Dawn was breaking and it was mere hours before Arya was set to leave for the country with Eric and his sister, Claire. She was nervous, but excited, and most of all praying she could get through one interaction with Eric without having things go terribly wrong. As the sun peeked through a crack in her curtains, Arya awoke, yawning sleepily and stretching like a cat.
She was in her room, hidden deep under her down comforter but exposed in her nakedness. She was almost never nude, except for when bathing, but for some reason had decided to try sleeping without her customary cotton shift. She felt delightfully naughty as she awoke to feel the soft sheets brush against her nipples, and she felt them harden. She ran her palms over them, loving the contrast between the hard points and the soft, round flesh beneath them.
As her hands slid back and forth, her eyes closed and she felt her pussy start to throb. It was as if her nipples were directly connected to her clit, and as she softly rolled one nipple between her thumb and pointer finger, she felt heat wash through her and she clenched her thighs together tightly.
She lay in silence, focusing intently on how each movement felt. Her breathing grew rough, and when she finally slid her fingers to her slit she found it was slick. With two wet fingers, she returned to her clit and began to circle it. For the first few passes she barely even touched it, just letting herself enjoy the anticipation. She shivered when her fingertips would graze the side of the hardening nub, and found herself growing impatient. But she held out, not allowing herself to go too quickly.
She experimented, trying smaller circles, sometimes going quickly- other times slowing down, and then tried just rubbing up and down with firm pressure. She found this too intense and tried something else. She found that she liked it best when she held her hand still with a finger inside, and slowly humped her own palm, finding a pace and pressure that felt right. She could feel herself growing wetter, and continually returned to her opening to re-wet her clit. There was never a shortage. As she felt the warmth grow, a tingling feeling grew with it, and she began to lose coherent thought. She was completely focused on her pleasure.
Arya found herself straddling the edge, knowing she was close but unable to cross over. She began to lose focus and her mind wandered, inevitably to the thought of Eric. She began thinking of the way it felt when his fingers were touching her, and she gasped as the thought made her twitch and almost come. She focused on the memory, imagining what it would be like doing it again, but this time guiding his fingers, or even humping his to bring herself to orgasm. With a barely audible gasp she came, her hips jerking and spasming uncontrollably, and her head rolled back. She let her fingers slow, and stop, listening to her ragged breathing even out.
She opened her eyes with a smile, satisfied.
Arya turned to her side, hugging a pillow and snuggling back into the warm downy bed. After only a few minutes she was bothered by a loud, insistent knocking.
"Arya!... Arya!" she heard her aunt call.
With a sigh, Arya replied, "Yes Aunt, I'm awake. Time to get ready?"
"Time to
get
ready?!" Agatha shrieked. "Child you should already be up! We have much still to do!"
Arya groaned and sat up as her door flew open and her Aunt bustled into the room, followed by two maids. The girls immediately began to prepare Arya's outfit, laying everything out precisely, motioning to Arya to get dressed as soon as they were finished. Arya realized with a blush that she was still naked, and hesitated. Her Aunt huffed and threw the blankets off, impatient. She hissed in disapproval upon seeing Arya but said nothing, and her niece quickly dressed, her face red.
The maids looked away with little smirks, setting out hair and makeup essentials. Agatha, meanwhile, was attending to Arya's bags, making sure her niece was well equipped for her travels. Arya quietly submitted to her caretakers, spending the next several hours becoming beautiful. It was an experience she had had but rarely at home, having few people to impress. Yet it was now the expected norm, and part of her loved the pampering; but a louder voice in her head was yelling impatiently at them to hurry up so that she could see Eric, caring little about whether she looked "perfect" or not.
At exactly ten o'clock the doorbell rang. Arya arose from the formal sitting room where she had been waiting, heart fluttering anxiously. She had never been on an extended vacation to another noble's house before, and wasn't sure exactly what to expect.
With quick, excited, adrenaline-filled steps, Arya walked down the hallway, morning light streaming through the windows and falling softly upon her perfectly coiffed hair. Her dress was in pristine condition, and her face was fresh and luminous, the picture of health and beauty.
