Мэри Дэвидсон - Canis Royal Bridefight

“Peace, Lady Lois. I only wished to catch the full effect of your scent.” He sniffed her hair. “Feh! You smell much like my yetch, despite your washup. Damon, see that she gets a proper bath. Lois, when you are clean, come back and tell me more of your world. I wish to hear more about ‘the IA pricks and the dumbass political games’.”

“After you eat your soup,” she said firmly.

“The child knows our station and yet dares to give the king orders! Well, twould not kill me to obey, instead of being obeyed. It will be as you wish, Lois. But you must stay for a long time and tell many stories.”

Despite Damon’s frown, she agreed.

Chapter 5

“Damn!”

“Is something wrong?”

“Hardly.” Lois stared at the bathing room. It was about half the size of the king’s chambers, which meant it was the largest bathroom in the galaxy. Instead of a tub, there was a pool in the middle of the room, and from the perfume in the air, it was more of that delicious bathing water Zeka had poured for her. Big bunches of white flowers— the blooms were as big as her fist—floated in the pool. They looked like fluffy orchids. There were several marble countertops scattered about the room, and two people were getting massages.

“May I bathe with you, Lady Lois?”

“Uh—” No way. Buzz off. I usually take baths by myself. I doubt I’ll be able to keep my hands off you, so for your own safety… ”Sure.” Given that there were at least half a dozen people in the room, she wasn’t worried about her virtue—not that she had any to worry about. Besides, he’d opened up his home to her, and she would have a place to sleep, at least for tonight. To refuse—especially when this society seemed so open about public nudity—would be churlish, to say the least.

Still, it wasn’t every day she stripped in front of strangers.

She got out of her robe as quickly as possible, tossed it on a countertop, and stepped down into the pool. She heard a gasp of appreciation behind her and rolled her eyes. What was it with these people? They clearly had her confused with Pamela Anderson.

The water was deliciously warm and she sank into it up to her chin. She couldn’t help groaning appreciatively as the perfumed water soothed her all over. “Oh, man , this is the life.”

“Indeed.”

She whipped around; Damon had managed to come up right behind her without her hearing him. “Jeez, don’t do that! I swear I’m hanging a bell around your neck.”

He smiled at her and plucked a flower out of the water. “If it pleases you. Now, you will allow me…?”

She cautiously approached him, and he plunked the flower on top of her head. While his fingers were busily working through her hair, she realized the flower’s petals were disintegrating into a kind of soap.

His fingers were marvelously strong and she resisted the urge to melt against him. This was probably the best day of her life—and she’d only been here three hours! She knew she should be fretting—she’d started the day planning to be dead, after all. She knew she should be thinking about how to get home, or at least worrying about her future. This place couldn’t be as great as it seemed. It just couldn’t. But all she wanted to do was let Damon rub her all over, then take a nap.

“You are sooooooo good at that.”

“Thank you. It is a true pleasure to attend to my lady’s needs.” Now he was washing her breasts, working the sudsy petals all over her skin, paying special care to her nipples, which instantly swelled and started to ache.

What’s wrong with me? I’m letting a stranger feel me up in a public bath house! And it feels really, really good.

She batted his hands away, and he obligingly drew her closer and began working the suds into her back. She was pressed against his broad chest and could feel his erect length pressing into her stomach.

Thank goodness it’s a public bath, or who knows what I’d let this guy do?

“Um.” She turned her face so her cheek was resting against his nipple. It was either that, or give in to the urge to lick it. “Thanks for letting me stay here. I s’pose I should figure out where to go tomorrow, or at least—”

“Later,” Damon said firmly, still stroking her back.

“Works for me,” she sighed. One of the flowers floated by and she grabbed it. “Here, let me return the favor.” She pulled back, rubbed it over his chest and watched in fascination as the leaves crumbled into a sweet-smelling foam. “What’s this stuff called?”

“These are Beriblooms.” 
 “Well, they’re great. I could ship a crate to Mary Kay, make a fortune.” 
“Is Mary Kay as lovely as you?” He kissed the corner of her mouth at the same time

she felt his hands slide over her buttocks and rub, rub, rub. “Um…what?” “Mary Kay.” His fingers were kneading her flesh and she had to fight the urge to grab his cock. “What about Mary Kay?” “What?” “Um.” “Ah.” She was reaching for what she craved when… “Oh ho, good brother!” She looked up and saw the other two princes standing by the pool. The smaller

one—”smaller” meaning he was only five inches taller than she, as opposed to seven— was kneeling by the pool, dabbling his fingers in the water. The taller one—was it Maltese?—was standing with his arms crossed over his chest. She jerked back from Damon, feeling her face grow hot from mortification.

“Now, my good lordly brother, you must give everyone a chance,” Maltese chided. “No I must not,” Damon replied cheerfully. He reached out and pulled Lois back against his soapy chest. She wriggled, but he had a grip like iron. “It should be an interesting sunrise, then,” Shakal said, grinning. “Even more so if

Father joins in.” Damon lost his smile, not to mention his hard-on. “You don’t think—?” “No. Still, he is our good lord, and his will is the will of the SandLands, so who

knows?” “I wish you guys would tell me what you’re talking about,” she said irritably. Then, to Damon, “Leggo.”

“Tomorrow is the Bridefight,” Shakal explained. “Many, many royals and nobles will come to battle for mates. The winner gets first choice of the ladies. The secondwinner gets second choice, and so on. This happens once every three sunrounds, so it is our great good luck that you are visiting.”

“Oh. Say, you’re not kidding. That sounds kind of interesting. Can I watch?”

“You are the guest of honor,” Damon whispered in her ear, which made her shiver.

“Quit that. Great! I’d sure like to see it. Uh—you guys don’t battle to the death or anything, do you?”

“Hardly ever,” Maltese said after a pause.

Shakal grinned. “No one has perished in many, many sunrounds.”

“Of course, when there is a new element—”

“Tempers flare.”

“But all will probably be well.”

“The three of you can stop teasing me any second now,” she said irritably. “Really, you’re like a bunch of kids.”

“Goats?”

“Children.”

“Ah! Cubs!”

“ Anyway . I’m clean enough. And so are you,” she told Damon, who tried to grab her again but, slick as an eel, she slipped away. “Can someone show me where I’m s’posed to sleep?”

Maltese and Shakal tussled so hard for the privilege, it was an easy matter for Damon to boot them into the pool, and escort Lois to her sleeping chambers.

* * * * *

Lois peeked in on the king, who was asleep. “I’ll come back tomorrow morning,” she whispered to Damon.

“I will tell him, if he is wakeful.”

“Thanks.”

He brought her to the next chamber, which was as large as the king’s, except with softer colors—moss greens and tans and pinks.