Adam was surprised to even see Marguerite out of her room the next day, much less sauntering around in that manner. She seemed to hover around him, and to touch him at every opportunity. The sudden brush of a hand against his as she handed him something, across his back as she passed by, resting on his shoulder as she stood behind his chair, once she'd even pinched him when he'd said something during negotiations that she had apparently disapproved of. Another day in the battle of wills had begun. He found he could expect her touch to linger when she approved and to turn into a pinch when she disapproved, her silent advise actually was quite good. She leaned down once to whisper in his ear the proper formal greeting to the ambassador that was across the table from him before it even seemed that anyone had noticed that he had forgotten the words. At the celebration welcoming them to the foreign port she wore the clothes of the culture so as not to insult them by showing her face. She did not speak aloud once, but many times her whisper emanated from somewhere near his shoulder reminding him what to do, not to do, say or not to say. She attended him everywhere in lieu of his usual bodyguard as she attracted less suspicion that she was armed to the teeth. Only once was it questioned that she should be there, and that was when those that he was meeting invited him to enjoy a sauna, and it was jokingly suggested that it was for the protection of his marital happiness in case the comparison did not flatter him.
"My wife attends me everywhere," was his only reply as he lounged on his side comfortably across the room from his hosts. He was surprised when the lingering touch he had expected settled on the back of his thigh instead of the places that it had settled on before. He wondered when the touch turned into a gentle massage that slowly crept up to his buttocks, then down the other leg. The touch disappeared when a server approached their side of the table again and he realized that all of her touches while they were immersed in this culture had been unseen. To them she appeared silent, and motionless except when walking at his elbow or seating herself near him. When they adjourned to the sauna she stood behind the bench he sat on and he received another unseen massage, this doing much more to relieve the stress in his muscles than the previous, which had actually increased his tension.
A light meal followed the sauna including wine. Adam found that he was expected to hold his glass behind him a few seconds to allow Marguerite to dip her fingers in and for a taste along with slipping her a piece of each delicacy before he ate it. After a servant refilled his cup a third time, he held it behind him and felt the familiar tap of her fingers dipping into it, but as he began to bring the cup to his lips, her hand flashed out to grip his wrist tightly. The wine sloshed out over the edge of the cup, and she quickly pulled a platter off the table to catch it in, then set both platter and cup onto the table. Next a blade flew across the room to pin down the sleeve of each hand that was reaching for the other cups that were newly filled. Four blades quivered pinning four sleeves. A fifth blade flew to slice through the wineskin, it exploded in the face and poured down the front of the servant that carried it. He began to scream as the drug Marguerite had detected from the few drops she had tasted worked in the enormous amount that had splashed into his mouth and eyes. Marguerite settled back into the position she had previously sat in behind Adam, which seemed to break the spell of shock that had descended on the room at the instant her hand had stopped his cup.
"We seem to be indebted to you for bringing your wife to save our lives," the host said, pulling the blade from his sleeve that had kept him from picking up his drink as he continued, " I hope these were brought only to be used in defense if necessary?"
"I wouldn't know to be honest," Adam chuckled, "you would have to ask her exactly why she carries what she does." Adam felt a pinch just above his belt.
"We do not address the wife of another man here, you will have to ask for us and tell us what she says in answer."
"Well then, wife, what do you say in answer to our host's question?" Adam turned his head as she forward to place her mouth next to his ear.
"Actually, I hoped to merely use them to pin you down tonight to where your only choice was to submit to what I wanted, or rip your clothes to shreds in order to get up, but I suppose defense of the current company is a better use as it will aid your negotiations," she whispered, breathing on him intentionally, then straightened back up to her former position.
"She admits no offensive purpose," Adam said, "and a hope that the service she rendered will soften you hard bargaining," he added grinning and the assembly laughed. The knives she had thrown had all been removed and were passed around to him, he simply placed them behind him for Marguerite.
"Perhaps it will," their host smiled and clapped, "I believe we have had enough excitement tonight."
A servant led Adam and Marguerite to the suite where they were to spend the night and left. Marguerite shut the door behind her, laughed softly and then again removed her arsenal but for the one blade at her bosom. They clinked as they fell to the floor as she walked towards Adam. She stepped up behind him and reached up, lightly rubbed his temples, then his jaw, worked her way down his neck to his shoulders. He sighed as he began to relax.
"Strip down and lay on the bed on your stomach," she murmured. When he did, she climbed up next to him and picked up her massage where she left off, pressing harder where the muscles were knotted. She worked her way down his back, over his hips and down his legs to his feet. As she worked her way back up, she felt the difference, he was relaxing, slowly. She climbed down and went over to the carved cabinet looking for the scented oils she suspected she would find there.