But her nerves had her whole body trembling, and she thought desperately,
Please don't let me ruin my makeup already! I can't believe I'm already sweating this much.
She fanned her face for a second, took a deep breath, then walked out and noted one, last satisfied glance from her Aunt as their eyes met in the entryway.
The door opened.
"Lady Claire!" Arya cried warmly as the door opened and the elegant young woman stepped through.
Claire curtsied, eyeing Arya thoughtfully. After exchanging pleasantries and overseeing the men loading Arya's bags, the three women stood awkwardly together.
Arya cleared her "Where is Eric? Will he be joining us?"
"
Lord
Eric," her aunt hissed.
Claire's mouth twitched slightly, and Arya wasn't sure whether she was amused by the younger woman's lack of manners, or by her aunt's shocked glare. Claire shook her head, answering, "He wanted to arrive early to prepare for guests and give the servants time to do whatever it is they do. I'm not sure why it takes them so long to prep the house! It seems stupid to me that they wouldn't keep it ready at all times, for we often come and go impulsively, but Eric says it's uneconomical to keep it guest-ready at all times or something."
"Ah," Arya said, unsure how to reply.
"Anyway, let's go, I'm starting to feel distastefully warm in this direct sunlight. I awoke only an hour ago, and I find that my constitution is still a bit frail at this early hour."
The women curtsied again, and Arya and Agatha exchanged a fond hug.
"Thank you Aunt," Arya said, "I promise I'll write soon. Thank you for everything."
Agatha waved her thanks off with a proud smile, feeling quite satisfied with her young protegee's success thus far. "My pleasure, my dear, my pleasure. Have a lovely time!"
With that, Arya and Claire climbed into the carriage. The girls adjusted their gowns and fidgeted in their seats, trying to get comfortable as the groom nudged the horses into a walk.
After sitting in silence for a moment, Arya cleared her throat and began, "Claire, thank you again fo-"
"Why are you coming to visit us?" Claire interrupted. Her eyes were narrowed and she crossed her arms.
"Um, I-" Arya stammered, startled.
"He's not going to marry you," Claire asserted. "He doesn't want to marry anyone. The only way he will is if our father forces him to take a bride, and I guarantee that it will not be you."
"I see," Arya replied quietly, her face flaming. A bit more assertively, she continued, "Well, do not worry about my intentions. I am not trying to marry him, I assure you. ... I simply hate Veras and wished to return to the country." She paused, then continued honestly, "I don't like cities, and I don't like most of the people in them. Eric recognized this, and offered me some respite."
She hoped this was an adequate response, and sat, tense, waiting to be harassed some more. But Claire paused, considering this.
Her voice less stern, now, Claire responded with a simple, "Oh. Ok then."
Arya relaxed slightly as she watched Claire's face lighten somewhat. Arya guessed that Claire wouldn't believe her at face value - you couldn't trust anyone at face value here in the capital, she'd learned - but at least Claire seemed to believer her for the moment.
After a few minutes of uncomfortable silence, Claire added in a more kindly tone, "I can understand that. I find it dreadfully boring, myself. The country is much more interesting, and I dare say Eric will have some fun ideas. He rarely has friends visit." With that Claire took out a book and promptly began to ignore Arya.
With a dubious shake of her head, Arya also pulled out a book, and spent the next several hours immersed in a fantasy world, trying to keep her mind off of her strange situation.
About an hour before their arrival, Claire grew chatty again and they gossiped about mutual acquaintances, discussed fashion, and made general small talk. They kept things light, and if Arya didn't know better she would have assumed that Claire was just like the other vacuous young women of the capital. But she sensed intuitively that it was a facade, and an excellent one at that.
She could feel in her gut that Eric's sister was smart, perhaps unusually bright, and Arya guessed that the woman could prove to be far more of a threat than she appeared to be at first glance. Which made Arya even more wary of Claire than she had been at first.
Blunt honesty I like, I can appreciate... but this mask? It makes me nervous...
.
