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Maia stopped in front of the mirror to check his appearance. His edocharei normally dressed him for his duties as emperor, and he was far less expert at managing his own wardrobe. But this was for a more intimate audience. He tried to smooth the front of his long silk dress, knowing it already had creases. The corset beneath tightened its embrace whenever he drew breath. Every brush of fabric on his skin was electric. His satin slippers were laced with ribbons that tied around his ankles, and sewn with little silver bells that chimed whenever he took a step.
A voice came from behind him. "Dear osmin, may we say how lovely you look tonight?"
Csethiro leaned against the wall, with an appraising smile. She wore a white linen shirt, open at the throat, a silk scarf knotted there in the latest fashion of court gentlemen. Over that was a rich blue jacket with gold braid and buttons, whose long hem masked the flare of her hips. She wore matching trousers and stockings, which outlined her shapely thighs and calves, and heeled boots with gold buckles. Her hair was tied back at the nape of her neck with a leather band. She swept him an elegant bow.
Maia returned an awkward curtsy. He could not take his eyes off her. His heart beat faster, to see her dressed so fine and bold.
Csethiro added, "We should say, rather, both of you look lovely tonight."
Csevet, standing at the window, curtsied with his customary grace. He was far more practised than Maia. They were a study in contrasts: Maia in pale rose, and Csevet in dark plum. But otherwise, they both wore long silk dresses and matching silk gloves. Their hair was piled and pinned with lacquer combs and tashin sticks. Their earrings glinted with drops of rubies.
Maia and Csevet settled down on the divan together, arranging their skirts around them. They both opened their paper fans, as the court ladies did, making a great show of languidly fanning themselves, pretending little interest in any suitors.
Csethiro, naturally, was undeterred. She went down on one knee, to present a box wrapped in blue tissue paper. "We have a gift for you." She looked from Maia to Csevet, emphasising the plural "you". "We hope it receives your favour."
Csevet peered down at her over his fan. "And why should we bestow our favours on a lowly baronet? Especially one with such a scandalous reputation." His tone held imperious disdain. Maia wondered if he was drawing on his own experience of the nobility. Or if he was simply inspired by the yellow-backed novels that Maia still furtively read and all of them discreetly passed around.
Maia was still building his confidence at playacting, but this time he could draw on genuine curiosity. "Kind osmer. We should like to see what you have brought us."
Csethiro opened the box from its layers of wrapping, the paper crinkling. She lifted the lid. "Chocolate truffles, spiced with chilli."
They looked delectable indeed, delicate spheres lightly dusted with sugar. The kitchen master had done an outstanding job. Maia said, "How wonderful. You have our thanks."
He reached for one, but Csethiro caught his hand. He blinked at her in startlement. She shook her head. "The sugar will ruin your gloves. Allow us."
She lifted a chocolate up to Maia, and he opened his mouth. She slid it between his lips. The sweetness of sugar was balanced by the bitterness of cocoa and the warmth of chilli. When he bit down, the chocolate shell burst on his tongue, oozing cherry ganache. Maia sighed in appreciation. At least, he thought it was a sigh, but the voracious look Csethiro gave him suggested otherwise.
Csevet coughed. Csethiro turned to him with a smile. "Your pardon, fair osmin. We did not mean to neglect you." She fed him a chocolate truffle from her hands. Maia felt a thrill to see, just for a moment, his lips close over her fingers.
Csevet likewise seemed to greatly enjoy the confection, his eyes fluttering shut while he dissolved it in his mouth. After he swallowed, he opened his eyes and looked down at Csethiro. He folded his fan and tapped it on her shoulder. "You have made us a fine gift, but how shall we answer you? You have left a trail of broken hearts throughout the land."
"Our friend means," Maia said, remembering his cue, "will you forget us after a night of passion?"
"Never," Csethiro declared. "You shall not regret this night. We promise you."
"Who?" Maia said, innocently, as though they had not been avidly discussing and planning this scenario all week.
Csethiro rose to her feet. In her heeled boots, she was taller than either of them. "Why, we are courting both of you, of course."
The bed was a luxurious spread of silk and pillows, curtained by heavy velvet. They sank down upon it together. The stage was set for a glorious performance: a handsome rake cavorting with a pair of beautiful ladies.
Maia was breathing heavily, not only from the corset.
"Art thou ready for me?" Csethiro purred.
She revealed the leather harness around her hips, which supported an artificial phallus. It was carved from polished mahogany, a rich deep red as though flushed with arousal. Delicate ripples veined its surface. The newest indulgence added to their collection. Maia swallowed at the sight, imagining how it would feel from inside.
Csevet was also staring, two spots of pink on his pale cheeks. He maintained a prim and proper expression, but his ears quivered, betraying him, his earrings softly jingling.
"Well, then," Csethiro said, "which of thou beauties wishes to be first?"
