The Soldier's Lotus (8 page)

“
A
peculiar circumstance.”
Darien could not think of anything else to say, but in that moment he realized
that she was not necessarily offering herself to Kamen but using this as an
excuse to cover Darien’s blunder, to make it look like it was Darien’s idea.
The only question that remained was whether Darien wanted to go through with a
sharing of his Lotus. Kamen was his dearest friend, however, and Darien did not
want to invalidate what Saerileth had just said by backing out now. “I have a
large, comfortable bed that will accommodate us three.” He rose, took Saerileth
by the hand, and led her and Kamen through the wide, open halls of the stone
and mud-brick house.

****

As Darien and Kamen both lounged half naked on the wide
bed, Saerileth stood at its foot, undid one strap and then the next, and let
her gown fall to her ankles. Desire rushed into Darien’s cock, and he unfastened
his belt. His large shoulders were buried in the softness of the mattress, his
hard muscles surrounded by fluffy silk pillows. His disrobing was automatic; he
made himself naked without shifting his gaze away from Saerileth’s body.

The Lotus took her time, and she was exquisite in her
delays. Starting at her hips, she ran her hands up her sides, slowly, let them
travel over her breasts, and slid her palms up her neck until she entwined her
fingers beneath her curtain of black hair. As she raised her arms, her breasts
lifted as well. She turned slightly to the left and placed her weight on her
left foot as she bent her right leg at the knee, assuming a tip-toe stance that
revealed the long shape of her thigh, the tightness of her ass and belly, and
the curves of her sleek, beautiful back. Her raised arms exposed the splendid
shape of her young breasts, her nipples erect in clear anticipation. She made
her lovers wait; she piled her masses of hair on her head, pinning it down in
several places, and the whole time she did so, she made sure to hold her body
in the sexiest poses Darien had ever seen. His cock lay engorged against his
stomach, and it twitched in anticipation of entering Saerileth.

Movement caused Darien to glance across the bed. Kamen was
standing among the pillows, stripping off his skirt. His cock, too, stood erect
and ready, and though he was neither as large nor as thick as Darien, he was
big enough. Darien had jacked Kamen off while fucking him in the ass on
numerous occasions; it was a pleasant size. Kamen nearly bounced in joy, and he
divided his attention between Saerileth and Darien equally. Though Darien
longed to fuck Saerileth, he did not share his friend’s enthusiasm. He could
not help but feel reservations about the whole thing. Kamen was much closer to
Saerileth’s age, only five years her senior, unlike Darien who could be her
father. Kamen’s jewelry and his tattoos – he and Darien had matching
water-serpent tattoos – enhanced his natural beauty. Darien looked down at his
own body. He was much taller, heavier, and broader than his friend, and though
Saerileth had lauded his rugged, handsome looks multiple times in the past two
days, Darien doubted her praise. But he took heart, for Saerileth kept her
bright, blue eyes on him, and every move she made, he felt was for him.

Darien leaped from the bed and swept Saerileth’s small,
naked form into his arms, cradling her as he might a child. She threw her arms
around his neck, and then she squealed as he launched her through the air. When
she hit the soft mattress, silk pillows flew in all directions. She laughed,
and Darien pounced on her. He was aware how Kamen had stood stunned, but now
that Darien was getting things underway, Kamen joined in by throwing himself
down beside Saerileth. He did not, however, reach for the Lotus first, though
her nipples stood near his face. Instead, he reached out and grabbed Darien’s
cock. Darien leaned forward and devoured Saerileth with his hungry kisses. He
felt Kamen’s lips around his shaft, and his cock burned with delight. Kamen
excelled at oral pleasure. Darien held himself up on his hands and knees,
receiving a blow job from Kamen as he continued kissing Saerileth’s mouth, then
down her neck, until his nibbling teeth found her breasts. He bit her nipples,
and she arched her back in pain and pleasure. She grabbed the back of Darien’s
head and dug her nails into his scalp. Darien bit harder, responding to her
rough play. He wanted to be so much rougher, but he feared breaking her. He
cared for her deeply, more than he had any woman, so he forced himself under
control. He forced himself to play gently – well, not altogether gently. He
took her thumb in his mouth and sucked on it at the same pace Kamen’s sucked
his cock. With one hand in her hair, he used his other hand to reach down and
massage her wet clit. He sucked and rubbed, and Kamen sucked and cupped his
balls. When Saerileth moaned in a deep voice tinged with lust, Darien bit down
into her flesh, leaving teeth marks between her thumb and forefinger. Saerileth
squealed, and it pleased Darien to see her enjoy a little pain in her
lovemaking. But that was as far as he dared go.

