Age of Mycea (Book 1 - Chapter 6)
In Sebastian's mirrored bedchamber, a life-saving spell ignites a lifetime of restrained desire, binding queen and Cardinian in ways her husband can never undo.
In the last installment of The Age of Mycea
In the first installment of The Age of Mycea
The tunnel from the infirmary to the catacomb of personal chambers had been hastily repaired after much of the colony was destroyed during the Marjar attack. Where its walls had once been smooth, with clean lines, the connecting tunnel was now craggy and rough with jagged rocks protruding at odd angles. Its previously unswerving direction was now twisted and turned, seemingly without purpose, until it opened into the main tunnel system.
Along the main tunnel, a procession of lit torches, placed in hollowed-out recesses at regular intervals along the walls, the flames fluttering in the breeze from the hydro-powered ventilation system. One could feel the cool, but moist air brought in from the once pristine, surrounding forest, now scorched in places as far as the eye could see.
There was a lingering scent of burnt wood—still.
Every few feet on either side of the tunnel lay a doorway, each leading to a private chamber. This first level of chambers, nearest the surface, was reserved for guards and other support staff. But because Sebastian was Cardinian, regardless of his military status, his chamber was located deep within the pre-existing Entertainment District, far below the planet’s surface.
Despite its location, Meshia had ensured the chamber’s size and décor were to Sebastian’s extravagant specifications—at Lakeda’s insistence.
As they wound their way deeper underground, Lakeda began wilting against Sebastian’s side, hauling him down with her weight, her knees buckling, so he lifted her into his arms.
Within minutes, Lakeda was lulled to sleep by the rhythm of Sebastian’s stride and the intoxicating scent of his spiced honey skin. The time passed quickly after that.
“Lakeda, wake up,” Sebastian whispered as he unlatched his door and stepped into his chamber, a space decorated in a manner only he could have imagined.
The ornate double doors opened into an oversized, circular main room, where, suspended from the high dome ceiling at its center, a decadent four-tiered chandelier composed of thousands of crystals and amethysts sparkled, creating an ethereal pattern on the walls.
Along the chamber walls of the main room, covering its entire length, were tapestries of purple, red, and gold depicting scenes of love and conquest. And beneath one’s feet, a black marble floor covered in an overlapping blanket of carpets in varying sizes, shapes, colors, and textures.
Straight through the center of the room, on the far wall, an archway, draped in a heavy red velvet curtain, obscured the interior beyond. Before you could reach that archway, situated in the center of the room, four long, black leather lounges were positioned in a semi-circle behind two large metallic tables and their contents.
Predictably, if one knew Sebastian well, one table was piled high in dirty dishes and bowls of fruit. The other was littered with half-empty wine bottles and glasses. Sebastian set Lakeda on her feet on the plushest area of carpet and tried to clear some of the clutter.
“I see things haven’t changed,” Lakeda said. “Did you have a party here last night?”
“No, this is all my doing. I’ve been swamped.”
Lakeda sat on one of the lounges and gazed around the room, a room where she had spent many hours. The colors and patterns, the luxurious textures, and the scent of frankincense in the air were so familiar to her that she immediately felt at home.
Sebastian dumped the dishes in the vestibule near the door with the intention of returning them to the royal kitchen the next time he was headed that way. Truthfully, he would not be the one to do so. He rarely took his dishes back to the kitchen. Leo liked to take care of him.
He wrapped his arms around his body and leaned against the wall. There would be no way to send Leo a message about what he was endeavoring to undertake.
Not that he needed the lecture from his best friend.
He groaned and pushed off from the wall, heading for the archway. “Lakeda … let’s get started.” Sebastian stood in the arched opening, holding back the curtain, and motioned for Lakeda to follow him into an area of his chamber that Lakeda, as his queen, was not permitted to enter.
The possible reparations that would be required of him for allowing her into his bedchamber, should the infraction be discovered, were making him queasy.
Perhaps Meshia would go easy on him, considering their history.
He clenched the curtain tight in his fist. Not likely. Meshia was not one for granting mercy.
Not even for him.
“Can you make it over here on your own?” Sebastian asked.
“Yeah, I’m fine.” Lakeda smiled meekly at him, seemingly attempting to put him at ease. Still, a shiver ran up Sebastian’s spine; his nerves were getting the better of him.
