Naughty Temptations

Chapter Three-2

A door rattled behind the dais and a woman entered. No question this was the Queen. Tall, slender, and dressed in a simple but glorious gown, she moved with the most regal of grace. Ryan went down on one knee and she followed his example. “Your Majesty.”

“Oh, do stand,” the Queen said, stopping in front of them. Then she turned the sharp, concentrated gaze of large green eyes on Lauren. “So this is the woman you’ve chosen above me.”

Oh, dear heaven. Lauren had no answer.

Thank God, Ryan did. “You know well enough that you are exalted far too high above me that I could ever aspire to any but the most menial place in your affections. The place I’d like this woman to take, beside me, is far below even your notice.”

Her long well-shaped mouth quirked into a small, rather sour smile. “You go too far, my dear. If you have your way, this woman will likely be my daughter’s step-mother, after all.”

She had a point. Maybe the queen’s interest was more than just possessiveness.

“I’ve been giving your situation some thought, and there is some precedence. This happened twice in my mother’s time. First, though, there are things to do.” She looked from Ryan to Lauren and said to her, “You’ll have tea with me. I must know something about you.” She turned to Ryan and told him, “You may go to your usual quarters. I promise no harm will come to your lady, but we will have a private talk.”

Oh, no. Lauren so didn’t want to do this. But there wasn’t much choice at that point. He gave her an agonized look. “It’s all right,” she said calmly. “I’ll be fine.”

He left with obvious reluctance, but then the queen said, “This way. And congratulations. You’ve passed the first test.”

Lauren followed the queen into a much smaller, more plainly decorated room. She sat at a small table and swept an arm around to indicate Lauren should take the other chair. Servants waiting sprang into action, bringing cups, plates, teapot, delicate bowls of sugar lumps and lemon slices, and poured for them. The queen took a lump of sugar, an action that Lauren emulated and waited until the other had sipped from her cup before she also drank.

“You are cautious.” The queen nodded and her lips quirked, though the smile, if it was one, didn’t reach her eyes. “That is wise. But there is nothing harmful in my tea or the other foods here.” The servers then brought plates of small sandwiches and cakes, offering them to the queen first and then to Lauren to take what they wished.

“Ryan is a handsome man, is he not?” the queen asked her once they’d each had a couple of bites.

“He is. And a very good father to your daughter.”

“He is that, too. And a very accomplished lover. I have always enjoyed my times with him and rather dislike losing him for that purpose.”

Lauren took a moment to work out a response to that. “I’m sure you’ve had your pick of men, many far more handsome and many better lovers, Your Majesty.”

The queen’s mouth twisted into a half smile. “A carefully considered answer,” she said. “I believe I begin to understand why Ryan favors you. I imagine you are also something of a s****l submissive. He prefers his women that way.”

“I am. But that doesn’t mean I’m submissive in other things.”

The queen appeared taken aback for a moment. “Very good. But in one thing I must insist you submit to me. Should I allow Ryan his freedom, you must agree that you will always bow to my will in relation to my daughter. First and foremost she is my daughter, and possibly my heir. That takes precedence over anything else.”

“Even her own happiness?”

“I fear I must tell you yes, and I will expect you to honor that. But I will tell you that I do care for her a great deal and would do all in my power to ensure that she is happy.” She took a sip of tea and added, “I care for Ryan as well, though he may not believe it. I want to ensure he will be happy if he goes this way. Tell me about yourself.”

Lauren told her about growing up in Richmond, Virginia, the third child of two college professors, how she’d become interested in computers and had chosen to learn enough about them to teach others.

“Those are machines in your world that do some of your thinking for you?”

“That’s a pretty good description. They can do many routine things that most people prefer not to do themselves, like tracking money on a large scale and controlling other machines.”

She couldn’t tell how much of that made sense to the woman.

“You have sisters or brothers living?”

“One of each. They both live quite a distance away. My brother is in Seattle and my sister’s in New York.”

