The Switch Page 8

  Today was a different day from most. Every man on the terrace knew that the queen had tossed her latest page out of her quarters before dawn, complaining that he was a boy who knew nothing of how to please a woman. No matter that the lad was four and twenty and a prince of the neighboring country.

  The guardsmen had seen more than one man stagger from the queen’s rooms. They also knew that, in this mood, she’d hunt the castle for a man to satiate her and they all wanted to be that man.

  Sean fought hard against the other two guardsmen, practicing the strokes and counters needed to face a pair of attackers. A final flurry saw them on their knees, offering their swords in surrender. He waved them away and leaned on his sword, while he caught his breath. Sweat pooled under his padded leather vest and breeches. There was still time for one more bout before sundown.

  “Sergeant!” shouted the chamberlain. Sean bowed in response and waited.

  “The Queen commands your presence. Come with me.” The chamberlain pivoted and strutted off, his rich silk robes swaying. Sean tossed his practice sword to his second-in-command and followed, his boot heels very loud in the sudden silence. The other guardsmen stood aside for them, their faces changing from sudden comprehension to envy.

  The chamberlain led him down a long corridor inside the palace. Sean kept his face controlled, trying not to show the wild hope that built in him with every step.

  Two eunuchs sprang to open the heavy doors at the corridor’s end. Sean’s leather breeches were suddenly too tight as he passed through the doors into the famous rooms beyond. He had heard whispers of these quarters but never thought to see them.

  “Well, Sergeant? Do you have any objections to what follows? You do realize what is about to occur.” The chamberlain’s shoe tapped impatiently. “Her Majesty demands nothing less than absolute willingness.”

  “No, sir. That is, yes, sir, I am entirely willing to serve my queen in this manner, as in any other.” Sean’s throat was tight but he got the words out. He tried not to watch the queen’s chief eunuch, waiting just beyond the self-important chamberlain. Tonio had served her since she came to the throne as a girl and knew more of her secrets than anyone still living.

  “Quite right. Tonio, please forgive my haste in fetching the sergeant here. I’m afraid there wasn’t time to wash him.”

  “Of course, sir. We’ll make sure that he is very thoroughly cleansed before he goes upstairs. We cannot let anything else upset our mistress.”

  Merciful goddess, he was truly going to see the queen. Would he be permitted to view her naked body?

  “Get undressed, sergeant, and put everything in that chest. We’ve a great deal to accomplish before sundown.”

  Sean stripped to the skin, stored his belongings as instructed, and followed the stout little eunuch into the next room. It was tiled in crisp patterns of black and white that highlighted the line of spigots along one wall and the ceiling above. An enormous tub held pride of place in the center. His sweaty, stained body felt clumsy and out of place in a washroom designed to show any speck of dirt. Two enormous, ebony-black eunuchs awaited, dressed only in black leather aprons.

  “Scrub him well, boys,” Tonio snapped, his embroidered silk sleeve falling back as he shook a finger in emphasis. “A triple dose, rather than the single dose we gave yesterday’s pretty boy.”

  The eunuchs saw him through two cold showers and a hot bath, until he would have sworn that no dirt dared linger under their suspicious eyes. Then they made him crouch over a curved pole that held his ass in the air for all to see. They filled his backside three times with warm water from a greased hose, never allowing him to fight the intrusion before they drained it out. In fact, Tonio lectured him at great length throughout on the importance of being clean throughout his body, given the queen’s fondness for riding men’s arses.

  Sean considered the eunuchs’ restraints on him and Tonio’s lecture rather superfluous, given the hardness of his cock during the process. Like every other man in the guardhouse, he’d heard stories of the queen’s delight in utilizing every portion of a man’s anatomy. Like most, he’d trained his ass in hopes of one day experiencing those likings and his arousal reflected his anticipation.

  They oiled his entire body and shaved every hair not present when he left his mother’s womb. When he was as clean and smooth as a new sword, they showered and bathed him again. Finally, they covered him again with the same scented oil until he gleamed like a marble statue. The oil was probably an aphrodisiac, given their care in handling it.

