The Contest of Wills

Lords and ladies whirling on the dance floor. Swishing taffeta, glittering jewels, laughter, heavy perfume...civilized life. I hate it all. Still, I had to attend social functions now and then by way of courting support for the war effort.

Right. Why should any of those fine lords and ladies care about the misery of the southern provinces? It wasn't affecting them. They could just go about their comfortable, repressed, pathetic little existences while others were starved, raped, and murdered at the far end of the kingdom. Idiots.

I slipped from the ballroom without anyone noticing. I had no idea where Ahern had disappeared to and knew he'd disapprove of my early exit. If he caught me, he'd probably drive his wayward protege back to the ballroom. All the more reason to get on horseback and get away from the estate for an hour or two.

Guards respectfully snapped to attention as I passed them, my long silken skirts billowing out behind me. "Captain."

I scarcely glanced at them but I did note that some of them had vaguely sly smiles on their faces. Was it the dress? I was going to have to work them twice as hard the next time I drilled them. Maybe a week of field exercises....

Dress, petticoat, stockings and annoying corset all went flying in different directions once I reached my chamber. I replaced them with riding pants, a loose cotton shirt, and boots. Then I headed for the stables.

I just might get away with sneaking off, I reflected as I shut the door behind myself. Turning around, I watched as a lithe, dark figure melted out of the shadow of the tack room. Only one person I knew could move with that kind of silent grace. Damn it.

"Hello Ahern."

"You're supposed to be in the ballroom impressing the nobles with your wit, talent, capability, and charm."

"No." I said, putting my foot down. "I've had it for the night." Ahern is my best friend, husband, and mentor. He really doesn't have any say-so over what I do anymore. Not legally -- not since I made captain of the militia. Only Lord Mulchay really has the right to give me orders. Still, it's rare that I cross him because he does have his ways of demonstrating that he can, in fact, still keep me in line when he wants to.

"No?" he asked, looking amused.

I would have to get past him to get to the horses. I could tell by the subtle clues of his body language that he wasn't going to let me. We watched each other, sizing one another up. Some day I'm going to best that man. Some day....but that night wasn't it.

I'm not sure which of us drew our blade first, but they clanged together and sparks flew. Ahern laughed. It really annoys me when he does that. We danced around each other, me concentrating on all the things he's taught me...things that seem to work on everyone but him. It was obvious from the effortless way he was meeting me and the amused expression on his face that he could take me any time he wanted to.

"You're getting angry." he pointed out as he blocked on of my moves as carelessly as one might swat at a fly.

It was a dirty move, but I decided to cheat and use magic. That was my first mistake. Saying the word of power aloud was the second one because it alerted him to what was coming. He met my trademark blast of fire with a gust of wind that rebounded it on me. It scalded my hand, making me drop my sword. His blade was at my throat in a fraction of a second and I was on my knees.

"Now what to do with you?"

I rolled my eyes, taking note of a barn owl sitting in the rafters, watching us with vague disinterest. "I am not going back to the castle to that stupid ball."

"No? You may be captain of the militia, you may even be able to best Domnall Mulchay on occasion. You may have immense skill and talent, but you will never best me."

I didn't reply as the tip of his blade slipped underneath one of the buttons on my shirt and sliced it off.

"Ahern!" I exclaimed in annoyance.

"I rather like you on your knees, you know."

"Yes. I do know. Just you wait....one of these days."

"Be quiet. You've been getting much too bold with me lately. I've been far too indulgent. I think it's time that I reminded you of which of us is the dominant one."

"Not here, please. Someone could walk in."

"I will enjoy you any place I feel like it, Aurora. You were the one who insisted on taking our relationship to this level, if I remember correctly."

"Tell you what....let's go for a ride instead."

"A ride is exactly what's on my mind just now. Only not the sort you're thinking of. Remove your shirt."

"Not here. Someone could come in. My men...."

"Would enjoy the scene to no end. I know because I've bragged to them enough."

Surely he hadn't. Had he? Was that the real reason for the smug smiles on the guard's faces earlier? A month of field maneuvers then. Assholes.

"I could invite your lieutenant to watch." Ahern cheerfully suggested. "Maybe after I finished using you, I could let him have a turn."

"I might not be able to kill you, but I could sure as hell kill him."

In response, Ahern sliced off another button.

"Ahern!" I spluttered, though I couldn't help laughing a little. "I like this shirt."

"I know."

"Fuck you."

"Take off that blouse or I'll remove it myself."

Surely he wouldn't. But the look in his eye told me that he would. "Not here in the stable. Let's go up to our chambers."

The sword was at my throat again. He exerted just enough pressure to back me into the nearest corner. "Yes. I've let you have your way entirely too much. It was much easier back when you were an apprentice. "

A deft motion with the sword sliced off all my remaining buttons. The light material of the shirt fell open, exposing my heaving breasts. I wasn't afraid he'd seriously hurt me, but I was reminded afresh of just what he was capable of. Ahern likes his sex rough, and the more annoyed his is, the rougher he is.

