Page 13 of What Fury Brings (Wrath and Fury #1)

Andrastus cleaned up beautifully.

His hair-free chest was gorgeous: smooth and ridged and taut. Olerra wanted to splay her hands across it, but she refrained, knowing that kind of touch would be unwelcome.

She could see now why everyone called him pretty. The beard had hidden his perfectly sharp jaw. His chin jutted out slightly and had the tiniest divot in the center. She wanted to run her tongue over it.

Now clean-shaven, his eyes stood out more, those deep brown depths framed by dark blond lashes and thick brows. Before, he’d looked so stern. Now he appeared softer. Undeniably masculine, but beautiful, too.

She couldn’t wait to kiss him again. This time without the beard.

Olerra stopped her thoughts before they got more out of control and focused on the task at hand.

She wore an outfit that Ydra had picked out for her from the Pleasure Market.

It hugged her curves and pulled up her breasts.

Her legs were completely bare, as were her arms. She felt beautiful in it.

She felt powerful as she watched Andrastus’s eyes slide over every inch of her. But his cock did not so much as twitch.

She knew he would be tricky, but she’d been trained well. Learning to control a man was just as important for her tutors to teach her as arithmetic was.

She started by raising one arm slowly and letting down the rest of her hair. It pooled to her waist, still damp in some places from the bath she’d taken earlier. She ran her fingers along her scalp, then through her hair. She threw it over her shoulders so he could see her figure clearly.

Olerra slid one strap over her shoulder. Then did the same to the other. Keeping her eyes on his, she drew a finger down her own breast over the top of her clothing, drawing a circle over where her nipple rested.

“That’ll only get you aroused, not me,” Andrastus said, though his voice wasn’t as harsh as it had been during the rest of the evening.

She said, in the most seductive voice she could manage, “I’m imagining it’s you touching me.”

There. That interested his cock.

She palmed herself. Both breasts at the same time. She went slowly, touching herself the way she’d always dreamed a man would someday. The way this man would someday. It felt delicious, and she let a little pant escape her mouth.

His cock twitched again, and Olerra began to undo the laces at her front, exposing more of her breasts and her belly to him. She stopped just shy of her hips.

She pulled out her right breast, showed him how hard the nipple was and watched in satisfaction as he gritted his teeth. What was once flaccid was less and less so by the second.

Andrastus slammed his eyes closed, as if that would stop what was happening to him. Clearly he didn’t like that she could get to him like this, and she loved that she could.

“Did you know, my breasts are so large that I can lick the nipples with my own tongue?”

He gasped as his eyes wrenched open.

“Show me,” he demanded.

She raised her breast with her hand, bringing it to her mouth and flicking out her tongue.

That’s when he lost the fight. When he must have decided that losing was winning. For his cock jutted upward, coming to full attention.

But she wasn’t done. For while she’d never had a man before, she knew how to please herself just fine. She shirked out of the straps completely and let the garment pool at her hips.

“The rest of it,” he barked. “Take the rest of it off now.”

She cocked her head to the side. “Do you want me to take you now? Are you ready to beg so soon?”

He closed his eyes again, clearly trying to gain some modicum of control when he had already lost. Let him do what he liked. She was taunting him, of course. She wouldn’t follow through with it no matter what he said. She wasn’t ready for him yet. That was the whole purpose of tonight.

Olerra gauged the appropriate phallus size and marked it with her eye.

Now she wanted to come.

Olerra slid her hand under the remaining fabric and stroked her seam. She was wetter than usual. Something about the sight of him wanting her made her even more excited. Her clit throbbed, and she wasted no more time before letting her fingers drift where she wanted them.

She gasped, eyes on his manhood, and Andrastus lost the battle and opened his again.

“Fuck,” he said at what he saw. He could not see her sex, as it was still covered by the lingerie, but there could be little doubt as to what her hand was doing.

Her eyes rose to his as she found a rhythm that pleased her. She angled her hips so she could move with her fingers. Every brush of her clit was like fire through her body, and she could feel the end coming sooner than usual.

“Slow down,” he demanded of her. “It’ll be over too—”

She whimpered as release coursed through her. It was brief, but it cleared her head and reminded her of who was in charge here.