  Tonio led him into the last room, where mirrors caught his reflection from every wall and soft carpets hid any sound. His eyes widened when he saw the golden jewelry Tonio brought out for him. The cock ring was a gilded leather strip, adorned with sparkling diamonds. There was a golden phallus to match, its jeweled handle cunningly carved to permit passage of a leather strap. He needed several minutes of slow, deep breaths before he could shelter that immense phallus inside his ass. Its pressure sent a surge of blood through his pelvis and beyond, making the cock ring bite harshly into him.

  “Excellent,” Tonio praised. “Smaller than her usual choice but still large enough to prepare you.”

  Sean shivered at the possibilities.

  Then they harnessed him in gilded leather, straps running between his legs to hold the cock ring and phallus steady by anchoring them to the wide belt around his waist. More leather crossed his shoulders and chest, accenting his muscles and leaving his nipples available. They promptly responded by tightening and Tonio clucked approvingly. Jeweled collar, cuffs, armbands and soft boots completed the set. A sprinkling of gold dust on his shoulders, chest, cock and balls accentuated his straining excitement. The entire outfit was an eroticised version of a smith’s attire when working the forge.

  Tonio wrapped a crimson velvet cloak around him and took him upstairs through a secret passage. His cock felt huge against the restraining leather as the velvet caressed it with every step. They emerged in the queen’s bedroom and Sean looked around eagerly.

  “He’s ready,” Tonio announced as his eyes swept the room.

  “Not now, you dolt!” the chamberlain snapped at Sean. “There’s no time to gawk. Get on the bed at once!”

  Sean’s mouth dried when he saw the huge bed. It was stoutly built of the kingdom’s finest iron and had four pillars, one arising at each corner. A torch burned from each pillar, lighting the bed like a stage for one of the queen’s favorite pageants. Crimson velvet spilled to the floor on all sides in a blazing sweep of color that almost distracted him from the golden straps falling from every side and pillar.

  Tonio snatched the cloak off Sean, who climbed up on the bed then spread his arms and legs as directed. The chamberlain and Tonio quickly strapped his wrists, ankles, neck, and waist to the bed, leaving him virtually immobile. They departed silently and hastily, leaving him alone to face his mistress.

  Sean looked up and saw a stranger in the gilded mirror cunningly mounted on the ceiling. Body opened wide for any touch, eyes and mouth heavy with passion, cock begging for use. He was caught in a gilded spider web, awaiting his queen.

  She came in silently and he saw her first in the mirror. She wore a long, white robe that gave away few of her secrets. Her black hair spilled over her shoulders and she studied him for a long time from hooded eyes. Then her eyes raised and she scorched him with a single glance of lust.

  “Your Majesty,” he croaked, all poise gone. She smiled at him and his blood ran cold. Or was it hot under so much hunger?

  “Have you waited very long, sergeant? You seem eager.”

  “Years,” he growled. Her laughter rang through the room.

  “Such a long time, sergeant!” she mocked. “Still, I think we can find a use for such patience.” She ran her hand down the closest pillar and up the strap to his wrist, checking the tension. He trembled but managed not to jerk against the bonds.

  “Well placed; tight enough to hold you fast and enough slack th
at you can last for hours. I shall have to compliment Tonio.”

  Hours like this? He prayed for the strength to satisfy her.

  She checked every strap that held him. Then she explored every outstretched limb until he was quivering.

  “Please, Your Majesty,” he began, too aroused and frustrated to maintain his usual silence. “I beg of you…”

  “So you have a voice! Splendid. I was beginning to wonder if you could utter sounds that entice as much as your body.”

  Sean tried to make sense of her words. She wanted him to talk?

  “Sing again for me, my stallion. Your voice belongs to me as much as your arousal.” Her hands slid up the inside of his thigh until they cupped his balls.

  “Please!” he choked, jerking against the bonds.

