Master of Desire
An Ellora’s Cave Romantica Publication
www.ellorascave.com
Master of Desire
ISBN # 1-4199-0376-4
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Master of Desire Copyright© 2005 Lacey Alexander
Edited by: Heather OsbornCover art by: Christine Clavel
Electronic book Publication: September 2005
This book may not be reproduced or used in whole or in part by any means existing without written permission from the publisher, Ellora’s Cave Publishing, Inc.® 1056 Home Avenue, Akron OH 443103502.
This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales is purely coincidental. The characters are productions of the authors’ imagination and used fictitiously.
Warning:
The following material contains graphic sexual content meant for mature readers.
Master of Desire
hasbeen rated E–rotic by a minimum of three independent reviewers.
Ellora’s Cave Publishing offers three levels of Romantica™ reading entertainment: S (S-ensuous), E (E-rotic), and X (X-treme).
S-
ensuous
love scenes are explicit and leave nothing to the imagination.
E-
rotic
love scenes are explicit, leave nothing to the imagination, and are high in volume per the overallword count. In addition, some E-rated titles might contain fantasy material that some readers findobjectionable, such as bondage, submission, same sex encounters, forced seductions, and so forth. E-rated titles are the most graphic titles we carry; it is common, for instance, for an author to use words such as
“fucking”, “cock”, “pussy”, and such within their work of literature.
X-
treme
titles differ from E-rated titles only in plot premise and storyline execution. Unlike E-rated titles, stories designated with the letter X tend to contain controversial subject matter not for the faint of heart.
B
RIDES OF
C
ARALON
:
M
ASTER OF
D
ESIRE
Lacey Alexander
Dedication
The Brides of Caralon series is dedicated to Leonie Daniels, who first encouraged me to try my hand at erotica, and to Anya Bast, who gave me a helpful tip or two along the way.
Master of Desire
Prologue
3587 AD
Teesia’s skin prickled with awareness as she shifted her attention to the dark man across the room. As she’d suspected, his gray gaze burned into her, forcing her to look away quickly. Her heart pounded in her chest and the juncture of her thighs tingled.
Despite the quick glance, she’d gotten a good enough look. Smooth raven hair, as dark as her own, fell past his shoulders, and a shadowy stubble dusted the bottom half of his olive-hued face. Black leather encased his body from his broad shoulders all the way to his boots. He was a study in darkness, a creature of the night—simply leaningagainst the wall, arms crossed, staring.
Beneath the long feasting table where she sat, she grabbed onto her older sister’s wrist. “Maven, who
is
that?”
Maven turned from where she’d been speaking with her husband, Dane. “Who is who?”
Teesia could hardly point the man out, of course, and now she didn’t even want Maven to look, lest he know they were talking about him. His gaze continued to brand her. “Don’t turn your head,” she warned, “but he’s clad in black, with dark hair, and…”
Something about him makes me feel like I’m melting from the inside out.
“And what?” her sister asked impatiently.
Teesia swallowed past the lump in her throat. Ares above, she’d never had such an instant and visceral reaction to a man. It was at once frightening and scintillating. “Andhe keeps looking at me.” She took a long sip from her wine goblet to distract herself.
Teesia watched as her sister cast a subtle sideways glance across the room. Fortunately, he was easy to spot—not the sort of man who blended with the crowd. “Ah,” Maven said. “That’s Ralen of Charelton.”
“Charelton?” The region lay only a few days journey south of Teesia’s own home in the Myrtell area of Caralon, and like Myrtell, bordered the sea. “Why have I not heard of him before?”
“He came into power there only within the last year, I believe, on the death of his
father, Granick.”
Teesia pulled in her breath and took another sip of wine. No wonder the man looked so fierce. Granick had been known throughout all Caralon as a ferocious and terrifying warrior, not to be angered—and the reputation had persisted even into his old age. As a daughter of Enrick, Ruler of Caralon, Teesia knew Granick had guarded the domain’s southern border her entire life. “Does this Ralen now guard Caralon to thesouth, as his father did?”
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Lacey Alexander
Maven nodded. “Dane tells me this is the first time he’s met Ralen, but he considers
him a formidable man of power and thought it wise to make his acquaintance.” The autumn feast in Dane’s northern region of Rawley was a celebration of Maven’s pregnancy, but as royal daughters, both girls knew that any meeting of such wealth and authority in one place became political, as well. And if Dane, of all men, considered Ralen formidable, then it was a description surely well-earned.
Teesia was sorely tempted to gaze back at him, bold and brazen. But she couldn’t quite make herself do it. Perhaps more wine would help. She reached for the wineskin on the table before her, refilling her goblet.
