The chiming of the evening bell summoned everyone in from the fields and announced the closing of the gates for the evening. The sound broke into Sebastian's thoughts, and he wandered back toward the roadhouse.
Robert greeted Sebastian once again, and led him to the dais of honor at the end of the dance floor. There he found a simple table and chair, with a lamp and a carafe of passion wine waiting for him. Robert made sure Sebastian was comfortable, and then turned to address the crowd.
"Friends and guests, tonight I have a special treat for you. At the request of a long time friend, tonight my head wine server will perform for you the dance of the veils. Drink fully and enjoy the lusty passion of a mature and beautiful woman." Cheers greeted the announcement, and the room filled with the sound of men slapping the tables in expectation of the dance.
Lynn was nervously waiting her time to enter and dance. She was confused and hurt, yet strangely filled with joy. It has been several years since she had danced on the floor of the roadhouse. She knew that Robert and the other men considered her too old, too plush to draw much of a crowd. But now Sebastian summoned her to dance. She had thought that he cared for her, but to humiliate her like this after last night... She felt cold and betrayed.
"You think he is humiliating you for something do you not?" the tender voice of Robert's companion, Marie, startled Lynn.
"Yes," she mumbled as the woman approached.
"He is doing no such thing," Marie scolded. She patted Lynn's arm soothingly and softened her tone. "He is giving you a chance to show the rest of the girls that you are a lusty woman desired by men, especially by one man in particular. I danced like this once before Robert, and that night he took me as his companion."
"Do you think he feels that way?" Lynn asked, hope rising in her breast.
Marie nodded. "Has he not stopped by here twice a year for the past twelve years to see you and only you?"
Lynn paused, considering. "Yes, that is true," she whispered with a small smile.
"So, go! Dance! Show the world your desire for him, and when he claims you at the end, rejoice in your... dare I say... love." Marie kissed her on the cheek, "Now go dance!" She shooed Lynn out the door.
The room fell silent as the musicians entered and took their places. All the women of the roadhouse, including Marie, stood in the doorways. Sebastian eyed the crowd, but it did not matter to him if the house was full or empty, for Lynn would be dancing, and that was all that he wanted.
Lynn entered the sunken dance floor. The smooth stone felt cool on her feet. Covered from head to toe in shimmering dancing veils of blue and purple, they outlined her form, gliding over her curves as they revealed and concealed. She lifted her arms in a graceful motion and held the pose, awaiting her cue within the music.
The music began. Lynn smiled beneath the blue veil that hid her face. She swayed to the music, hips drawing his eyes to her with her lithe motion. The veils fluttered and flared out as she turned. Her right hip peeked through the veil wrapped about her waist. With a pointed toe and motion of her right leg, she suddenly bared her right hip and thigh, a startling revelation of flesh among the swirling silk. The room filled with the sound of hands pounding the tabletops. Lynn looked to Sebastian, and saw he was drinking deeply from a goblet, his chest heaving.
Lynn smiled as the soft silk flowed again to conceal her skin. She whirled in the fluttering waves of color, hips swaying as her hands traveled her body, feeling for the flesh beneath the concealing veils. Her hand came down to her left hip, where she tugged the purple veil free, revealing her hip and thigh for all to see. Grunts and groans of lust filled the room, and rude remarks about what men would do with her tonight filled the background.
Lynn bent forward, her naked hips free to dance among the veils. Around and around the dance floor she weaved, her feet dancing fast with tiny steps, arms lifted up with grace and poise. She turned and glanced about as she shimmied her shoulders back and forth. Then she lifted her hands to the blue veil concealing her hair, pulling it away as she tossed her head, her shoulder length auburn hair free and wild about her face.
She heard goblets slam onto the tabletops, and yells of men requesting that she be their slut for the night, but still she danced. She continued to dance, moving about the floor, her body rocking beautifully in a seductive belly dance. Her chest lifted as her hips rolled to the music. Occasionally her hand slapped her bare thigh, punctuating the beat as she lost herself in the music. The veils still covered her upper body and face, an odd contrast next to her bare legs, and created an alluring image of a demure but tantalizing female.
