Burning for Love (Kindred Tales)

Yes, but you don’t stop there, do you? the guilty voice asked. You don’t just come once a night. You let him use his hand on you to make you come three or four or more times each evening. Then you sleep naked, right up against him with his thigh between your legs and your points pressed to his side.

Well, that was true, Rissa acknowledged to herself, as she moved mechanically through the steps of the dance. She could not deny it. But though she herself was naked, the better to feel the contact with his big body, which he cooled every night just for her, James himself never removed his trousers. And Rissa was positive nothing bad could happen as long as there was no kissing and at least one of them kept their forbidden areas covered.

Though she had to confess, she was a bit curious as to what exactly was beneath those tight black leather trousers of his. Often, when he had been stroking her and sucking her points to help her come, a large bulge rose in his crotch, which led Rissa to wonder what was happening there.

This part of the male anatomy was, of course, as mysterious to her as her own forbidden area had once been. She had heard rumors from her friend Alyssa about a “one eyed snake” which men kept in their trousers. And sometimes she’d heard the maids giggling together when they were talking about men and saying “you mustn’t let his snake into your garden!”

But what all this meant, Rissa didn’t know. She had thought about asking James about it, but though she felt increasingly curious, she was also feeling increasingly guilty. She and her new guard were already doing enough forbidden things together—she didn’t need to add more illicit knowledge and naughty acts to the list.

The last dance was coming to an end and Rissa was vastly relieved. Every minute she had to spend in the Duke’s arms was a torment and a trial. Now that she had her Heat Cycle under control, he could no longer make her angry or upset enough to overheat—but it certainly wasn’t for lack of trying. He talked of vile and offensive things constantly and it was difficult sometimes to drown him out, though Rissa did her best, returning his coarse speech with nothing but icy silence.

Still, tonight was the very last night, she reminded herself. Tomorrow was a day of rest with no balls or social functions and the next day she could go before the Steward in the throne room and formally reject Duke Grabbington’s suit. And then she would never have to dance or dine with the vile man again!

“So you think you’re shut of me after tonight, do you not, Princess?” he asked now, as they spun to a finish and everyone bowed to their partners. “You think that ball is over and that the day after tomorrow you can throw me over and reject my suit.”

Rissa inclined her head stiffly, a fraction of an inch—a bow meant to convey acknowledgement without saying anything.

“Yes, that is what you think, but we are not done yet!” the Duke exclaimed. Raising his voice he shouted, “Tell me—who has heard of the ‘Hide and Seek’ dance?”

People stopped bowing to their partners and froze, frowning at the Duke. It was unseemly to shout out in the middle of the ballroom and he was not in the best favor with the Court, owing mainly, to the negative reports of him in Lady TittleTattle’s Breadcrumbs.

But Duke Grabbington seemed unperturbed at being the sudden center of so much negative attention. Indeed, he seemed to positively relish it.

“The ‘Hide and Seek’ is a new craze from the Second Court and only the most fashionable people know it,” he said loudly, smiling around the room. “It’s rather like a quadrille. Four people dance to a merry jig and then—at the break in the music—the ladies run to hide while the gentlemen carry on dancing, with their eyes closed. When the music starts again, the gentlemen must try and find their ladies. And if they do,” he continued. “If they are successful in finding their lovely dance partners, the gentleman may claim a kiss of the lady—on her cheek or her hand, of course,” he added, as shocked murmuring began among the crowd.

At first Rissa hoped this impromptu speech would only make the Duke more of a pariah. But then Lord Buttheadington shouted out,

“I say—that sounds like jolly good fun! Why do we not try it, this, ‘Hide and Seek’ dance?”

Several more gentlemen agreed, which scandalized the ladies into blushing and giggling at the idea that if they were found, they must pay their partners with a kiss. The whole Court—except for Rissa of course—seemed much intrigued. After only a moment of debate, the orchestra struck up a lively jig and another dance was in the offing.