“Y-Yes!”
He smiled tenderly down at her. “You’ve learned to like it, haven’t you?”
“Yes!”
“You’re like a fine sweet wine,” he said thickly, and then swung over her. She writhed beneath him, her amethyst eyes pleading, and he gently thrust into her.
“Oh, Alexander,” she breathed, eagerly receiving him. For the first time she used an ancient sexual art taught to her in the harem of her first husband. Her vaginal muscles tightened around him, gently at first, then with increasing pressure as the rhythm quickened. He groaned with surprised pleasure, murmuring against her ear, “Christos! You witch! Ah, stop-or there will be no time for you to reach the top of your own mountain!”
She was in control now, and the feeling of power was delicious. “Will you love me only once this night, my lord?” And she squeezed him tightly, almost hurting him. He cried out and, sobbing with relief, released his tortured seed. “Beloved,” she whispered, tenderly cradling his head against her breasts.
They lay quietly for some time, and then she felt him suddenly hard again against her leg. “Now, beauty,” he said, his voice strong again, “I shall have my sweet revenge!” And he was in her moving so rapidly that she could not grip him. Pleasure began to wash over her in wave after wave. Then she began to climb with him to the top of that mountain they both knew so well. Nothing mattered but the sweet, burning intensity between them. She could go no further, but he forced her onward until suddenly she was tumbling through a golden spiral, into a soft, perfect peace.
When she finally regained her senses she found herself in the warm, safe circle of his, arms. Raising her head, she gazed into his beautiful aquamarine eyes. He smiled. “We have loved each other well beauty, haven’t we?”
“Yes,” she answered, “It is always good with us.”
“As I promised you,” he teased.
“Peacock,” she countered weakly. Then, in a more serious tone, she said simply, “I have never known such happiness, Alexander. I love you so very much!”
“And I love you, beauty! Without you there would be no place for me on this earth. You are my heartbeat, the very air I breathe.” Sighing happily, he nestled in the curve of his arm and fell asleep.
Alexander smiled down at her. She was so very lovely that his heart contracted painfully with the knowledge of what he must do. Slowly, his own eyes closed and he slept.
When Adora awoke several hours later the dawn was flooding her bedchamber. Alexander was gone. But he frequently rose before she did. Calling to Anna, she ordered her bath and spent a leisurely hour bathing. Afterwards, as Anna helped her into her gown, Adora asked, “Will my lord break his fast with me, Anna?”
“No, my lady.” The servant quickly turned away.
“Anna? What is it?”
“What is what, my lady?” The woman was being deliberately evasive.
“Where is my lord Alexander?” she asked evenly.
Anna sighed. Taking her mistress by the hand, she led her out onto the terrace and pointed seaward. “That dot out there, my princess, is the lord Alexander’s ship. He sailed before dawn.”
“Christos!” swore Adora angrily. “How could he? He promised I could go too!”
“He did?” Anna was amazed.
“Well,” hedged Adora, “I believed it was understood.”
“He left this for you, my princess.”
Adora snatched at the rolled parchment. Breaking the seal, she read, “Beauty, forgive me, but one more night such as the last and I could never have left you. What then would have become of our fair city? I shall return within two months. Each minute away from you will be like a full day, and each day will be an eternity. It is a far worse punishment I inflict upon myself than you could possibly inflict on me for this deception. Rule well in my absence. And never forget, my Adora, that I love you. Alexander.”
The parchment hung from her hand. Suddenly she laughed. Then, just as suddenly, she cried and cursed him. Catching the look of fright on Anna’s face, she explained. “Do not fear for my mind, my good Anna. I am all right. My lord has simply outmaneuvered me in this chess game we are constantly playing. I must take it with good grace, though I would sooner take a ship and go after him.”
A month passed, two months, and Alexander was due home. Then, one afternoon, there came word that the prince’s galley had been sighted a few miles off the coast. Adora ordered her barge readied. Gowned in pale-blue silk, her dark hair braided with gold ribbons and looped about her ears, she set out to meet her husband.
Seeing the little barge coming toward them over the deep-blue waves, Alexander’s men cheered their queen. When the two vessels met, Mesembria’s ruler swung himself down from the deck of his great ship to the highly-polished deck of the smaller boat. In one fluid movement he swept his beautiful wife into his arms. Their mouths met fiercely. Adora was faint with happiness. Finally he let her go. “It was not the minutes, but the seconds away from you that were like days. The minutes were like months.”
“For me also,” she answered softly, “but you were right.”
“Right? About what?”
“About the possibility of my conceiving a child.” His marvelous eyes widened, and she laughed at his look of delight. “Had a great storm taken you, my lord Alexander, Mesembria would still have had a Heracles to reign over it!”
“You are with child?”
“I am with child!” she answered proudly.
The barge lurched on the waves and Alexander quickly drew her down to the cushions. “Sit, beauty! I want neither you nor our son harmed.”
“You are very sure it is a son?”
“I have never had a daughter,” he said thoughtfully, “but if she were your daughter I could easily love her.” He put an arm about her. “A daughter with your violet eyes, beauty.”
“And your golden hair,” she answered.
”She will be like an ancient sea nymph,” he said, “and we will call her Ariadne.”
“Or,” replied Adora, “we will call him Alexander.” They laughed happily. Suddenly she exclaimed, “I have been so full of my own news that I forgot to ask of yours. Was your trip to Trebizond successful? Will the Comenii send their trading vessels to us?”
“Yes, beauty, they will! My uncle Xenos is happy to have the opportunity to work with Mesembria. He is, as you will remember, in complete charge of Trebizond’s trading concessions. His brother, the emperor, accepts his word on everything. I have brought back with me a signed agreement between Trebizond and Mesembria that will guarantee our superiority over Constantinople within the next two years. Our city will soon become a power to be reckoned with, beauty. Our children will not inherit only an empty eggshell.”
“Children, is it?” she teased him. “Am I to understand that one son is not enough for you, oh great and greedy despot of Mesembria?”
He chuckled. “Children seem to be a natural result of lovemaking, beauty. And since I will always want to love you, I assume our family will be a large one.”
Adora sighed. She was completely happy. So unbelievably happy. She loved and was loved in return. And now she was to have another child. She had been hesitant, but now that this new life nested within her, she realized how much she really wanted it. Smiling to herself, she wondered why the tangible proof of love, a child, was so important to a woman.
The autumn came. And as the fruits in the orchards ripened so did the queen of Mesembria ripen with her child. The people of the small city-state were overjoyed.
But in Constantinople the empress fretted angrily. Why had that frightened fool, Zeno, not destroyed Alexander? Now Thea was pregnant, and if Murad lost his passion for her then Helena’s revenge would be lost. She sent a spy to inquire and to further terrorize the prince’s servant. Her spy reported that Zeno felt the time was not right. Let the prince and princess feel totally secure in their lives lest the plot be discovered and Helena’s name revealed. The empress was forced to bide her time. She sent secret word to Ali Yahya, promising that soon her sister would be delivered into the sultan’s power.