Lynn looked at Sebastian, her hazel eyes dancing over the blue veil. He could almost see her seductive smile as she slowed her dance until only her hips moved, her body rolling in place. Slowly, teasingly, she brought her hands to the veil at her face and held it for a moment before stripping it away to reveal her features. She tossed the silk toward Sebastian as she flung her head back, making her auburn fly about as she began her dance anew.
"Five silver coins!" a drunken voice yelled.
"Ten," another harsh voice countered.
Lynn's dance took on a different tone. Gone was the teasing, flirting revelation of flesh. She swayed upon the sand, whirling quickly. She tugged at the veil about her neck, impatient to strip it from her half-naked body. She let the blue veil flutter behind and around her swaying body as she moved, spinning upon her toes. Then she paused, letting go of the veil, and watched it slither down her form to puddle at her feet.
"A gold coin," came a shouted offer.
Lynn looked about and saw that the men were all leaning forward in their chairs with lust in their eyes. She saw Sebastian was at the edge of his own seat, his eyes blazing with desire, his hand seeming to shake his wine goblet.
Lynn whirled wildly. Faster and faster, her feet touched the sand, almost seeming not to touch it at all, hips swinging in a blur as the music built its primal beat. She smiled widely as she ripped the veil concealing her breasts from her body and brazenly danced, offering up her body to those who watched. She wore only one veil now, the dark purple silk wrapped around her waist. Her lush breasts swayed with the motion of her body, portraying her as a sexual, wanton creature.
Rude desires and pleas were yelled forth as she danced with swaying hips and shuddering shoulders toward Sebastian.
Lynn danced near to Sebastian and offered him the end of the veil about her waist with a flick of her hand and hip. She smiled, winking to him as he grasped it, then she spun away from him. The veil unwound from her waist, slithered free of her body to fall fluttering to the sand at his feet. She danced away, hair flaring out behind her in waves of auburn fire.
"Ten gold coins!" yelled a drunken voice.
Lynn tossed her head, dancing now in wild freedom. Silent moans escaped her red lips in sheer joy of the music as her feet pounded out the beat. Her naked body glowed with her exertions, hips brazenly inviting to all. Then suddenly, she and the music stopped as one, jarring in the silence. She held her pose, hips cocked, arms up, head thrown back as she panted, her chest heaving. The veils were gone, the luminous slave revealed.
The room exploded with applause. Voices clamored and cried out, demanding to know where this woman had been hidden.
Lynn smiled, breaking her pose to slip silently to her knees. She lifted her chin high to show off her collar, her carriage tall with her back slightly arched to offer up her body. Her thighs were parted wide to reveal her passionate heat to only Sebastian, her body on display for the pleasure of those watching. She bowed her head to Sebastian, her dance concluded.
Sebastian rose and left the dais, his drawn sword in hand. He stood before the still bowed Lynn.
"I claim this woman ever more as my consort and companion. Any man who wishes to challenge me, do so now!" he growled.
The room echoed with pounding feet and rude jests. A voice called out above the din, "You're too old for a woman like her, but it is as honorable to die trying to please a lusty slut as it is to die in combat!" Raucous laughter followed.
Looking down at her bent form, Sebastian demanded, "Lynn, do you accept my claim?"
Lynn slowly sat back onto her parted thighs and, with her head still bowed, raised her hands up above her head and crossed her wrists.
Sebastian took a deep breath, sheathed his sword and removed a gold and silver cord from his tunic. He looped the cord and bound her wrists together, then tied the other end to his left wrist.
"Then stand at my side as my companion."
Lynn rose quickly and stood beside Sebastian, crossing her ankles and holding her bound wrists down in front of her maidenhood. With his right hand, Sebastian retrieved his sword. "This woman is my woman, my companion, ever more. Only by the might of steel will she leave my side!"
The room filled with cheers and yells from the men and cries from the women as Robert clapped his hands, and told the servers to pour wine freely to all the guests.
With his left hand Sebastian lifted her chin so he could see her hazel eyes, and saw that she was crying.
"Are you sad?"
"No! I am filled with joy and... love," she whispered with a smile.
"I am happy... so very happy to hear you say that," he grinned. Lynn gasped and laughed as Sebastian lifted her into his arms and tossed her over his left shoulder. Giving her bottom a tender slap, he quickly carried her from the room as laughter and rude suggestions followed them out.
