Jeffrey Lord Blade 27 Master of the Hashomi

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He smiled at Esseta. "Does that giggle mean that I'm dealing with the girl
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instead of the woman?"
Suddenly the giggle changed to the full-throated laughter of an adult woman.
"Why don't you try finding out for yourself, Blade?" She slipped a hand into
his and led him in the opposite direction from the door to the sleeping loft.
With a finger to her lips, she led Blade along a dark passage he'd seen but
never explored. It ended in a plain wooden door. Esseta pointed to a carved
knob. Blade gripped the knob and heaved. The door slid aside with a faint
grating of wood on wood. Beyond lay a square windowless chamber, dimly lit by
an oil lamp in an iron bracket on one wall. The light showed dust on the
floor, and Blade felt it prickling in his nostrils as his feet kicked it up.
The light also showed a wooden bed, piled with clean but worn quilts and rugs.
Blade turned to pull the door shut behind them. He heard a whimper of cloth
and another faint giggle as the door thudded home.
He turned and saw Esseta standing in the middle of the room: Her robe had
fallen into a neat pile at her feet, and she was totally nude.
For a moment Blade felt that his breath was about to stop. In Esseta's five
feet there was more beauty than he'd imagined possible in any three women.
Every curve flowed into every other curve as if there was only one possible
way to do it. Scented oil gave her pale brown skin the sheen of fine bronze.
Her hair was a tight cap of dark curls. Both her snub nose and the nipples of
her delicate breasts had an impudent upward tilt.
Then her mouth curled up into a smile that was both a girl's and a woman's.
She fingered her chin with one hand, resting the other hand on a well-turned
hip. Slowly she walked in a circle around Blade.
Without the smile on Esseta's face, Blade would have felt unpleasantly like a
horse being examined by a particularly skeptical buyer. As it was, he could
anticipate what would happen as soon as Esseta had finished her inspection.
At last Esseta came up to Blade from behind, and again her arms went around
him and small soft hands pressed against him. He wore nothing but trousers and
boots, and her fingers danced up and down his bare chest swiftly, delicately,
and precisely. At the same time she brought her face close to his back, until
her curls tickled his skin and her lips could caress the line of his backbone.
She did all of this with such skill that Blade was soon as aroused as if
they'd already joined. He bit back a gasp, sensing that she wanted him to
remain passive as long as he could. It was more of her playfulness.
At last Esseta stepped away from Blade and came around in front of him. She
raised herself on tiptoe until her lips could curl themselves warmly and wetly
against his. The kiss faded away with tantalizing slowness, and Blade felt her
lips drifting down with the same luxurious warmth over his skin. She kissed
his ribs and his stomach while her fingers twined themselves in the hair on
his chest. Then her lips swooped down like a bird of prey, and suddenly his
erection was swallowed up.
Blade's gasp turned into a groan of the most exquisite agony he'd ever felt or
could have imagined feeling. Then for a moment he could not speak, because he
could not breathe. Esseta's lips swept along his swollen flesh, kissed the
tip, sought the inside of both thighs, then returned to their original place.
Esseta repeated the pattern some unguessable number of times, then began
varying it. As her lips worked, her hands were pulling Blade's trousers
farther and farther down his legs. Blade was hardly aware of this, or of
anything else except the almost terrifying delight her lips on his flesh were
bringing him.
Then he was aware of pain that was also pleasure, bubbling up within him and
ready to boil over. In silence he fought against the agony, in silence
Esseta's lips went on working to make that fight hopeless, and in silence
Blade lost it. The ecstasy of total release seared through him, as he bowed
backward, away from those lips, pumping heat up between them. He bowed so far
backward that he fell over, and
Esseta fell on top of him. For a moment her lips were no longer on him, but
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not for long. There was too
much more she wanted from him.
She took it; and went on taking it, until Blade could not have given her any
more if his life had depended on it. Perhaps Esseta herself had reached the
point where she could take no more. In any case, she finally collapsed to lie
beside him, one leg raised over his, her breasts against his side and the
fingers of one hand spread on his chest.
Then she sat up and smiled. She raised her arms above her head and stretched
like a cat. The movements of her breasts would have awakened desire in a
corpse, but not in Richard Blade at this moment. Then she laughed, and this
time the woman's laugh turned into the girl's giggle.
Blade shook his head. "You have the skills of an actress, as well as all your
other gifts. Has anyone ever told you that?"
"Not many. I have shown how I play my game to only a few, and only two of
those who paid for me have ever guessed."
"What happened then?"
"Both stayed all night, and poured gold into my lap when morning came. They
wanted to see what else I
could do."
Blade laughed. "Is there anything you can't deal with?"
For a moment her face was a pale mask. "Yes. The years. Against them I have no
power."
"You've done well so far."
"So far, yes." Suddenly she was smiling again. "And shall I tell you why I've
done so well? It is my secret."
"I'm listening."
"This life is not easy, and much of it gives no pleasure. So when I have a
chance, I play, to amuse myself and give myself pleasure. I do not have as
many chances as I wish, but I have enough. As long as I can play, I can fight
off the years." She bent down and kissed Blade. "Will you help me play, Blade
from the desert?"
Silently Blade nodded, and by the time he finished kissing her he found that
somehow desire was again rising in him.
Blade's being Esseta's recognized lover didn't make things any easier between
him and Hadish. It wasn't that the senior guard was jealous of Blade's
delightful hours in bed with her-he didn't care for women. He did see very
clearly that with Esseta's support Blade could go almost anywhere and do
almost anything.
Furthermore, if it came to a clash between him and Blade, Kubin would be far
more likely to support a man on good terms with one of his favorite ladies.
Not being a fool, Hadish was afraid of Kubin Ben
Sarif.
That same fear kept him quiet for some time. Meanwhile, Blade began escorting
the ladies of the House of the Night's Tale when they went out to shop or take
the air in the parks by the Da. For this Esseta bought him several new sets of
clothes, as well as a jeweled dagger that would have looked at home on a
nobleman's belt.
"We of the House of the Night's Tale have our reputation to uphold," she said.
"Can we be escorted by a man who does not look his best?"
"Hardly," said Blade. He noted that in spite of all its jewels, the knife was
well-balanced and sharp.
Esseta was a good judge of weapons.
The knife might be able to gut a human attacker like a fish, but it couldn't
do anything against flies and foul smells. For some time that was all Blade
faced as he escorted Esseta and her companions about
Dahaura.
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Dahaura was even busier and more prosperous than he'd imagined. It was hard to
believe that any sane man could conceive of overthrowing this bustling city
and the empire it ruled with no more than five thousand fighting men.
But then, the Master of the Hashomi was not entirely sane. Immensely gifted, [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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