Suddenly Saerileth squirmed away, her kicking legs forcing
Kamen to switch positions. Kamen shot her an annoyed look, but Darien just
assumed Saerileth’s movements had not been intentionally obstructive. Kamen
spun on Saerileth and threw her legs up to her ears. He buried his mouth in her
pussy, licking all the juice Darien had massaged out of her. He did not eat her
pussy for long, however, for Darien ached to be inside her. He tossed Kamen
aside like a toy, and Saerileth’s eyes grew wide at his display of power. She
closed her legs and shook her head, and this only made Darien want her more. He
forced her knees apart without effort, though he felt her muscles straining
against him. He flicked her pussy with the head of his cock, from her clit to
her ass, and back up again, until it was soaked. Then he leaned in, breaking
through her flesh and finding his long path home. Every inch of him entering
Saerileth brought a shudder from her. Her belly muscles stood taut, and she dug
her nails into Darien’s sides. Darien gritted his teeth, grunted, and pushed
himself farther in. Her pussy opened to accept him, but it hugged his shaft on
all sides, grasping his cock with as much subtlety and dexterity as her hand
might. As always when fucking Saerileth, Darien’s cum rushed up his cock,
threatening to burst forth, but Darien held himself just on the edge of orgasm;
he always liked to ride that line, though it was not until he met Saerileth
that he found a partner who could so quickly get him there. He quite forgot
about Kamen until his friend made some obvious movement to bring attention to
himself. He moved forward to put his cock in Saerileth’s mouth, and as she
sucked him, Darien watched and fucked.

Kamen moved easily and with confidence, his expression calm
and controlled, giving no sign of going over the edge and throwing passion to
the wind as Darien wanted to do. Darien wanted to howl into the night and fuck
Saerileth with wild abandon. Kamen was nothing like him. He leaned over and
kissed Darien sweetly, and then he parted Darien’s lips with his tongue. Darien
returned the kiss, but he did not enjoy watching Saerileth suck Kamen’s cock as
much as he thought he might, so he moved to flip himself backwards, taking his
Lotus with him. Now she was on top, riding him, crying out in pleasure as she
winced every time she slammed her body down on his cock. They were both covered
in sweat, for the afternoon was hot, and their sex was rigorous. Kamen came in
behind them, and the aroma of scented oil filled the room. He had greased his
cock. Darien spread his legs, allowing Kamen to kneel behind Saerileth, and
then he felt the pressure of the proximity of Kamen’s cock. His friend had
penetrated Saerileth. His Lotus was filled with two cocks. Darien watched her
expression; her eyes rolled back in pleasure, and she fucked them both slowly,
as if she were starting again. She clawed at Darien’s chest, digging under his
skin with her nails. Darien growled and slammed into her with renewed ferocity.

Saerileth came three times in this position, all in short
order, for it was Darien’s express command that she
do
so, and he choked her lightly to ensure her obedience. Then Kamen nodded to
Darien over Saerileth’s shoulder.

“
Take me, Darien, like
you used to,” Kamen said between labored breaths. His sweat gave his dark skin
a glowing sheen.

Saerileth blinked as if something troubled her, but she
would not look Darien in the eye. Not wanting to break the mood, Darien agreed.
It was not anything he had not done before, and though he did not prefer men,
he did not find Kamen distasteful. Kamen was lovely.

Darien pulled himself out of Saerileth and slipped out from
between her legs. She fell flat on her belly, and Kamen, without pulling out,
perched over her, his cock still buried in her back passage. She clutched a
pillow under her arm and rested her head on it. Her eyes were closed, and they
did not reopen until the sex was done.