The queen continued asking probing questions about her family, her views on marriage and raising children that Lauren answered as honestly and completely as she could. After an hour or so, the woman signaled to the servers that they were done, but she had one last question.

“What is the worst thing that has ever happened to you?” she asked.

Lauren had to think about it a bit, then related the incident that had ended the relationship with Dan, when he’d threatened her with the knife.

“Ryan knows about this? the queen asked.

“Yes. I told him about it.”

The queen nodded and stood up abruptly. “I think you will do for him, but there must be more tests. And you may find them difficult. You are excused now.” She nodded for one of the servants to come forward. “Take the lady to the green guest chamber, and help her clean up. I’ll send word to you within the hour, with further directions.”

The queen swept out of the room before Lauren could even muster a bow. Instead she followed the designated servant to a grand chamber fit for a princess. A large tub already filled with steaming, perfumed water awaited. The servant helped her remove her clothes and Lauren sank into it gratefully, feeling exhausted by the events of the day and particularly the interview with the queen. She must have dozed for a while. The next thing she knew a gentle hand on her arm roused and she realized the water had cooled considerably.

“My lady, the queen sends for you,” the servant said. She held out a towel which she wrapped around Lauren as she emerged from the water. Another older woman was in the room as well and between the two of them they dried her, arranged her hair, rubbed a fragrant lotion over her entire body and then dressed her in a diaphanous gown that flowed from her shoulders to her ankles but concealed nothing.

“I can’t go to the queen wearing just this,” she said.

The older woman fussed over getting it to hang just so. “It’s what Her Majesty sent for you. You must wear it.”

There wasn’t much Lauren could say to that, but she still felt ridiculously self-conscious wearing it. It didn’t help that when the doors to the audience chamber were opened for her, she realized a crowd had gathered there. The hum of conversation died down as everyone turned to look at her.

Most of those present looked remarkably like normal people in costume-party dress, but a few were taller or shorter than normal, had larger ears or longer noses or even a few with mouths that bore fangs. The servant who’d escorted her nudged her forward and the crowd parted in the middle to give her an aisle to the front, where the queen sat on her throne and Ryan stood beside her. He wore only a pair of loose trousers and looked magnificent. He came down the steps to join her as she walked to the front of the room and they stood together before the queen. Only then did she see Cindy in a smaller chair beside the throne. Lauren blushed fiercely with all those people staring at her virtually naked body.

The queen stared and nodded at her before she stood.

“Ryan has petitioned for his freedom to be with this woman,” she announced to the gathered crowd. “I have decided to grant this boon on certain conditions. Lauren already knows what some of them are. I assume you will agree to the things we discussed earlier?”

She had trouble finding her voice but finally said, “I will.”

“Good. Here is the other condition. The two of you will marry right now with a service I have devised. It includes a test that will show your true devotion to each other. I don’t know that this is binding in your world, but you can work that out on your own. So now I ask you both. Are you willing to bind your lives together in a union that can only be dissolved by death?”

Ryan immediately said “I am.”

Lauren had to consider for a moment the risk she took, but she too said, “I am.”

“Good.” The queen nodded for a young man, bearing a tray to come over to her. From it she took a candle and held it up. “You will bind yourselves together by flame and blood.” Another man brought her a pair of burning splits of wood, which she directed to be given to Ryan and Lauren. “You will together light the candle that signifies the union of your spirits.” She stepped closer to them and nodded for them to approach. They each held out the burning splinters and used them to light the candle together.

“Now extinguish your individual flames.” They blew out the splits they held.

The queen raised the candle so that it was between them. “The fires of your souls now burn together in one flame.” She set the burning candle into a holder set up for it on the side of the dais.

Another man approached with a tray and this time the queen lifted a shining silver knife from it. Lauren gasped as she sensed what was going to happen. That devious b***h. Ryan gave her an anguished look that confirmed her suspicions.

“You will join yourselves together by blood now. Ryan, you are the dominant partner, so take the knife and make a small cut in the top of each of her breasts, then do the same on yourself.”