Maven glared. “Mother said
one
cup for you.”
But Teesia only smirked. Now that Maven was married and pregnant, she thought she could treat Teesia like a child?
Just then, their younger sister, Laela, approached behind them, bending to whisper loudly in Teesia’s ear. “That man is watching you!” And then she pointed!
Horrified, Teesia spun to push Laela’s arm to her side. “Must you be so obvious?”
Laela’s eyes sparkled with her usual immature excitement. “
He
is obvious. So what difference does it make if we are, too?”
Teesia swallowed nervously, deciding Laela might actually have a good argument. “But even so…” she reprimanded, then let out a sigh.
“Perhaps it’s your gown. I told you it was cut too low.”
Teesia glanced down at the sea green silk draping her breasts, which now tingled beneath the soft fabric. It was the most revealing thing her mother had ever permittedher to wear, and Laela was simply jealous.
“In fact, if not for your braid, a man might think you were not a virgin,” Laela accused.
Teesia pulled in her breath in mock outrage, yet secretly, she was pleased. The long plait which she and Laela were forced to wear to indicate their royal virginity hung asheavy as a chain from the back of her head, and the idea that she might be thought of in some other way, especially by the mysterious man across the room, was infinitely titillating.
How she longed to reach bride’s age as Maven had some months back, so that she,too, could finally know the pleasures to be found with a man. Other girls her age knew, now even Maven knew—
everyone
knew, it seemed, except for her and Laela. Such wasthe price of being a royal daughter, her virginity her greatest asset. Or
her father’s
greatest asset, she amended.
Maven had been traded in marriage for protection of the northern border—it was only lucky for her that she seemed to have found happiness with Dane. Teesia and Laela, too, would be bartered into arranged unions. But Teesia wasn’t afraid. Her status in life meant she would marry a man of power. And surely a man of power would be a man of great sexual prowess, as well.
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Master of Desire
Sex
. A word her parents, even her sisters, had no idea she knew. But her friend Bella, from the village, had been persuaded to tell her much over the last few months. Bella, the young widow of a prosperous businessman in Myrtell, was very fond of Teesia and seemed to find it hard to deny her anything—even secrets forbidden to beshared with a royal daughter. So instead of being kept totally in the dark about sex as tradition demanded, Teesia had already learned something about it. And she already
craved
it. Bella had made it sound like the most wondrous part of life and Teesia couldn’t wait to learn more, firsthand.
Rising to her feet, Teesia thrust her breasts slightly forward for the benefit of Ralen of Charelton. A glance down revealed that her nipples puckered the fabric prettily. The warmth that climbed her face resulted from both nervousness and anticipation, theinner heat of desire. “I’m going to take a walk,” she announced, pushing past Laela.
“All right. I shall go, too.”
“No,” Teesia said quickly.
Laela looked wounded. “Are you mad at me? Just because I said your dress was cuttoo low?”
Teesia gave her head a quick shake. “No, Laela. I just…wish to be alone, that’s all.”
“Is something wrong?”
No, something’s right. Or it might be anyway, if I can ever get away from this crowdedroom.
“Not at all. I just…want to give you some time with Maven.” She motioned to thechair she’d just vacated. “Here, take my seat. We’ve not seen our sister in many months. You should be given some time to speak with her, as I have.”
Laela smiled, believing the explanation. “You’re right, Teesia. Thank you.”
As Laela slid into the seat, Teesia’s body began to hum with heightened anticipation. She had no idea if the man in black would seek her out, but maybe, if she were lucky, she’d get a taste of the mysteries of sex that so haunted her these days. Shesimply didn’t think she could wait until bride’s age to experience it, and even as much as his stare intimidated her, she realized this was an opportunity that would never return to her if she passed it up.
Of course, her father would kill her if he had any notion what she hoped for, andshe knew wanting to be with this feral-looking man was wrong, but she couldn’t help her feelings, her body’s urges. Ralen of Charelton had brought them to boiling levelwith just a glance, and she couldn’t help wondering what
else
he could make her feel.
She slipped from the fortress’s great hall into a corridor that led to the garden—which she thought would be a delightful place for a seduction. But she stopped when she caught sight of herself in an enormous viewing glass, its rare and jagged pieces from the Before Times pasted together on the wall. Her father owned many of the valuable antique viewing glasses, but she’d never seen one so large, and it reminded her what power and wealth lay
outside
the royal fortress, as well. Maven had married well and Teesia could only hope to be as lucky.
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Lacey Alexander
A sconced candle lit the space only dimly, yet highlighted the shadows and coves of her body. The manner in which the green silk clung to her curves reinforced the notion that she was becoming a woman.
