian, reading her face was very simple and her intention of conquering Dragon, and spoilt determination were plain. Shaking his head Sebastian sighed. There were interesting times ahead.

"What is it love?" Briar murmured as she saw the look in his eyes.

"You see that brown haired human girl?" Sebastian murmured nodding in Katherine's direction. "What do you think of her my dear?"

Briar searched for and located the woman Sebastian was speaking of and studied her for a moment. Katherine shifted her position with a twitching sway of her hips and a sweetly sultry gleam of her brown eyes. "I do not like her." The bard said finally.

"Why not?" Sebastian asked curiously. He didn't disagree with her Briar noticed but he seemed interested in her own reasons.

"If you were a female love, you would be like her, a predator." Briar said finally still looking at the girl. "But I see none of your kindness and nothing of noble intentions in her eyes as I do yours. Even when you are playing the worst of fools Sebastian, you are not selfish, not much anyway." She teased him a bit as she looked up at him.

Sebastian nodded. "She is a predator all right. And she's after very large prey indeed."

Though the prince didn't realize it Lorelei had also noticed the girls gaze. "She seems to find something of interest over here." The princess said softly to Dragon, tilting her head in Katherine's direction. "That is Lady Katherine, Lord Arundal's daughter, from Waterdeep."

Dragon gave the girl a cursory glance. "She's probably trying to figure out who your modiste is." He told Lorelei. "And how you manage to look like a lady and yet so enticing at the same time."

"She's beautiful." Lorelei said quietly.

Dragon glanced at the girl again and then at Lorelei incredulously. "She's a little plain don't you think?" He rasped.

Lorelei shook her head and shrugged. "She's not looking at me, she's looking at you." She noted.

"Probably hasn't seen such an ugly courtier before." Dragon growled humorously. "If she keeps staring, remind me to glare at her in a little bit. I might be ugly but I'm not that much of a side show freak."

"I hate it when you talk about yourself so badly." Lorelei told him. "You're not ugly." She reached up to pull his head down and kissed his scars defiantly. "You're an unbelievably irresistible man. And I love you."

Dragon's callused fingers slipped over her hair in a feather light caress. "And I love you my siren."

TBC