He was wearing a loincloth that was also golden of course, but Elli thought it clashed horribly with his pale blue skin and emphasized his pot belly rather too much. Still, the entire Court seemed enamored of their monarch, so she tried to “Ooo” and “Ahh” along with everyone else as he finally slipped into the large steaming pool with the noblewoman he had chosen.
“Welcome to another Bathing Day, my fellow Tenebrians,” the Crown Prince said, lifting his voice so that it echoed through the high-ceilinged grotto. “A rather auspicious Bathing Day at that, for today our new Royal Zorel Entrancer made great strides in taming my brute of a zorel, Demon. Please everyone—let’s acknowledge the brilliance of Lady Ellilah!”
Elli felt her cheeks get hot as the attention of the entire Bathing Grotto was suddenly transferred from the Crown Prince to herself. Every eye was on her as the Tenebrian nobles clapped and called out congratulations.
“Jolly good show!”
“Well done, you!”
“Most excellent!” were some of the shouts directed her way.
“Thank you.” She nodded her head, which was the only thing visible above the milky blue surface of the pool, since she had sunk down to hide her breasts. “Uh, thank you so much.”
Luckily for her, the Crown Prince couldn’t bear not to be the center of attention for long. After a full minute of applause for Elli, he cleared his throat and spoke again.
“Now then, let the bathing commence! Lady Carloota, my dear, would you be kind enough to wash my chest?”
“With pleasure, Your Majesty,” purred the noblewoman beside him. Reaching towards the side of the tub, she picked up a small round pot of cream and scooped some out to rub on the monarch’s narrow chest.
“Um…I guess we’d, uh, better start Mirroring,” Elli said rather breathlessly, looking up at Roke.
“Be my guest, sweetheart. You won’t hear me complaining.” The big warrior spread his arms and leaned back against the side of the pool, giving Elli a mocking, one-sided grin. “If you dare, that is.”
“Of course, I dare!” Elli exclaimed. Determination overcame her shyness and she reached for the small pot of bathing cream which was located beside their own pool and got a double fingerful of the stuff. Rubbing it between her hands, she waded over to Roke and began rubbing it over his chest. It was broad and muscular and mostly smooth except for a little patch of dark curls between the flat copper disks of his nipples, which led down in a thin trail over his abs and down towards his…
Elli pushed that thought aside and tried to concentrate on washing the big warrior thoroughly.
“Mmm, your soft hands feel good on me, little priestess,” Roke rumbled, looking down at her with half-lidded eyes.
“Be quiet!” Elli pinched one of his flat nipples sharply, making him jump.
“Hey, now—none of that!” he growled, frowning at her.
“Well, stop trying to distract me with your dirty talk!” Elli demanded, still scrubbing for all she was worth. “We need to be better than we were last night and not…not give into temptation again.”
“If I recall right, you were the one giving in to temptation,” Roke reminded her, still frowning. “Not that I blame you,” he added in a low voice. “And you shouldn’t blame yourself either, little priestess. It’s natural to want to explore and pleasure yourself.”
“Quiet!” Elli exclaimed, pinching his other nipple fiercely and making him yelp. “I don’t want to talk about that!”
“All right—all right!” Roke held up his hands in a “don’t shoot” gesture. “Forgive me for mentioning it, my Lady!”
“Just behave yourself,” Elli lectured him sternly. “And remember we’re only doing what we have to do in order to prevent giving offense. We—”
“Now, switch,” the Crown Prince’s fruity voice interrupted her words. “My dear Lady Carloota, pray, allow me to return the favor by washing your lovely breasts.”
“Oh, uh…” Elli watched, her cheeks flaming, as the Crown Prince scooped some cream out of the jar and began rubbing it on the noblewoman’s bare breasts. She moaned and cooed in pleasure, thrusting her breasts eagerly into her monarch’s hands as though she couldn’t get enough of the pleasure he was giving her.
“You were saying?” Roke said dryly.
“Um…” Elli dragged her attention away from the scene in the royal pool to the big warrior. Somehow she had drifted away from him and was now at the opposite side of the pool.
“I believe you were talking about doing whatever we have to in order to avoid giving offense?” he rumbled, cocking an eyebrow at her.
“Yes, well…” Elli swallowed hard, wishing her body wasn’t so eager for the big warrior’s touch. “I guess we’d better…better do what…what everyone else is doing.”
And indeed, the Duke and Duchess beside them were already at it with the Duke rubbing and fondling his wife’s breasts while she moaned her pleasure. All the other Tenebrian nobles were as well, leaving only Elli and Roke who weren’t “Mirroring” the Crown Prince.