"How did you know the wine was poisoned?" he asked, rolling onto his side.
"It made my lips tingle and burn," she replied, returning with a glass bottle in hand of rose oil.
"What's that?"
"Oil for your muscles, now lay down," she climbed back onto the bed next to him and pushed his shoulder down gently until he was back on his stomach. This time she poured a few drops onto his back and smoothed it into his skin over his muscles in the same pattern as before, feeling the tension in his muscles release.
"Mm mm....that's better," he muffled into the bedding as she got off him.
"Now roll over," she said. When he hesitated, she added: "You have too much on your mind, it'll do you good and I won't take advantage." He rolled onto his back and she repeated the process, keeping true to her word she avoided his genitals. Once she was finished, she returned the bottle to it's place in on the shelf in the cabinet then stretched out on the rug.
"What are you doing down there?" he asked, pulling the sheets down on the bed to slip between them.
"Going to sleep."
"You won't sleep well down there."
"Most likely not, but you have not invited me to your bed."
"Well, now I am," he flipped the sheet in a way that opened it on the other side of the bed.
"You sleep on that side so anyone will have to reach over me to get to you," Marguerite said, and Adam simply rolled to the other side. He faced her again on his side and watched as she pulled off the draped covering, she had apparently worn only the bare minimum beneath due to the heat. She unclipped the dagger from her bosom and slipped it under her pillow, then slipped between the sheets and settled down to sleep.
Adam woke to find that Marguerite had snuggled up against him in her sleep, and that his harm had found it's way around her. Her cheek on his shoulder meant that her breath fanned over his chest. He wondered how long they had been laying there like that because his body was responding to the gentle wafting that bushed past his nipples. He shifted, trying to slide his arm from beneath her, but that made her arm come up over his stomach, her hand laid on his hip. Now Marguerite woke, but feeling Adam's body next to hers, she feigned sleep. He shifted again, as though he were uncomfortable, she opened her eyes just enough to see why and smiled. Still feigning sleep, she sighed and stretched, her body pressed harder against Adam's and her hand happened to brush against his rising member. He grabbed her hand and kept it there, slowly pulling her hand up and down against him. Marguerite stretched again, this time she moved her leg across his, her thigh pressing gently against his scrotum. He made a sound, although it seemed muffled as though he was trying to hold it in. Marguerite hooked her foot around his leg, pulling him closer and wrapped her fingers around him as he used her hand. She rolled up, straddled his legs and bent down to lick him, then take him into her mouth. Her lips, tongue and hands gently stroked up and down, he moaned. He buried a hand in her hair and guided her to do what he wanted, what he needed. Keeping the pace that he had set, she slowly moved around until she faced his feet, then swirled her tongue around the head once more before she shoved forward, and he found himself lodged deep in her throat. She swallowed, her throat contracted around him and pushed him over the edge. Adam thrust into her mouth as he exploded in her throat, she swallowed again and again, milking him until he was spent. Marguerite licked him clean, dressed, gathered up her arsenal and re-assumed her quiet role as his guard.
She waited silently as he dressed and followed him from the suite. She quietly guided him through the unknown corridors, her eyes, shielded behind a sheer section of the cloth draped over her watched him and everyone around him. Their host met them in the hall where they had dined the evening before told Adam, more for the benefit of Marguerite that his guards would follow any gesture from her indicating a threat in the crowd. Marguerite nodded her assent, and then they walked out into the crowd. Her quick eyes and hands led the guards to security threats before they even had a chance to look for them. Only once did anyone get close enough for her to be required to take action herself. She tapped Adam and their host each on the shoulder before pushing them down just before the blades flew through the space where their throats had been and sank themselves into people that had been on the other side. Adam pulled her down with them and they were instantly surrounded by guards that had been mixing in with the crowd.
"Again, I must thank you for your wife's attendance to my safety," the other man said, "our negotiations are over, whatever we have is yours for the asking."
"And I'm sure he will thank you properly as soon as you are both properly safe, here under this," Marguerite said as she pulled them both to their feet but kept them crouching then threw some sackcloth over them, "now come with me." The guards held still in a tight circle around where they had been as she led the sack-cloth covered men unseen through the streets, not back towards their host's palace, but onwards to their barge. She did not relax her guard of them or throw off the sackcloth until they were inside with the hatch sealed. Then she looked back through the window at the riot they had left in the streets behind them.
"What's it look like out there?" Adam asked.