The servant who’d accompanied her reached forward and pulled on a ribbon at the back of the neck of the diaphanous gown, causing the entire top of it to fall loose, revealing her naked breasts to the assembled crowd. Ryan leaned over close to her and whispered, “I didn’t know. But we don’t have to do this. Say the word and we stop it.”

Those words sealed her decision, the words and the look in his eyes. So much agony and compassion roiled in their depths, along with honesty and firm intention, that she knew he expected her to refuse and he would honor her decision. He knew what this would cost her and he’d pay the price himself to protect her from it. And that realization tipped the balance.

She put her hand on his, the one holding the knife. “Do it. Please.”

He sucked in a sharp breath and what she saw in his eyes then stole her breath and made her heart turn over in her chest. “Close your eyes,” he said.

No sooner had she done so, then she felt the pressure of the knife tip on her breast, and the sting as it penetrated. And then he did it again on the other breast, fast and sure, nicking only deep enough to draw a small bead of blood from each.

She opened her eyes and watched as he turned the knife on his own body and pierced each of the pectoral muscles just above his own n*****s. The queen smiled as he handed back the knife. “Embrace her now, breast to breast, and be joined by blood.”

He drew her to him, holding her close so that the little nicks lined up and their blood mingled. He whispered in her ear. “I don’t think I’ve told you how much I love you, but I do beyond words, and I promise I’ll do everything in my power to make you happy.”

“I love you, too, and I promise you the same.”

They stepped apart at last.

“Ryan and Lauren, you now belong solely to each other,” the queen pronounced.

A cheer went up from the gathered crowd and Lauren heard Cindy’s voice raised with the others’.

The queen continued, “A banquet has been prepared to celebrate the occasion. Ryan and Lauren, you will please go with Armand and Geness to have your wounds healed and change into more suitable attire, then join us for the feast.”

Geness proved to be the female servant who had accompanied her. Lauren and Ryan followed her and another man from the room to a nearby chamber where the woman put some sort of herb concoction on their cuts that immediately halted the bleeding and eliminated the stinging pain. Gorgeously ornamented and decorated robes were provided for them before they were escorted to the banquet hall. Empty chairs awaited them at the queen’s right with Cindy beside them.

Course after course appeared at their places—a cold soup, baskets of bread, plates bearing slices of roasted meat, fruit compotes, and tiny cakes, all accompanied by smooth and refreshing wines. There were a few fine speeches and songs in their honor as well, though by then Lauren’s head was swimming and she would have a hard time remembering most of what she ate, drank, or heard.

But sometime during the dessert course, a tiny creature about six inches tall with sparkly purple hair stood on the table by Cindy’s plate, sharing a bit of cake and grinning up at her.

“Lauren.” Cindy tugged on her sleeve and pointed to the tiny pixie. “This is Violetta. Remember I was searching for her the day we first met? Well, guess what? She led me to your yard on purpose because she’d already decided you’d be the perfect person for my daddy. She knew he was lonely and unhappy and she’s been searching for a long time for the right one for him. After she watched you for a little while she knew you were exactly what he needed.”

“Oh.” Lauren stared at the pixie then returned her infectious smile. “I owe you some huge thanks, then, Violetta.”

The pixie just bowed and disappeared again.

Later, after the feast finally wound down, the three of them changed back into their normal clothes to return to their own world. Lauren’s head spun from the food, wine, and the events of the day. Fortunately they didn’t have to walk back to the portal. Instead they were taken in an elaborate carriage drawn by a quartet of white horses.

After they passed through the portal, though, they had to make their own way down the trail to the car. She stumbled along in a daze after the amazing events of the day.

“It’s true?” she asked, as they drove home. “We’re married?”

“Maybe not legally in this world,” Ryan said. “But, yes, we are definitely married as far as I’m concerned. We’ll make an appointment with a magistrate on Monday to get the paperwork taken care of. But you’re spending the night with me tonight and we’ll start moving your stuff tomorrow. Objections?”

Lauren smiled. “None whatsoever.”