Afterstory: The Warmest Winter in the World (10)

Linea had Theorad's attention for the moment, but they could hardly go on kissing forever. There was no reason for Ashley to hurry.

She rose, slipped off her underwear, and waited while Linea and Theorad remained absorbed in each other. At last their kiss began to lose its urgency. When Linea reluctantly drew back, Ashley quietly took the opportunity to climb onto Theorad's lap.

His eyes followed her at once.

“Ah, Ashley. Just now…”

“Did you like what I did?”

She saw no need to reproach him for losing himself in Linea's kiss. Instead she asked with a sly smile, and Theorad gave a helpless little laugh.

“Of course. How could I not?”

That was all Ashley needed to hear. She closed her eyes and lowered her face toward his. Theorad closed his eyes too, ready to kiss her.

Their lips met, but neither rushed to deepen the kiss. They nipped and licked at each other's lips instead, as though each were trying to make the other surrender first. The unfamiliar game was so absurdly tender that they both began to laugh.

Ashley yielded first.

“Enough teasing, Theorad.”

“As you wish.”

He smiled, drew her closer by the waist, and kissed her in earnest. Their tongues met, and a soft moan escaped Ashley.

Linea could only watch. For the moment there was no opening for her to join them.

Yet she couldn't bear to sit quietly while Ashley claimed him entirely. She slipped around behind Theorad and wrapped both arms around his chest, pressing her breasts against his back: an unmistakable reminder that she was still there.

Ashley, meanwhile, had no intention of yielding his attention.

You won't steal him away again.

She drew back from the kiss. Their warm breaths brushed each other's faces, and there was something endearingly dazed about Theorad's expression. Smiling, she swept the hair from his forehead and brought herself closer.

Although he had already reached his climax once, he was hard again. His erection pressed against her lower abdomen, making her shiver.

“Theorad,” she murmured. “Don't you think it's time we had a second child?”

“A second child…?”

“Yes. We ought to give Roselia and Raylin a younger sibling. We can't leave it too late, can we?”

“That's true,” Theorad said thoughtfully. “Now that the empire has settled into peace, perhaps it's time to think about the next generation…”

Linea flushed at his words. The possibility of carrying his child made her heart race. But her excitement was quickly overtaken by jealousy: if tonight led to a pregnancy, Ashley would have the first chance.

There was nothing Linea could do about it. While Theorad had been bathing, she and Ashley had settled their order with a game. Linea herself had proposed it, and she had lost.

All she could do was look on enviously.

Ashley caught the look. With a victor's complacent little smile, she raised her hips.

“You're right, darling. If we're thinking of our next child, you'll have to finish deep inside me.”

Her voice had turned deliberately sweet. She guided her wet entrance against the head of his erection. The arousal left from tending to him with her mouth made the contact slick, and even that slight touch sent a thrill through her.

“Ah…”

It had been a week since she and Theorad had last made love. Perhaps that was why she was so sensitive.

Or perhaps…

Perhaps the knowledge that Linea was watching gave the encounter a forbidden excitement of its own. Ashley refused to entertain the thought. Surely she didn't have such shameless tastes.

“I'm going to take you now…”

She let out a long breath and lowered herself slowly. Her folds parted around the head of his penis.

“Sss… ah…”

Even after so much time together, taking him fully was not easy. Ashley paused to breathe, then lowered herself a little farther. With each movement he entered her more deeply, and Theorad's breathing grew ragged at the tight friction.

Hearing him lose his composure pleased her. Her body was giving pleasure to the husband she loved.

“Does my pussy… feel good to you?”

On an ordinary day she would have been far too embarrassed even to imagine saying such a thing. Tonight she was determined to try the words she had practiced for him. Her eyes narrowed coquettishly.

“Please answer me.”

“Can't you tell?”

“I'm no fortune-teller, darling. How am I supposed to know if you won't say it?”

With Linea right behind me?

Theorad felt Linea's hands tighten on his shoulders. He was pleased to be close to both his wives, but their silent contest made him feel as if he were walking over thin ice.

He cleared his throat and chose his words carefully.

“I've never disliked making love to either of you.”

It was the safest answer he could think of: praise them both and take neither side.

Ashley understood what he was doing, and it irritated her all the same.

I'm the woman in front of you right now.

He was buried inside her, and still he was trying to be diplomatic. Was he being dense, or was he simply too innocent for his own good?

Fine, then.

She would demonstrate the difference herself. She looked back at Linea with renewed determination.

Sister, I haven't spent this past week doing nothing.

Whenever her work had allowed it, Ashley had secretly read books about lovemaking. She had been hoping to learn a few ways to please Theorad. Now, full of confidence, she began to move her hips.

“Husband… ah… let me satisfy you…”

She rose and sank again, her body gripping him with each motion. Wetness ran down between them, accompanied by sounds that would have made her die of embarrassment anywhere else.

Theorad closed his eyes. He had missed this closeness as much as either wife had. During the long week apart, he had poured his energy into his family and his territory, trying to set his own frustration aside. Now restraint was becoming impossible.

He caught Ashley by the waist. With his free hand he cupped her moving breast and gently rolled its hardened nipple between his fingers.

“Ah! Theo—like that…!”

Ashley trembled and moved more eagerly. The teasing pinch made her feel both exposed and intensely pleased.

Soon she could no longer remember a single clever technique from the books she'd studied. She had imagined that she needed those tricks to win Theorad over; instead his touch was undoing all her careful plans. She felt foolish, but she couldn't bring herself to stop.

“Ah… a little more… please…”

Her golden hair fell loose around her flushed face. With each movement, the sounds of their bodies meeting grew louder.

Linea swallowed. Watching from so close was stirring her desire unbearably. Her thighs pressed together, but that was no longer enough. She reached between them and began touching herself.

“Ah…”

Her breath brushed the back of Theorad's neck. Half-dazed, she bent her head and drew his earlobe between her lips.

“Mm…”

Ashley, meanwhile, was nearing her limit. Her hips faltered. With a broken gasp, she folded forward and clung to Theorad, her face against him.

Ashley had no breath left for teasing. Pleasure and exertion had reduced her to gasps, and each movement brought her nearer to climax.

Theorad thrust into her a few more times, then held her firmly against him as he reached his own limit.

“Ah…!”

Ashley shook. He climaxed deep inside her, his semen spilling into her as she held him close. Rather than withdrawing, he pressed her hips down a little more firmly.

“Hah… ah…”

We have to make a baby.

The thought flashed through Ashley's pleasure-clouded mind. The warmth of his release seemed to fill her completely. She panted with her tongue between her lips, too overwhelmed to care whether she looked dignified.

“Ashley…”

Theorad patted her gently and spoke in a tender voice.

“It's over now. You can get up.”

“Let me… stay like this a little longer…”

Her small, pleading voice made him smile. He nodded and stroked her hair.

Watching them, Linea felt a sudden jolt of anxiety. She was already so aroused that she could scarcely think, but Theorad looked thoroughly satisfied. What if he had exhausted his desire with Ashley? What if he no longer wanted her?

Her fears grew out of proportion to anything he had said. Before she could stop herself, she spoke.

“Theorad… it's my turn now.”

She was afraid he would tell her he was too tired and ask to stop. In her nervousness she added a plea she hadn't meant to make.

“I know I can do even better.”