Page 105 of Nightshade

“No. But I think Cassiel had a reason for leaving behind the feather. I’d like you to check out her place for me. Chicago. Ravenshaw is her last name. I want to know as much as you can find on her. And Cassiel. See if you can figure out why he might’ve sought her out.”

“So, I’m to go stalker on this chick? Somebody’s a little obsessed.”

I stared off, my thoughts wound tightly around the young and unwitting seductress who’d consumed me for the past couple of days. “She’s a curiosity to me right now and nothing more. But I’ll only warn you once, my friend. Do not touch this one, unless you’ve no longer any use for your fingers.”

34

Lustina

Lustina clipped the freshly-washed linens to the line, careful to make sure they didn’t touch the grass below. Through the ripple of fabric, she caught sight of Jericho making his way into the church. Although seeing him filled her heart, a sadness lingered there, as well. He would undoubtedly be taken to the undercroft for more experiments afterward, and even though he’d assured her it wasn’t as bad as it seemed, she couldn’t bear the thought.

It wasn’t long before the young baron appeared in the garden and pulled her toward the undercroft, as he had a couple of times before.

She laughed, allowing him to drag her toward the dark corridor. “How do you manage to sneak away every time?”

“I am a man of many excuses.” He glanced over his shoulder wearing the endearingly mischievous smile he seemed to reserve only for her. “You look ravishing today. In fact, I may have to ravish you.” Once inside the undercroft, he backed her into the wall of the alcove and seized her lips with a fervent kiss.

“My Lord …” It was all she could get in before he stole the words with his mouth. She could scarcely draw a breath with his frenzied plundering. “I cannot bear to do this so close to the room where you will be tormented.”

Trailing his lips down her throat, he unraveled the ties of her dress, allowing it to fall to her shoulder, and kissed her collarbone. “There will be no torment today.”

Frowning, Lustina did her best to focus on his words, but his lips and hands were everywhere, distracting her thoughts. “Why?”

“A friar arrived from Rome today. Everyone is occupied with him.” He bent forward, drew her breast into his mouth, and sucked at her flesh.

The sensation pulled at something deep inside her belly, and she arched into him, wanton and desperate for more. “Friar?”

“Felix is his name.” He spoke against her breast and tugged at her nipple with his teeth. “Enough of this chatter. I long to capture your moans in the palm of my hand, while the bishop speaks of sin and carnal temptation above us. While he offers the body of the Messiah, I want you to offer me yours. I want to suck it from my fingers, so the taste lingers on my tongue.”

The thought of that brought a smile to her face.

“Turn around.”

“My Lord?”

Before she could protest, he’d spun her to face the stones and pressed her cheek against the cold surface. “Do you remember our last meeting in the woods?”

Of course she did. After the first night they’d made love, he’d come to her again the next night. And the next. And the next. He’d shown her pleasures she’d never dreamed--darker pleasures, such as the blindfold and the ropes binding her wrists to one of the nearby trees. The restraint should have terrified her, but instead, she’d found it oddly exhilarating. Freeing.

“I have thought of it every night.”

“And have you touched yourself to those thoughts?”

“Yes, your Lordship.”

“Good girl. I am going to fuck you this time, and I want you to scream. As loud as you can. Will you do that for me?”

“What if they hear us?”

“They will not. I intend to cover your mouth.” He lifted her skirt, and not a moment later, she could feel the pressure of his tip pressing against her entrance. His hand slipped over her mouth, and in one thrust, he was inside of her.

Lustina grunted into his palm, as he drove his hips in and out in a lazy, languid pace. Had anyone stumbled upon them, she would’ve surely been strung up, and either whipped publicly, or executed for such deviance. According to the church, sex was strictly designed to bear children, and without marriage was a grave sin. Sex for pleasure was forbidden.

And, by God, she found every inch of the baron pleasurable.

When he upped his pace, he pressed his lips to her ear and whispered, “Nothing on this earth should feel so good as your warm cunt, Lustina.”

With his hand pressed to her mouth, she gasped through her nose at the sound of his dirty words. Ones that would have resulted in excruciating punishment, had the bishop heard him speak them. And yet, something about that thrilled her. Eyes hooded with lust, she moaned, mentally repeating the verboten word inside her head.