  Her thumbs circled his balls, lifting and separating the fragile eggs in their pouch.

  “Oh please, fuck me, please…” The words poured out of him.

  “Excellent,” she purred. She left his balls and he cursed loudly. Her hands came back to him in a sweep from his shoulders to his waist before returning to his chest. She played with his nipples until he thrashed wildly, promising anything if she’d only do something!

  She disappeared and he looked for her wildly. He couldn’t find her in the darkness beyond the torches and he prayed loudly to all the gods he knew for her return. Then her hands covered his eyes and he thanked the gods for her.

  She kissed his mouth, sweet and long. Their tongues coupled together as he silently promised her a greater coupling with his loins.

  She took her hands away and he saw her climb onto the bed above him. She knelt over his head and smiled wickedly when his body strained towards her.

  “Curb yourself, my stallion. Show me what your tongue can do for my nether lips. A woman likes to be well pleasured before she rides a mount like you.”

  “Gladly!” he vowed. Then thought fled when she lowered herself and his face slid into her folds like a ship entering port. She rubbed herself restlessly over him and his mouth and tongue went eagerly to work. He licked, sucked and nipped at any part of her that came within reach. But he enjoyed it just as much when she used his features, especially his nose and chin, exactly as she pleased.

  He exulted the first time she came, her thighs tightening around his head as the sweet ripples rocked her. He snarled in triumph when she rose over him again and sought more attention from his greedy mouth.

  Still, he lay shaking with his eyes shut when she finally rose from him.

  “Your Majesty, I beg of you,” he pleaded.

  His cock was only slightly less willing than it had been. His blood burned in his veins and his seed clamored in his loins, fighting to escape the leather bonds. He didn’t know and didn’t much care whether it was because of her or the aphrodisiacs they’d soaked him in. He simply knew that he needed her now as he’d never needed another woman. And that he would need her just as much for hours yet to come, if not the rest of his life.

  “Sing for me again, my stallion. Let me hear the sweet sounds of your hunger.”

  She squeezed his cock hard and he jerked, nearly breaking one of the straps that held his belt.

  “Please fuck me now, damnit!”

  She leaned over him and pressed her hand down his belly from navel to his cock.

  “I beg of you, fuck me! Oh merciful goddess, fuck, oh, fuck…”

  She took him slowly, agonizingly slowly, into her womb. His voice died away at the feel of her hot sheathe around him.

  “You are too quiet, my stallion. Sing for me again.”

  “Fuck, please fuck me, fuck, fuck, fuck…”

  He chanted his hunger, slowly at first then faster and faster as she rode him, matching the speed of his words to her tempo. His voice grew louder and louder when she squeezed him as she rode. Everything he was or had ever been centered on the woman above him.

  “Sean! Come with me!”

  He exploded into his orgasm at the sound of his name, pumping his seed into her as fast as her greedy womb could strip it from him. Her matching orgasm throbbed around him and he screamed himself hoarse.

  It seemed a long time before she stirred on his chest, although his body still shuddered. He watched the warm female body mantling him shift, as she turned her head to look into his eyes. Chocolate brown eyes met blue eyes confidently.

  “I think that I have finally found a splendid stallion, sergeant. One good for more than a few hours. Days at least, but perhaps weeks or months. Even years if the goddess grants. Do you agree, sergeant?”

  “Hell yes, Your Majesty,” he growled. Then his head fell back to the bed as she began to explore the pulse under his jaw. Somehow, he was still semi-hard above the cock ring.

  Sean took a handful of sheet and began to wipe his chest dry.

  Friday night seemed like a long time away.

  Chapter Five

  Tuesday, 6 PM

  Beth entered her suite with a sigh of relief at escaping the conference’s pressures, if only for a few minutes. Her phone’s message light was flashing, of course. Still, the modern recreation of 1920’s opulence embraced her warmly. Twentieth century luxury and twenty-first century security, as Dave Hemmings always reminded everyone on the planning committee. They’d been lucky to reserve this hotel after September changed everyone’s ideas of risk.

