Page 7 of Six Burning Candles

No! No! The goddess is frowning upon you!

I shifted slowly onto my knees; my stomach pressed against the edge of the chair cushion. Melrose returned those warm, brown eyes to lock with mine. She arched a brow, “Are you alright, Keida?”

“Do you think mynails are dry?” I asked.

She beamed, taking up my palms in her lap to inspect them. Brushing her fingertips over my nails, once lightly, then the second time more firmly, she hummed. “Very.”

“Good,” I growled, snatching them back. Her eyes widened on her face as I pushed from the floor, hooking the back of her knees with mine. Melrose sank into the chair, and my hands pushed her skirt all the way up onto her waist. My sweet troublemaker was speechless as I harrumphed. “I knew it.”

I stared at naked thighs, bare hips, and a pink lipped cunt exposed to the crackling fire light. Melrose was fluffy like a doe from her hoof to her hips. But at the apex of her thighs, much like my own, a needy cunt sparkled with desire. Warmth crept up the back of my spine, making icicles melt off the back of my scalp.

“Care to explain why you’re not wearing small clothes?” I breathed, my hands roaming from her bowed knees up to her hips. My thumbs brushed against her folds and Melrose whimpered. Her eyes fluttered closed and wicked pride surged within my chest.Goddess forgive me.No, goddess you probably wouldn’t disapprove. May the Hierophant grant me mercy when he kills me for this. Cardinal Janus, pray for me, you were right…

“Do you know how hard it is to find any that wouldn’t show with the dress?” She whined.

“So, you let me drag you all over this kingdom?” I reached over her to drag the front of her dress down. Low and behold, her tits were also as uncovered as her cunt. My insides clenched up and I did my best not to immediately put her cute, brownish mauve nipples in my mouth. One hand to her curls, tracing that damp slit of hers, the other circling one of those precious nipples with the pad of my thumb, I was ruined. I wanted Melrose carnally and there was no reasoning with myself. “Wearing only an inch of silk over all of your body?”

A flirty, breathy laugh escaped her lips, and I rewarded it with a pinch of her nipple. It hardened at my touch. Melrose finally cracked her eyes back open to gaze at me. “You said I like to flirt with danger.”

“Troublemaker,” I chided. Spreading my fingers against her slit, opening her up to me, I caught the tremble rolling down her body. “Why?”

“Wishful thinking?” she mused with a light shrug.

“You did all of this on a prayer that someone would notice you without them?” I squinted at her.

“Notjustsomeone,” she trailed off, gaze falling to where my knees kept hers propped open wide.She means me.My heart skipped a beat as I leaned over her.We shouldn’t do this here. We shouldn’t do this AT ALL!But there I was, shaking my head as I grew closer to her lips.

“We shouldn’t.” I captured her lips, swallowing down the moan that rumbled up my throat. I pressed two fingers deep into her. Coated in warm, wet delight, I slowly stroked her soft walls till I had her hips rocking off the chair.

She broke the kiss with a gasp. “Then why are your fingers buried inside me?”

“Because I’m a glutton for punishment.” The words left my throat, raspy and choppy. I had to suck down air, only tasting her as I quickened my thrusts into her. Curling my fingers, I watched her face for the moment I found her sweet spot. It didn’t take long till I struck it and was forced to capture her mouth again to keep her quiet. She kissed me roughly, hands tangled in the front of my robes. Her legs trembled over the arms of the chair. The lewd, wet sounds of my fingers fucking her were muffled by the creaking of the chair and the snapping of wood in the fireplace.

I tugged on her lower lip, dragging it with my teeth till it popped out of my grasp, puffy and red. Her face was toasted red. I savored the glaze that coated her honeyed gaze as she stared up at me. Panting, she moved her mouth like she wanted to speak, but nothing but ragged breath passed between us. Then her head snapped back and her body grew tense. I abused that sweet spot of hers, fucking it mercilessly till her hips bucked off the chair one last time. Warm delight flooded out between my fingers and soaked down to my knuckles. I curled and twisted and pressed my fingers in her till I’d wrung every flutter of her walls from her body. And only once she sagged back against the chair did I stop.

I sat up straighter, pulling my dripping digits from her warmth. Melrose slapped her hands over her mouth as I licked my fingers clean.

“All fed!” Lady Daphne’s sing-songy voice echoed from the hall beyond the study. The click clack of heels walking across marble forced me to move quickly. I dragged her dress back into place on her body and dropped back onto the floor in front of her knees. Heart hammering against my jugular, all I could hear was the roar of it.I’m in so much trouble. I am indeeeeeeeeptrouble.

I just finger fucked the Hierophant’s daughter…and I was pretty sure if I didn’t change my ways, I was going to do it again before the festivities were up.

Avaris preserve me.

Chapter Five:

~Melrose~

“Thankyousomuchfor having us over for a bit, Daphne,” I chirped, kissing my best friend’s cheeks. “Will I see you at the candle lighting ceremony tonight?”

“Of course!” Daphne grinned, “I’ve just got to change to something more candle-service appropriate.”

I snorted, rolling my eyes but wishing my friend well. Daphne Oliphante was one of those friends where we wouldn’t talk to for several months, then run into each other at the markets, and spend the next three days catching up like no time passed. She was one of my best friends and I loved her to the moon and back. But she was also someone who came to service, not for the religion but because it was expected of her. Her father had been a paladin of Avaris, her mother a healer blessed by our lady, and so she was expected, like all four of her siblings, to attend service. She kept all the holidays, went to each rite, and did all the things they said good followers of the goddess did. Only, I could tell her heart wasn’t in it.

I couldn’t blame her for it either. My own crisis of faith alone, I completely understood why someone so involved with the Order would want nothingto do with it. We were two sides of the same coin, as despite my complications, the Order brought me solace. I never felt alone because of it. Maybe I should, but I didn’t. Even in my grief and mourning, I still sought out the comfort of Avaris.

Maybe that makes me a fool…it’s complicated.

Much like my relationship with everything.I glanced at Keida, striding down the cobblestone path away from the Oliphante’s manor, shoulders back and head held high.What even happened in there?It happened so fast that I considered it might have been a hallucination. If I knew that deciding not to wear small clothes would get Keida to give me the best orgasm I’d ever had, I’d trot around her in nothing but short skirts for the rest of my fucking days!