Darien oiled his cock and squatted behind Kamen. He had not
fucked a man while a man fucked someone else, so the positioning was a bit
tricky. Saerileth lay flat on her stomach, her legs together. Kamen was on his
knees behind her, his body at an angle over her as he fucked her ass. So Darien
was obliged to stay on his feet yet bend his knees and crouch down over Kamen’s
raised ass. He slipped his thumb inside Kamen’s anus to prepare him, but he was
already loose. Kamen was ready. Darien slid his cock up Kamen’s back passage
and stopped when he was halfway in. He did not dare go farther; he had never
fucked any man with the full length of his penis, for fear of injury. But this
was enough. Darien could come in this position. He did not, however, know what
to do with his hands, for he had always given his lovers reach-
arounds
. So instead he grasped Kamen by the hips and fucked
him. He fucked him until
the cum
which he had held
back for so long burst from him, spilling into his friend’s ass like a fountain.
That sensation sent Kamen over the edge, too, and he shuddered, spraying his
seed into Saerileth’s ass. Darien cried out in the pleasure of his release;
Kamen groaned in ecstasy of both releasing and being released into; but
Saerileth made no noise.

As quickly as Darien’s delight came upon him, it fled.
Kamen was inside Saerileth, and the sight angered him.

Chapter Five

Saerileth sat on the cool stone floor of her bedchamber,
stretching. She sat with her legs open completely,
then
swiveled around the split. She could perform both side and center splits, and
she ran through them quickly. Her ass tingled slightly, for Kamen was
well-endowed. Her pussy too, however, was sore, and that sensation was pleasure
to her.

She shook herself and moved from the splits to the first
Lotus-Form. Without pause or hesitation, she worked her way through a dozen
Forms. She practiced the Katipo Form on an imaginary foe, and when she reached
the final, paralyzing motion, her imaginary enemy wore Kamen’s face.

Saerileth stopped still. Her breathing was scarcely labored
from her exertions, but the realization that she considered Kamen an enemy was
a shock.

“
Abrexa’s
chain.”
Saerileth breathed
the curse and went to sit on the soft bed that Darien had insisted she have.
How could this have happened to her? She was a full-blown Red Lotus. She had
trained without ceasing every day since she was five years old. She had inhaled
the doctrines of the Lotuses with every breath. How could she now have failed
in their most basic tenet? For if Kamen were her enemy,
then
she must be jealous. That knowledge stung. She was
jealous
? How could a
Lotus be jealous? But she was. Though Kamen was beautiful, though he was a
skillful lover, she had not been able to climax for him. She did not mind
anything that Kamen had done with her. He was more enjoyable than most of her
lovers had been, and he was the sort of man any Lotus would be pleased to have
as a client or even a purchaser. But what Kamen had done with Darien disturbed
her.

Why should that be? Why should any lover of Darien’s
disturb her? She was a Red Lotus, and her sole purpose was to please her
client. If Kamen pleased Darien, should that not be accounted success? But she
hated the thought of Kamen pleasing Darien. She did not want anyone to please
Darien apart from herself. That could mean but one thing.

She, Saerileth
Kesandrahn
, Red
Lotus, had fallen in love.

This was insupportable. No Lotus was permitted to fall in
love. Love clouded the judgment, making pleasing the client possibly more
difficult. A Lotus must never lose control, but to love was to give the beloved
power over oneself. How could anyone hold power over her? If Darien had power
over her, how could she depend on her Lotus training to succeed in helping him
with his social prospects? If Darien had power over her, how could she achieve
the one death that mattered so much to her?

She could not.

Saerileth covered her face with her hands. She could not
stay here. She would leave, run from Darien. Once free, she would hide in the
city, finding some other means of rooting out the originator of the massacre of
her clan. Her resolution made, Saerileth lay back on the bed. It was too early
in the evening to think of leaving. Too many servants still moved about the
house preparing for the next day’s feast. She would have to wait until the
middle of the night. She ought to sleep before fleeing. She would need the
energy.