Still, I stared intently at the doors through which Atlanta was supposed to enter. Not for lack of faith in her, but in anticipation.
I had enjoyed watching her practice, but I was certain I would enjoy watching her perform even more.
Describing the dance was pointless. There were some visions so beautiful, new words would have to be invented to describe it. New sounds. New tongues.
What I could describe was how it made me feel—the way my heart skipped a beat when the musicians changed their tune to a sultry song, only for my pulse to fall in time with its quick, staccato rhythm. As Atlanta slipped through the doors then bounded gracefully across the ballroom floor, the other courtiers and dancers froze and drifted aside. My mouth went wet at the sight of her, slender and sensual and dripping with jewelry that clinked with her every move. As she twirled and leapt, my cock hardened fast. She did not give it a chance to soften. With every undulation of her body, my balls ached for her. With every shimmy of her hips, I could only imagine taking her back to our room, pinning her down by those lovely hip bones of hers, and making her mine. Forever. For good.
It was difficult to tear my eyes away from her, but when I did, I was rewarded with amusement. I was far from the only one enraptured by Atlanta. The gaze of every male in the room—and several of the females, for that matter—was full of lust. What she inspired so easily in me, she obviously stirred in others as well. Even Queen Lieja, who had never taken a female to bed to my knowledge, fanned herself and licked her lips as her eyes tracked Atlanta’s movements across the room.
I had never imagined myself the jealous type, nor was I sure that jealousy was what I was feeling now. A part of me—not an insignificant part—would have been more than happy to throw my shirt over Atlanta’s pale, slim shoulders to hide her from the greedy gazes of others. It would have been a simple thing, really, to throw her over my shoulder and lock her away in some high tower where the only eyes that could look upon something so precious, so desirable, so perfect, would be my own.
At the same time, a smirk found my lips as I reveled in exactly how desired Atlanta was. There was not a male in the room who would not have given all that he owned for just one night with a creature so gorgeous and elegant as her. Lieja herself seemed to be rethinking her all-male harem idea as Atlanta raised a leg high overhead, arched her back and spun. And yet, it would be my bed Atlanta would be sleeping in tonight. My body that would give her protection from all others. And it was my cock that Atlanta had urged to the point of orgasm with her lips the night before. I had been her first.
If I had it my way, I would be her last as well.
When the music ended, Atlanta collapsed dramatically in front of the high table, just as we had planned. Her bow was theatrical, but she sold it well. Her arms were stretched outward. Her forehead kissed the floor. But her palms faced up, lifted toward the queen as if she was dutifully offering up the whole of performance to Lieja.
A glance over at Lieja found the queen’s cheeks deeply flushed as she stood and began the applause.
“Are you pleased with her progress then, Your Highness?” I asked, rising as well.
“I am.” Slowly, Lieja nodded. Her eyes were wide and in awe. “Well done, Apex. Very well done indeed.”
“Are you proud of me?” Atlanta strode into the center of the bedroom and, with her back to me, began stripping her dancer’s outfit off at once. “I behaved myself, for once.”
Her jewelry clinked musically against itself as she slipped it off from around her wrists and ankles, but when she tossed it across the room onto the armchair and reached for the laces at the back of her top, she could not quite seem to reach them.
“Yes, you did very well.” I moved to her slowly and took the laces into my own hands. They were tied tight, but beneath my nimble fingers, they were quick to give way. “But I did not need to tell you that, did I?”
“You’re my master now, aren’t you?” She shrugged her straps from her shoulders and clutched the top to her breasts as she turned to face me. “You tell me.”
“Proud little thing.” I stared at her openly, as I had done all this time. At first, it had been an act which was part intimidation, part preparation. As the only human here at court on Nightmoor, now famed for both her talent, her ferocity, and her beauty, I had known she would be stared at no matter what. But now…now that I had set the precedent, I was free to stare at her as much as I liked, whenever I liked.
And I liked to stare often, for as long as I could.
“It’s not pride.” Her top clinked gently as it fell to the floor, baring her breasts to me. They were small and pert. Perfectly shaped, with those small rose-colored nipples I had thought of frequently ever since I first saw them. “I’m being a good slave, sir. I’m just wondering about what my reward might be for my good behavior.”
“You wish for me to reward you?” I should have given her the command to kneel immediately for demanding such a thing…but I did not.
“Yes,” she breathed.