Olerra picked up the correct phallus and showed it to him. “A fine likeness, don’t you think?”

He glared at her. Just glared at her.

“Have a good night,” she said to him, turning.

“You’re not leaving me here like this?”

“Like what?” she asked, stopping by the door. “Aroused? Strapped to the bed? Yes, I am. You don’t get to come unless it is by my hands, Andrastus. You will not touch yourself, unless it is by my instruction. Only when you’re a good boy will you get what you yearn for. Sleep well.”

And she left him just as he was. Hard and unsatiated.

Back in her own room, Olerra stared at the phallus. It was large. Not the largest in the kit, but certainly not the smallest. She was going to have to fit this inside her if she wanted to fully claim her man.

And, oh, how she wanted that. When she’d first captured him, she’d thought the breadth of his body too big, the planes of him too hard. But seeing him naked and aroused had changed something. She saw how things could be between them in the bedroom. And she wanted that future.

Someday she wanted to procreate with him, too. Their babies would be so strong and solid. Absolutely beautiful.

She just had to get him to consent to letting her bed him. It was only a matter of time. She would have him eating out of the palm of her hand soon enough.

Olerra used her nondominant hand to reach for her opening, measuring the distance with her fingers before comparing it to the phallus before her.

It definitely wasn’t going to fit yet.

Still, she was determined to try. She lay on her back atop her bed. She was still wet from the previous orgasm, so that would help. It also helped knowing that Andrastus was just one door away, aroused and likely still thinking about her.

She put the head to her opening and had to bite her lip as she applied pressure.

Fuck, it hurt, and if she pushed any harder, she would likely tear her skin. She drew the phallus away. Then massaged her aching flesh.

Olerra pitied the women born in Brutus. The way her teachers taught it, men shoved their members into unready openings on women’s First Nights.

They didn’t wait for them to be wet. Nor did they take the time to help them stretch over weeks to prepare.

Women’s openings came in all different sizes, and it was foolish of men to think that just because something felt good to them that it felt good to the woman.

How many women bled for men who didn’t do them the courtesy of adhering to women’s pain over their own pleasure?

It made her angry. It reminded her that the Brutes didn’t deserve courtesy or kindness. She hoped Andrastus would be different.

It was also unfair. Men got to have sex all the livelong day without experiencing any pain, but women had to first endure this.

Olerra returned to the box, picked a much smaller phallus, and tried again.

This one stretched her as she applied pressure, and it hurt, but it wasn’t so bad that she couldn’t stand it.

She did as her tutors suggested, counting to ten and then pulling the phallus out to relax her flesh for another ten. Then applying the phallus once more.

She kept at this for perhaps five minutes. Then she washed both phalluses before returning them to her kit. She used the chamber pot despite not feeling as though she had to urinate—she was taught to always relieve herself after a phallus or cock was inside her to stave off unwanted infections.

The eunuchs had drawn her a bath with boiling water while she was in Andrastus’s room, and the water was now cooled down enough to soak. She lowered herself and felt her body relax. She needed it. She still had a lot of work ahead of her.

Olerra had to woo her soon-to-be husband. But first, she had to teach him some manners. He hadn’t responded well to her teachings on the road, so now they were going to try things the hard way.

Olerra woke as the sun did. Since she wasn’t going to be training with her soldiers today, she opted for a cream-colored tunic that hung to mid-thigh and a pair of tight shorts underneath in the same color, to avoid the chafing from her thighs rubbing together.

A belt cinched around her waist, from which her weapons hung.

She was one of the few in the country who had mastered the complicated whipblade, which had a sharp blade attached to the end of a long rope.

She also wore a sword on her other side for close-quarters combat.

She didn’t bother with her helmet. Only when she took a shift on guard duty or went into battle did she wear one.

Even when she knew her cousin was resorting to sending assassins after her.

She hadn’t any proof that the past two attempts on her life were ordered by her cousin, so there was no point in bringing it up with her aunt. And given the fact that Olerra was the best fighter in her kingdom, she wasn’t going to lose sleep over it.

She’d tell Andrastus about it if it ever became necessary. He was already overburdened with the newness of this place. She didn’t think his mind could withstand much more stress.