Ordinarily I wouldn't have minded at all but the stable was a public part of the grounds that anyone could enter at any given time. There were certain situations in which I felt that the captain of the militia should not be seen But he had that look in his eye that clearly said that if I didn't give it, he'd take it. Considering the result of our previous sword fight I knew it was pointless to argue.

"Fine." I said, unfastening his pants. His cock sprang free and despite my current aggravation, I also felt a sudden twinge of lust. If someone came in and saw this....

He was already hard as a rock. Bringing me to heel arouses him almost as much as the actual act of sex does. "Good girl." he said as I wrapped my lips around his cock and began sucking. "Nothing I love more than being pleasured by a woman while I hold her at sword point. I don't see why you wanted to resist -- you know you love it. "

That was true. I love how he tastes, how he smells...how it feels when warm liquid explodes in my mouth. The crotch of my riding pants were already soaked through.

"I think after this I'll take a riding crop to you." he said thickly. "It will be fun to watch you drill your men with the flesh of your backside chafing. I'll bet they'd be willing to pay me for the enjoyment of watching me whip you."

Of course I didn't answer. I was too intent on what I was doing as I slid my lips up and down his cock. Sometimes I can get him off in minutes. Other times he purposely holds back and makes me work for it. I had a feeling this was going to be one of those times.

He still had his sword at my throat but was holding it more loosely. I could feel his eyes on me, watching as I serviced him. He entertained himself by telling me that I'm a slut and speculating on how much fun my men would have with me if he took me to them naked. He wouldn't dare...I think.

Gradually his grip on the sword became more lax and his breath came more quickly. I sucked him hard and fast although I knew he was annoyed enough with me that he'd eventually take matters over himself. Sure enough. he stopped me by tangling his fist in my hair and tilting my face up to look at him. With his other hand, he rubbed his cock against my cheek, still wet with my saliva.

I knew what was coming and patiently waited until he was done teasing.

Opening my mouth obediently I closed my eyes and tried not to gag as he rammed his entire length straight down my throat. He held still for a moment or two, his balls against my chin, looking down at me as if daring me to protest. When I didn't he began fucking me, his hips moving in short, sharp thrusts as he continued to invade my throat.

I closed my watering eyes and concentrated on relaxing and not choking. I've gotten to be an expert at it over the last year or so because he's given me plenty of practice. There have been a few times when he's woke me up by unceremoniously straddling my face and ordering me to open my mouth. Then he humps my face just as if it were my pussy. It used to annoy me but lately I've begun to enjoy it.

He kept a tight hold on my hair and continued grinding his hips into my face. Finally he gasped out an obscene invocation to the gods and pulled out of my mouth to shower my face with his seed. My fingers stole down between my legs and rubbed my wet crotch through my pants. I love it when he does that and he knows it.

"Ahern, please fuck me." I begged.

"Not now. Come here." he said, gesturing me to follow him into the tack room.

"Are you going to whip me?" I asked as he shut the door behind us.

"Yes. I told you that I'm going to remind you of your place. You may run the militia, but you don't run me."

"With your belt?" I asked hopefully as I watched him drop his clothes on the floor.

"You like that too much." he told me as he removed a riding crop from a peg on the wall. "Take down your pants and bend over that saddle there."

I hesitated. "Couldn't we do this in our chambers?"

"I could invite someone to watch." he suggested.

"I'm the captain and...."

"I know who you are. You are my wife among other things. " he said with a touch of anger. "That comment just made the difference between chafed flesh and welted flesh."

He was capable of it too. I seriously thought of drawing my sword on him again but it was laying on the floor with my pants. "Fine." I said in a snotty tone. And removed my blouse with a graceful shrug. "My back too then."

I didn't wait for a response as I turned to face the saddle, bending over it sideways.

"You're wicked, Aurora."

"Just get it over with and fuck me. I know that's the only way I'm going to get it."

He laughed, and I heard the cop whistle shrilly through the air. He'd never used one on me before and I was not prepared for the sharp sting that blossomed across my skin Yelping, I stood up straight only to find myself roughly pushed back down by the usual fist wound in my hair. "If you do that again you won't be able to sit for a week. Clear?"

"Yes. I'll hold still." I promised. Then, because the arousal between my legs was steadily growing, I added quietly, "Please don't stop."

"No fear of that." he answered with an evil laugh.

The crop whistled through the air again, but this time I was ready for it and managed to hold my position. What followed was nothing short of merciless, but then it always is. He wouldn't be Ahern if he wasn't. And I, his student, who he'd run ragged during training in my apprentice years, wouldn't have been myself if I hadn't been able to take it. One reason we're the perfect match.