He tried to calm himself, monitoring his breathing and centering his thoughts as he stepped out of the archway so Lakeda could pass by.
Lakeda slowed as she took in the bedchamber’s unusual architecture and the vast number of cushions filling every available space within it.
The room itself was round, like the chamber’s central part, but at its center, a set of three steps descended and encircled the central space, creating an inverted cone. At its very center, an immense circular cushion of extravagantly colored and patterned crushed velvet. Again, the complexity of colors and textures was a lot to take in.
The room’s pure decadence was stunning.
Sebastian offered his arm to assist Lakeda down the steps, then helped her settle on the overstuffed cushion and headed back up the steps toward some shelving cut into the walls.
“This is what you use as a bed?” Lakeda asked as she brushed her hands across the velvet and looked up the steps. Now that she was at the bottom, the room appeared to have an amphitheater quality, with her outstretched on its stage.
“Amongst other things.” Sebastian grinned, laughing when she looked at him funny. “Lakeda, it’s best not to know some things about me. Let us leave it at that.” He set to work lighting the many candles and incense burners that would help him work the spell.
The room brightened and took on a new ambiance. The candlelight began reflecting off hundreds of mirrored surfaces inset into the walls—the high-domed bedchamber taking on the appearance of stars, twinkling in a clear night sky.
Sebastian removed his bracelets and rings and turned to Lakeda with his brow creased. “I can’t believe I’m doing this. I don’t care what Tobias says. Honestly, Lakeda, when Meshia reads through the medical logbooks regarding your care, and he sees this … he’s going to be livid.”
“I know, but I’m sure he’ll understand once you explain the circumstances. He wasn’t here to help me.” Lakeda leaned back, tucking a few loose cushions behind her head, attempting to make herself more comfortable. “And where is my darling husband anyway?”
“I don’t know. Some disaster or another. You know Meshia. He never tells me where he is going. My job is to manage everything while he’s away, and I mean everything … and not ask questions. Case in point, after I pulled you in to see Tobias, Meshia disappeared.”
“Where did he go?”
“No idea. Showed up in the tunnels a week later, beaten and bloody. I had the entire regiment out looking for him. And would he tell me where he had been? No.”
“Sounds like him. Stubborn.”
“That’s an understatement.” Sebastian jogged down the steps, stretched out next to Lakeda, draped his arm around her, and pulled her close to his body. “Are you ready?”
Lakeda nodded silently in response, melting against him.
He cleared his throat, cradled Lakeda’s face in both hands, and drew her up next to his mouth, their lips a whisper’s breath apart. The necessary closeness had Lakeda’s heart pounding so intensely, she felt sure Sebastian could feel it in his chest.
His breath quickened involuntarily.
“Lakeda, please. You need to relax.”
“I’m trying, but I’m feeling a bit … unsettled.” Lakeda snuck a glance down at Sebastian’s lips and wondered if they were going to feel as soft and warm as they looked. As a young girl, she had dreamed of kissing those lips and having those lips kiss her. She had longed for Sebastian’s embrace most of her life, but they had always remained simply friends.
Her place in society had been set at birth. She would be matched with another Mycean of standing. A loving, romantic relationship with a gorgeous Cardinian would have been forbidden.
Sebastian shifted himself over and grabbed Lakeda’s hip, roughly pulling her closer to him.
She let out a small gasp.
“Sorry, but I need you close to me,” Sebastian said, then closed his eyes and brought his mouth down on Lakeda’s as he began weaving the complicated spell in his mind.
Lakeda instantly felt faint; Sebastian’s lips had the softness of rose petals and tasted like the spiced honey scent that emanated from his skin.
She could sense the difference in his embrace as he conjured the spell that would bring their two energies together and then return them both to her.
The intimacy of what Sebastian was sharing radiated through every muscle fiber and nerve ending to her core. Her energy soared, humming, and buzzed in her ears as Sebastian’s body went limp and collapsed at her side. She had been filled to brimming by the sharing.
“Are you all right?” Lakeda asked, touching his face.
“Yeah, I’ll live.” Sebastian’s body shuddered with those words, and then he groaned, struggling to take a breath. “I need to rest for a while … then we’ll do it again.”
He rolled away, or at least attempted to, and tucked himself up in a ball, his breathing easing slightly once he was still.
