Page 33 of Golden Queen
Realization dawned after that, and I rolled my eyes, giving Barrett a shove that nearly spilled his wine.
"I'm working on that," I said, and because the whiskey had already gone to my head, I leaned down beside the bed and pulled out my purchase from the little shop down the street. I tossed the black, lacy undergarmentstoward Barrett's face. He caught them and held them out in front of him with a sly grin.
They were sheer, cut into the fashion of Athelen, where a woman's underthings were a fashion statement all on their own. Athelen women, even in the high courts of the crown, wore thin, sheer gowns—barely more than translucent fabric draped across their bodies.
Compared to Windemere, it was absolutely shocking, but since I happened to know there were once women in Nightfall who attended court completely bare-chested, I did not think the underthings would shock Io.
"So, you're going through with it then?" Igraine asked, her eyes shining with some excitement.
I groaned, falling back on the bed and covering my eyes. "I don't know," I said miserably.
Barrett patted my leg. "What are you so worried about? That he will not know how to make you come? Don't you know that the fae are especially good at finding the perfect spot." He danced his fingers over my navel suggestively.
I sat up, leaning on an elbow. "Have you been with a lot of fae?"
"Only one," he said wistfully.
"Tell me!" I demanded. "Is everything...you know, the same?"
Raitha and Igraine laughed so hard I thought the bed would fall apart under us. Anetta slapped them playfully and gave Barrett a dark look.
Barrett, to his credit, did not poke fun at me. He tapped my nose with one of his long fingers and said, "Oh, to be so sweet again," even though I knew he was at least a year or two younger than me. "Yes, their parts are the same. The one I knew; his name was Beryl. His part was perhaps a bit larger and much more beautifully made. He was a water mage. He could do beautiful things with his magic."
"What kind of magic does your Io have?" Anetta asked.
"I don't know," I admitted. "I hadn't really thought about it."
"I bet it's fire," Raitha said, with a grin.
"He is very warm," I admitted.
"Well, then," Barrett said, his lips spreading in a grin. "Let us prepare the virgin for her sacrifice."
"What does that mean?" I demanded, my voice rising to a squeak.
They took me to Anetta's large bathing chamber, where they scrubbed, plucked, and shaved me to within an inch of my life.
I lost all embarrassment about thirty seconds in when Barret shoved me down into a big clawfoot tub of sweet-smelling water, pulled one of my legs up out of the bubbles, and began meticulously shaving it with a straightrazor. Anetta tackled the other leg while Igraine and Raitha shaved the dark hairs from beneath my arms.
I was already drunk, but Raitha kept my glass full, so by the time they hauled me from the tub and into a chair to let Anetta lay hot wax between my legs, I was giggling so hard I had tears streaming down my cheeks.
The giggles ended abruptly, though, as she began to violently rip the hair out by yanking on a strip of cloth. The four of them held me firmly down in the seat as I alternated between fits of raucous laughter and squeals of pain.
As they worked, they imparted all the sexual wisdom of their young lives to me. Anetta told me how to stand, how to move, how to purse my lips to show them to maximum effect. Barrett told me, in mind-numbing detail, where and how to touch a man. He mimed the actions on the handle of Anetta's hairbrush until she yanked it away.
"You are enjoying that far too much!" she said, frowning disapprovingly.
I was still laughing at the way Barrett had mimed inserting his finger into the hairbrush's behind when Raitha chimed in. "Under no circumstances are you to stick your finger in a man's asshole unless he asks you to, Sera!"
"I'm not sticking anything in anyone's asshole!" I stated, proudly. "And they shan't stick anything in mine!"
"Never say never, dear," Anetta said with a knowing grin.
Igraine, who had remained uncharacteristically quiet for the last few minutes, was looking at me almost wistfully.
"What?" I asked, over the sound of Barret and Anetta discussing the various merits and drawbacks of anal penetration.
Igraine smiled. "I'm just excited for you," she admitted, surprising me. At my puzzled look, she added, "Your first time is going to be with someone of your own choosing, someone who, if his pursuit of you is any indication, will likely make it good for you. A lot of us never got that chance."