The first time we'd played this particular game had been on the night he'd taken my virginity. I'd goaded him into it and gotten what I deserved. Since that night my senses of pain and pleasure have gotten mixed up somehow. Well, half the court thinks Ahern and I are both insane anyway. Maybe we are. What matters is that we love each other. If he feels the need to occasionally assert his dominance of me then I don't mind so long as lots of wild sex follows.

My mind was wandering and he knew it. How does he always know? He brought me back to the present by bringing the riding crop stinging across both thighs. I decided I did not like the riding crop half as well as the sharp slap of that leather belt of his. It felt more like being cut than slapped and Ahern never holds back. I think it hearkens back to the caveman days of his angst filled youth when he pillaged his way across the countryside taking women at leisure.

I closed my eyes and concentrated on holding still for him. I could sense his arousal as the crop landed harder and faster to what I knew was approximately the same pace he'd be using if he was fucking me. My own arousal grew to meet his even as my bottom and back stung like fire, but mostly the former. As he's fond of reminding me, "I love fucking a woman from behind when she has a chafed bottom...especially when she loves it too." Love is a strange thing.

Quite suddenly, the flaying stopped. I stood up, wiping away tears, but perhaps not genuinely chastened. He doesn't want me to be a subdued dishrag like those ladies in the ballroom anyway. No...he wants something else completely.

What followed was something that might be best described as a wrestling match. By then I was quite wild, my pussy just aching to be filled by him. We kissed hotly while I struggled to remove whatever clothes he had left while he struggled to get control of the situation again. His hands roughly fondled my bruised backside but I didn't care.

"You're such a whore." he breathed into my ear.

"I'll give you 'whore' I snapped back." as I wrapped both hands around his cock.

"Please do." he laughed, and pulled me to the floor.

Another wrestling match ensued. He was trying to get on top of me and knee my legs apart as I sunk my teeth into his shoulder. "Bitch." he growled, and twisted my nipple painfully.

"Yes." I gasped, and managed to roll so that I could straddle him. Without ceremony I impaled myself on his waiting cock. He squeezed my breasts roughly while I paused for a moment to savor the feeling of finally being filled and stretched by him.

I dug my nails into his shoulders as I rode him hard and fast like one of those prize horses he loves so much. He pulled me closer and latched onto one of my nipples with his teeth, biting down hard. My hips pumped faster in response as I ground myself against him, feeling every inch of his hardness deep inside.

I came violently, screaming his name loud enough that it would be a miracle if they didn't hear it all the way in the ballroom. My fingers tangled roughly in his hair as I rode him, desperate to wring out every last bit of pleasure that I could.

I didn't collapse on top of him. I looked down at him smugly. "Thanks for the fuck." I told him lewdly.

"My turn." he said, laughing. "You know what I want."

"Yes." I agreed. Getting off him I positioned myself on all fours, stretching luxuriously like a jungle cat as I angled my hips up in invitation.

He paused to slide a finger between my wet folds and to feel the red marks that crisscrossed my bottom. "Very nice, Aurora."

"Did you enjoy whipping me?" I asked, knowing that thinking about it would turn him on more.

"Very much." he answered, tracing a red line from one side of my bottom to the other.

"I love you, you know."

"You must to put up with me." came the wry response. He wound his fist in my hair and grazed the back of my neck with his teeth, paying me back for earlier.

I moaned and arched my back, straining my hips toward him in a silent plead for him to fill me again. He laughed and rammed himself deep inside, all the way to the hilt. I screamed and would have lost my balance if not for his grip on my hair.

"Some day...." he said evilly, his teeth biting down on my shoulder, "I might decide to share you with another man. Would you do that for me?"

I gave an involuntary shiver of curiosity mixed with interest. "Maybe."

He fucked me long and hard, sometimes swatting my bruised backside, sometimes pausing to sink his teeth into tender flesh. It's very rare that Ahern makes love. Generally sex between us is dirty and rough....which is fine with me.

When he sensed I was getting ready to climax again he cruelly decided to withhold it from me. Rolling me onto my back he pushed my knees up to my chest and used me in that position. Every now and then he'd slap my breasts and make them bounce or nip one with his teeth.

The combination of his size, hardness, and maleness simply pushed me over the edge again despite his effort to prevent it. My fingernails scratched wildly at the floorboards as I screamed out curses and invectives that would have made the proper ladies in the ballroom shrink in terror. Those poor, repressed women. None of them had ever gotten it this good.

Ahern cursed too as I felt the warm gush of semen pouring into me. Afterwards, he looked at me and laughed. "I'd advice you to wash your face before you go back up to the castle."

I'd completely forgotten the mess he'd made earlier and knew I must look a sight.

"Ahern....were you serious about what you said earlier?" I asked, watching him dress. "About sharing me?"

He paused by the door and shrugged, a wicked smile tugging the corners of his mouth. "I'm going up to our chambers. You can take that ride now if you want."

"I've had enough riding for tonight, thank you."

"You're welcome dear."