Lakeda touched Sebastian’s shoulder, then pulled her hand back. She could feel the shimmer of energy emanating from Sebastian even without touching him.
The spell Sebastian was using formed a profound link between the giver and the recipient. She would always be able to sense the pull of Sebastian’s energy, and he would be able to sense hers. This sharing of Sebastian’s energy added an entirely new level of closeness to their friendship.
A closeness she was not entirely sure she was prepared for. There truly was the matter of her husband. Sebastian was right. This was not going to sit well with Meshia.
As the night wore on, Sebastian completed the spell three more times. Each time passing out exhausted. The last was the worst. He almost succumbed to an agony-filled stupor and stopped before the final spell was performed. But the casting instructions were clear. Four full times through. No more. No less. After the last, Sebastian fell unconscious at Lakeda’s side.
It was nearly morning when he stirred. Much sooner than she had been expecting.
“How are you feeling now?” Lakeda asked as she stroked Sebastian’s cheek with the back of her hand, pleased to see the color had returned. The sharing spell had brought on a ghastly pallor to Sebastian’s caramel skin during the night.
“I feel like crap,” Sebastian replied. “I could sleep for a week.”
Regardless of his strength and incredible battle-forged stamina, the aftereffects of the spell were going to stay with him for a while.
“Can you stay with me until I wake again?” he asked.
“Sure … I can do that.”
“Thanks, Lakeda.” Sebastian’s soft smile lit up his face, then drifted away as he curled up and fell back asleep.
Feeling completely invigorated, Lakeda stretched out on the bed, giving each one of her limbs a good look over. She was disappointed to see she would require weeks, maybe months of training to get her muscles back in shape.
Lakeda looked straight up at the ceiling and found she was staring back at herself. She laughed aloud, then giggled. She was not completely surprised to see a massive mirror suspended from the ceiling over Sebastian’s bed.
She lay still and carefully studied her reflection. Her appearance was typical of a Mycean. Her hair long and blonde with a hint of silver, and her eyes, a deep emerald green. She had delicate, elegant features on her six-foot frame that could easily be mistaken for weakness. But anyone making that assumption would be proven wrong with skilled swiftness. Mycean women had a reputation for immense strength and speed in their lithe bodies.
Lakeda turned over, deciding to survey the bedchamber from a different vantage point. It truly was immense; one could fit ten or more people in the space quite easily. And from the rumors she had overheard, it had been done on more than one occasion.
She looked over at Sebastian’s sleeping form. The Cardinians were an interesting race. And luckily, as most saw it, there were only two of them living on Mycea in the Neter colony. Sebastian and his friend Leo. Maybe it was their beauty that attracted people to them. Or the alluring scent that emanated seductively from their skin. Or perhaps it was simply their insatiable appetite for lustful affection. Whatever it was, Cardinians could wreak havoc on a peaceful society.
And Sebastian and Leo were no exception.
It was approaching noon when Sebastian rolled over, rubbed his eyes, and ran his hands up through his hair. It had come loose from its knot and was hanging free. After he established his bearings, he reached out and pulled Lakeda back into his arms. “How are you feeling?” Sebastian asked with a voice so smooth that Lakeda’s limbs softened, molding to the cushion.
“I feel great. What about you?”
“I’m feeling much better ….” Sebastian pulled Lakeda closer, his legs tangling with hers, and kissed her lips. The hum of energy between them was magnetic.
“Lakeda …,” he began, but she silenced him, pressing a finger against his lips, and angled her hips closer to him. He groaned and then reacted. Raking his fingers into Lakeda’s hair and diving back in, deepening the kiss.
Lakeda shivered as an ache spread down through her belly, matched by the stirring of Sebastian’s desire as his hardening cock pressed against her thigh.
Sebastian lifted himself away from Lakeda and ran the tip of his tongue along the opening of her mouth. Lakeda arched up toward him, pursuing the intimacy he was denying her.
“Sebastian, please.” Lakeda could not stand the separation and combed her fingers up into Sebastian’s hair, pulling his mouth back down onto hers. There was no stopping this.
Sebastian moved his hand up onto Lakeda’s hip and down the curve of her thigh, bringing her in tight against his body, then rolled her onto her back, trapping her against the cushion. He ran his hand up under her breast, gently thumbing her nipple through the fabric of her gown. It responded beautifully. “Are you sure?” he asked.