  She picked up the phone and started checking her messages, stretching her back as she did so. The hotel staff notified her that a courier had delivered an envelope for her at noon; they’d deliver it to her room immediately, of course.

  Beth drew the envelope closer to her as she deleted the voice message. A local doctor’s office? A minute later, a doctor’s note dropped into her hand, politely informing “who ever this may concern” of Sean Lindstrom’s excellent health and cleanliness in regards to all private social matters. She smiled fondly at Sean’s thoroughness and checked again for any other correspondence. He had delayed recording his internal needs, while rushing to provide a doctor’s blessing for his exterior.

  She pulled out her Palm Pilot and scribbled a note to ask her doctor to send a similar seal of approval to Sean. She quickly changed some items on her checklist from “maybe” to “yes,” given Sean’s attention to detail and his partner’s well-being. She’d look over the checklist again after tonight’s banquet, when she finished writing her fantasies. A few more clicks locked the Palm against prying eyes.

  She kicked off her conservative gray shoes, which went so well with her suit, and checked messages on her cell phone. High-heeled shoes but not tall enough to appear that sex was the only thing on her mind. Beautifully tailored, charcoal pinstripes but not so tight as to look as if getting back into Sean’s bed was her first priority.

  The first message, of course, was from Holly, better known as the Wicked Witch of DC to her subordinates’ families. Five minutes later, and three replays, Beth decided that Holly had at least one more thankless chore lined up for Beth’s return to Washington. She hadn’t said which project so there was probably a mountain of useless tasks, all designed to make Holly shine before her superiors. At least she’d told Beth to rest and take some time off before coming back to the office.

  The second message was from Mr. Griffith, asking Beth to call him at his home that evening. She scribbled down the number and dialed it immediately.

  “Mr. Griffith?…Yes, this is Beth Nakamura.”

  His deep voice boomed in her ear, evoking an image of the man himself. A decade on Wall Street and twenty years of government service had polished but not erased the All-American linebacker from Alabama.

  After a brief homage to social niceties, he dived into a detailed review of that morning’s meeting among the law enforcement agencies, discussing the joint task force’s plans thoroughly enough to hold her attention. It was her first chance to talk to him alone and Beth revelled in the opportunity to stretch her mind with currency movements, the game she knew best.

  Now she enjoyed hearing h
is analysis of the various agencies’ approaches to removing the terrorists’ money, glad to finally be at least this close to hunting the enemies.

  Finally, the conversation started winding down and Beth double-checked the clock. She still had some time to write before changing her clothes.

  “Are you interested in becoming more involved in this effort, Beth?”

  Beth’s heart skipped a beat but she kept her voice steady for the least revealing answer.

  “Very much so, sir. It’s important work, both for the country and personally. I gave the task force my contact information and I’ve already answered another question for them. ”

  “Hoped you’d feel that way. It always helps when there’s something useful to do after seeing your friends pass over.”

  Beth murmured an agreement, eager to start on something beyond grieving. Her body felt intensely alive and yet her mind was crystal clear, rapidly sorting through that morning’s meeting for clues to Griffith’s question.

  “Well, just keep doing what you can out there. Maybe I can shake something loose on this end.”

  “Glad to, sir.” The phone went silent as Griffith hung up.

  Beth put the phone down very carefully and quietly. Then she pumped her fist in the air, hissing “Yes!” in triumph. Finally, she was getting the chance to do something. Another sliver of the cold that had gripped her cracked and fell away.

  She paced the room for a few minutes, her mind whirling in excitement. She quickly stripped down to her silk underthings, then happily ran through a handful of yoga exercises. Relaxed and focused afterwards, she sat down to write, eager to let loose some of the energy boiling up inside.

  She took some deep breaths, gathering herself to focus on him and the fantasy. She wondered what Sean was doing now: writing perhaps? Or pleasuring himself? Hell, just thinking about that man pleasured her. Then she picked up the pen and began to write, letting her instincts drive the submissive fantasy she had promised him.