my dick and we’ll talk about that.’
‘If you were a genuine seer …’ she began. She shook her head. That wasn’t what she wanted to say. ‘If you were able to offer me some genuine assistance …’ Again, that wasn’t quite right. ‘If I didn’t think you were an absolute charlatan,’ she decided finally, ‘I might consider your proposal. But –’
‘How much more proof do you need that I’m a genuine seer?’
He asked the question with a forced innocence. Snapping a card from the top of the deck he glanced at the contents and then said, ‘You’re not wearing braies.’
She blushed. It was true. She wasn’t wearing undergarments beneath her kirtles. But he could have guessed she wasn’t wearing braies.
‘So?’
He snapped another card from the top of the tarot.
‘You had twenty-five golden pfennigs in your purse when you set off this morning. But now you’ve only got twenty-three. I don’t know if two of them are still on the floor of this dungeon from when you dropped your purse. Or if you used the other two pfennigs to bribe your way in here. But there are now only twenty-three pfennigs in your purse.’
Tavia caught a startled breath. He was right. She had counted twenty-five golden pfennigs into her purse before leaving home that morning. The guard had insisted on two gold pfennigs in payment for opening the dungeon door. She studied the seer with renewed respect.
Was it possible that he really did have the gift of sight?
‘Tell me something that only I would know,’ Tavia demanded. ‘Tell me something that no one else in the world but me could know.’
He pulled another card from the top of the deck.
His salacious smile glittered in the darkness. When he glanced up to grin at her she could see the sexual interest that sparkled in his gleaming eyes.
‘You masturbated twice this morning. Once with a carrot.’ He winked and added, ‘You came hard with the carrot because it was pushed into your arsehole.’
Tavia stepped back. ‘I’faith,’ she gasped. She touched her brow to ward off the dangers of the evil eye.
‘Now, if that’s enough proof for you, you can get down on your knees and suck my cock,’ he said boldly. ‘It won’t suck itself you know.’
She didn’t hesitate.
Falling swiftly to her knees, Tavia lifted the hem of his tunic to find his braies. The linen pants, tied at the waist and hanging down to his knees, were distended at the crotch by the bulge of his excitement. She stroked the shape of him with sincere and hungry affection.
‘Go on,’ he urged. ‘Suck it.’
She reached for the drawstring at his waist. As the braies fell to his ankles she pushed back the folds of his tunic to expose the thick length of his throbbing manhood.
A swatch of curls as dark as those on his head, covered his sac. The pale stalk of his erection protruded snake-like from the forest of his dark hairs. She traced a finger against the sweat-slick skin and sighed when she reached the swollen end of his glans. It was fat, bulbous and already dewy with arousal.
Tavia did not lay claim to any gifts of second sight but she could tell that Alvar, son of Erland, wanted her as badly as she wanted him. She stroked her thumb over the rounded end of his erection and watched him shiver with need.
‘Don’t just tickle it,’ he mumbled. ‘I’ve asked you to suck the damned thing.’
She moved her face close to him and allowed her long blonde tresses to caress his shaft. Positioning her head carefully she blew soft breath against the side of his length. Savouring the way he squirmed she moved closer and drew her tongue against him.
He gasped.
During the week when she had first been introduced to the pleasures of the flesh, as she languished in the highest tower of Blackheath Priory between bouts of tasting Robert’s dragon horn and the hours when she watched her sister lie beneath him, Tavia had taken pains to learn how best she could satisfy the needs of a man.
Robert of Moon Valley was not a patient lover but he was precise and particular. Because they had been drinking dragon horn, an elixir noted for improving the pleasures of sex, he insisted that those pleasures they enjoyed were of an exacting standard from the beginning. He had been meticulous and instructive in every aspect of intercourse. He had gone to great lengths to school Tavia in the proper ways for a woman to use her mouth on a man’s flesh, and the memory of his words now echoed in her thoughts as a reminder of how she could best please Alvar, son of Erland.
She savoured the taste of the seer’s clean sweat, murmuring appreciatively as she worked her tongue from the curls at his balls up to the tip of his erection. Robert of Moon Valley had told her that a man liked to hear murmurs of appreciation from the woman lapping at his length and she felt sure that Alvar would take satisfaction from her sighs of approval. Her hands clutched at his thighs as she pressed her face closer.
It crossed her mind that she wasn’t doing everything just for the pleasure of Alvar. A good deal of what she was doing was adding to the burgeoning swell of her personal satisfaction. A fat balloon of excitement swelled in her stomach. It wasn’t large to the point of bursting – yet. But she knew that moment would soon come and undoubtedly make her crave further pleasures.
His hands fell to her hair.
He tugged at her long, blonde tresses.
Spikes of pain bristled through her scalp. She wanted to brush his hands away, unhappy with the flares of discomfort and not sure she wanted him trying to control her. But she did like that he was exerting some authority. She also wanted to give him a memorable bout of satisfaction, so allowed him to think he was in control.
This was sex without dragon horn.
Tavia knew that sex without dragon horn would only ever be a pale shadow of what she could hope to enjoy until she was again relishing the effects of the elixir’s anise-rich flavour. And, whilst common sense told her that she had to make the experience good for Alvar in order to make it pleasurable for herself, Tavia also knew that Alvar’s enjoyment of this experience was of paramount importance. If the seer was content with the way she pleasured him, he would be more likely to give her the help that came from his gift of second sight.
‘Suck it,’ he groaned. ‘I want to feel your mouth around me.’
She didn’t do as he commanded. There was a difference between making the experience pleasurable for both of them and doing everything that the seer bade.
Once his length was slathered with the wetness from her tongue, she pursed her lips and blew at him again. His erection throbbed with sullen heat. She knew his flesh would be bristling beneath the slick liquid layer of saliva she had lapped against him. As her chilly breath blew against him she knew he would be relishing the rush of warming and cooling sensations.
Briefly she wished she had been born a man, so she could experience some of the magnificent pleasure she was bestowing on the privileged and fortunate seer. Then she shut that thought from her mind, knowing that none of Alvar’s