It was a dizzying prospect. Maia felt his face grow warm. Somehow he found the courage to say, "I want to see what it looks like."
A quick intake of breath. Maia glanced at Csevet, whose tongue darted out to wet his lips. He clearly liked the idea.
"Thou wouldst like to watch?" Csethiro said, with a considering look. "That can be arranged. I am thine to command."
She sat Maia at the head of the bed, propped up against the pillows. Csethiro loosed the silk scarf from around her neck, running it through her fingers with a smile. She fastened Maia to the bed posts, pressing a kiss to the inside of his wrist. "Have patience, my dear. Thine amorous companion shall demonstrate the pleasures awaiting thee."
She positioned Csevet on his hands and knees, straddling Maia, so that they were face to face. She parted the layers of his skirts with a whisper of silk. Csevet made soft wordless sounds, as she slid into him, his arms barely holding him up. Her length and girth were substantial enough that Maia might have doubted Csevet could take it all, even with the way prepared beforehand. But it only took one smooth motion for her to be seated fully inside him. Maia had never dreamed anything could be this hot.
Csevet darted his head forward, to seal their mouths with a kiss. When he moaned, Maia felt it vibrate in his own throat, as though every sensation was shared. Csethiro arched over them both, rocking into Csevet with long and leisurely strokes. Her eyes sparkled with delight, a flush high on her cheekbones, her lips parted.
"Thou lovely lady," she said, "so sweet are thy charms. Like a flower ready to be plucked."
Csevet panted with each thrust, dripping with sweat. He was a sight to behold, his hair spilling loose from its pinnings, damp strands falling over his face. He bit down on his lip, as though he were a court lady partaking in an illicit liaison, trying to restrain the volume of his cries.
"Go ahead," Csethiro said. "Tell thy friend if thou dost enjoy this."
Each word was punctuated with a snap of her hips. Csevet, in that same rhythm, said, "Oh--yes--oh--" That was all he could manage, his eloquent words vanished, only his body responding for him. He was barely holding on to the shreds of his control. Maia touched his cheek, urging him to let go. With a shaking voice, Csevet gasped his completion, and shuddered onto Maia's lap.
Csethiro said, "Thy turn now."
From the throaty rasp in her voice, it was clear she too had reached fulfilment, whether from the excitement of the scenario, or the clever devisings of the harness. Even though Maia yearned for her to take him the same way, he offered, "If thou shouldst desire now to rest--"
Csethiro shook her head. "Dost thou not know my reputation? My stamina is legendary." She withdrew from Csevet, her mahogany phallus still proudly rampant. "I will not flag or falter. I can love thee all night. Both of thee. Over and over."
Her heated gaze sent shivers through Maia. He wanted to melt beneath her. He feared a single touch of her hand would send him over the brink. She leaned in for a slow kiss, their mouths meeting and moving together.
Then she drew back, caressing his face. "Thou art marvellous. I shall take good care thou art well satisfied."
Csevet still looked dazed and dreamy. But he gracefully eased aside, limber as ever, positioning himself to support Maia from behind. He undid the silk scarf binding Maia to the bed posts, and wrapped his own fingers in their place. Even exhausted as he was, he nuzzled at Maia's neck, pressing soft kisses to the skin, holding him ready for Csethiro.
Csethiro looked him up and down, with undisguised hunger. Maia blushed. Csethiro trailed her fingers over the tight panels of his bodice, his chest rising and falling with each shallow breath. Down past his hips, his legs, his ankles, until she finally lifted the hem of his skirts. They were many-layered, the rose silk dress covering a froth of petticoats, and a satin shift stitched with flowers, and sheer stockings fastened by a garter belt. Csethiro found her way through lacy undergarments to bare skin beneath. Maia surged up into her touch with desperate longing, even as Csevet held him fast to await her attentions.
"So thou art indeed ready for me," Csethiro said, with a pleased look. She grasped his ankles and lifted them high, his skirts sliding all the way up his legs, exposing his desire.
When she pressed into him, slow and sure, it was like filling a void he had not known was empty. The hard wood was firm and unyielding, and the carved ripples teased his sensitive flesh. Maia threw back his head, gasping, from the unbearable intensity of it. She opened up the deepest part of him, finding points of pleasure that sent lightning up his spine to the base of his skull. When she began to move with greater urgency, he bucked up against her in a way most indecorous.
"Oh, please," he heard himself saying, "please--"
"Of course," Csethiro said. "Anything for thee."
Maia was dimly aware of shadows beyond the curtains, where his nohecharei stood watch over their emperor. He wondered sometimes if his shadow was visible to them too. The curtains offered some semblance of privacy. But even walls of stone could not silence his cries, wild and loud, wrenched from deep within him.
His legs clasped around her waist, as she drove deeper into him. At his release, the world went white. His feet trembled, to the sound of shaking bells.