oaken bedstead hung with gold and red tapestried curtains. The pillars of the bed were carved around with grapevines. The headboard, though half-hidden by goose-down pillows, showed a stag and a doe as they ran through a forest. The wood canopy had a glass top that allowed those in the bed to gaze up through the glass ceiling to the night sky.
“Are you going to take off your garments?” Cinnia asked him.
He had been so intrigued by the simplicity of the chamber and the intricacy of the bed’s carvings that he hadn’t looked to see if she was in the bed. She was, sitting up, a scrap of silk covering her breasts.
“Have you ever seen a naked man?” he asked her as he began to strip off his clothing. He let it drop to the floor for there was no place where he might lay them.
“Nidhug has shown me pictures,” Cinnia said. “But, nay, I have never seen a naked man not in a book. Are Hetarians different from Belmairans?”
“Since we come from the same root stock originally, I do not think so,” he said. He was fully naked now, having kicked his soft felt shoes off. He turned so she might look at him. “What do you think? Am I the same as the men in the book?”
“You are bigger,” she replied.
“How?” he asked her.
“All over,” she said. “You look very strong, my lord.”
“I am. I have been trained to be not just one thing, but many. My grandfather was a great swordsman, and my mother is famed as a warrior, as well.”
“We rarely fight here on Belmair,” Cinnia told him. “We are a peaceful folk.”
“Peace is the better route,” he agreed, “but sometimes you must fight to protect what you hold dear else it be taken from you. I prefer the use of magic to solve problems, but I have also been trained to be a warrior by the same Shadow Prince who trained my mother before me. If I must fight, I can.”
“Have you ever fought?” she asked, curious.
He nodded. “Once, my oldest sister could not discourage a persistent suitor. I was forced to do battle with him.”
“Did you kill him?” she wanted to know.
Dillon nodded. “He refused to be satisfied otherwise. It made me sad to do it, but there was no other way. He threatened to kill Anoush if she would not wed him.”
“Did she marry another?” Cinnia inquired.
“She is not ready to wed,” Dillon said, and he walked toward the bed, and reaching it, climbed into it. “Now, however, is not the time for stories, Cinnia. We must complete a mating cycle tonight so that the three dukes can accept the dragon’s choice more easily.” Reaching out, he drew her gently toward him. “You have never known a man, I am told. But have you played lover’s games with any young men?”
Cinnia shook her head wordlessly.
“Have you been kissed upon your lips by any other than a family member?” he asked her. But he knew the answer before she even gave it. She was a total innocent for all the books she had read, for all the dragon’s teachings. “Then we must begin with the kissing,” he said in a firm tone. His lips brushed over hers, and the touch of his mouth caused Cinnia to gasp softly. He pressed his lips harder against hers, and Cinnia tried to push him away. In doing so the silk coverlet that had covered her breasts fell away, and her breasts pressed against him.
“Ohhhh!” Cinnia cried out, surprised.
Dillon’s head was spinning at the touch of her body against his broad, smooth chest, but her startled cry caused him to ask, “What is it? Are you all right?”
Suddenly Cinnia was no longer in his arms, and a small black-and-white bird fluttered to the top of the headboard.
Dillon didn’t know whether to laugh. “We must be joined tonight, Cinnia. You cannot use magic when we make love.” He reached his hand out to the bird but it scampered down to the end of the headboard. Cat! Be that! Dillon thought, and a large golden feline jumped up quickly from where he had been to snatch the bird from its perch, and hold it gently between its paws. They were quickly themselves again, and she lay naked in his arms.
“That wasn’t fair,” Cinnia said petulantly.
“I know you are afraid,” he said to her, and his hand stroked her silky black hair. “That is all right, my young queen. I mean to take my time and to be gentle with you. My blood runs hot, Cinnia, but I have been taught by the masters of passion how to give pleasure to a woman. Even a frightened little virgin. You need do nothing but follow my lead tonight. In time I will teach you to give pleasure, as well as receive it. But tonight we have a small duty to perform, and I would have you enjoy it, not be terrified by it.”
“There are no witnesses,” Cinnia said weakly.
“Show yourselves,” Dillon said, and both Kaliq and Nidhug appeared.
“Oh!”
“I thought you would be more comfortable if you could not see them,” he said.
“Yes, I would,” she admitted, and their witnesses disappeared once again.
“Now, where were we?” he pretended to ask himself. “Oh, yes! I was trying to teach you to kiss decently.” He swooped down again to take her lips with his.
Indignant, Cinnia wanted to protest the insult, but when his mouth found hers she discovered she wanted nothing more than to prolong the kiss, and they did. One kiss melted into another, and another and another until she was dizzy with the distinct feeling of something pleasurable happening to her. But when she felt his hand upon her breast she stiffened nervously.
“It’s all right,” he murmured in her ear. “A woman’s breasts, while meant to nourish her young, are also meant to be admired, and caressed, Cinnia. And you, my queen, have beautiful little breasts.” Bending his head, he kissed a nipple while his supple fingers traced the small globe gently. Then opening his mouth, he took the nipple into it and sucked it.
Cinnia shuddered as the sensation of his tug upon her breast traveled all the way down her torso into her belly and beyond into the sacred place. This couldn’t be right, she thought nervously. Something that felt so wonderful…better than anything she had ever experienced…should not feel so incredible. “You must stop, my lord,” she managed to say to him, her fingers winding into his thick dark hair and pulling at it.
He lifted his head. “Why?” His blue eyes were dark with his rising desire.
Her breast felt suddenly bereft, Cinnia thought, and the nipple puckered with the sensation of the cool night air. “Because this cannot be right,” Cinnia said to him.
Dillon laughed low. “Nay, my young queen, it is very right. It is almost perfect.”
“But the joining is, I am told, when our bodies become one,” Cinnia protested. “How can they become one when you do naught but kiss and caress me?”
“A proper joining requires that your body be prepared to receive me. If I forced myself upon you with no care for your comfort I should be little better than an animal. Kissing and caressing are but a small part of the preparation, Cinnia. You must trust me for I have loved many women, and never yet had a complaint,” he told her.
“I do not want to hear about your other women!” Cinnia said angrily.
“And you shall not. I have mentioned it only to reassure you that I know what I am doing, my queen. But you, my little virgin, seem to have a great many opinions for a girl who has yet to know a man.”
“I have done much studying on this subject. Ohhh!” He was nibbling her fingertips, and now his lips traveled up her slender arm to her rounded shoulder. Cinnia felt absolutely weak. “Ohhh!” His tongue was licking up the side of her neck, and now as he lay her flat, his tongue caressed her throat, his lips pressing a kiss into the hollow of it where he paused to enjoy the sensation of the blood pulsing