“Yes ... I’m sure.”
Sebastian smiled and kissed her on the cheek, a kiss borne of a lifetime of affection, then brushed her hair away and ran his mouth down her neck, his breath hot and moist on her skin. The nature of their friendship to this point set aside, he continued down across her collarbone, as his fingers deftly undid the top of her gown—his waist-length hair cascading onto her skin.
Lakeda’s breath quickened, gasping, as Sebastian’s lips wove their way down between her breasts, as he undid the rest of the buttons, exposing her nipples to the air, causing her to shiver.
Pulling away, Sebastian stood and removed his shirt over his head, revealing the smooth, tanned skin of his torso. He unbuttoned his pants, dropping them, and tossed them onto the nearest stair. Lakeda watched with avid fascination as Sebastian removed the rest of his clothing.
She was speechless. He truly was magnificent; every sleek angle of his body was defined and sculpted to perfection. She gripped the edge of the cushion, warmth spreading from deep within her. She was aware of Sebastian’s reputation, but she had been unprepared for the reality.
Both by the sight of him and the hunger she felt for him to fill her.
Possess her with his gorgeous cock.
Drive her to places of pleasure … and pain.
Yes, there would be pain. Body-consuming, glorious domination.
Sebastian sank back down onto the bed and straddled Lakeda’s hips, grasping her hands in his and pinning them down to the cushions above her head.
He began his descent, starting at the thrumming pulse making its presence known beneath the skin of Lakeda’s throat, and worked his way down her body. He seemed determined to take his time and enjoy the sensation of running his lips and tongue over every inch of her skin.
He stopped and pressed his forehead to her chest.
The door to his chamber had opened.
Lakeda’s assistant, Finnion, stepped into the bedchamber, cleared his throat, and bowed. “Excuse me, Your Majesty. Commander Sebastian.”
Sebastian lifted himself off Lakeda and headed up the steps, out into the main chamber. He scattered a few papers around, looking for the notes he had been working on before being called to the infirmary. They needed to be completed before Meshia returned. Whenever that was. He grunted and tossed the papers bunched in his hand back onto the table.
Without Lakeda around, Meshia had become more than Sebastian could handle. It would be good to have her back. Maybe she could talk some sense into him.
He’d started a campaign of punishment on his own people.
Only the heavens knew why.
Sebastian leaned against the table, listening to Lakeda and Finnion, then shook his head and went back to what he was doing. Whatever they had to talk about, it was none of his concern.
He had enough to deal with.
And wine … he needed more wine.
“Finnion, what is it?” Lakeda asked again, exasperated by the interruption but not entirely surprised. Finnion, as usual, had impeccable timing. And an uncanny ability to locate her.
“I heard you were recovered,” Finnion replied, “and I was hoping to ascertain when you would be speaking to the people. They are excited that you are well and are awaiting your address. I would be honored to meet with you in your chamber to discuss the details of your speech in private. The sooner, the better. The people are waiting for word.”
Lakeda groaned and nodded her head in resignation. “I’ll meet you there in ten minutes.” Reluctantly, she closed her gown and climbed up through the mountain of cushions to the main chamber. Finnion paused; apparent anxiety creased his tired and weathered features as he studied Lakeda. He sighed and made his way out through Sebastian’s door and into the tunnels.
“What was that about?” Sebastian asked.
“I have to go,” Lakeda replied. “I don’t know how he managed to find me, but for some reason, Finnion feels the need to protect me from my husband.” She fought with the last button and finally managed to close her gown completely. “Now that he knows where I am, he won’t stop harassing me until I leave. He wants me to work on a speech.”
Sebastian lifted a bottle from the table and drained its contents. He set it back and tipped the bottle next to it over enough to see if it contained anything. “Yeah … sure.”
Lakeda watched Sebastian as he moved about the room, utterly unabashed by his nudity, and felt her heart flutter. They had come so close to fulfilling her fantasies. Now Sebastian appeared to have lost interest, shifting his focus from sex to wine.
So typically Cardinian.
She smiled to herself. Perhaps it was better they had not followed through on what they had started. It would make things far too complicated. She took one last look at Sebastian and left his chamber. She could feel the gut-deep tug of his energy trying to draw her back in.
This new connection between them was going to take a bit of getting used to.
The story continues … soon …
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