Knightly Devotion

"I can think of nothing else."

"Tell me that you are just as completely and recklessly in love as I am." He thrust with strokes so forceful that they nearly lifted her slippered feet off the ground.

"My heart belongs only to you, my love." Her voice tightened as she felt another climax looming into view.

"Then run away with me." Eldrick said in a dangerously serious tone.

She whimpered in protest as his hips suddenly ceased their driving motion. With a flurry of silken hair and velvety skirts, he spun her around to face him. The look of utter longing and vulnerability on his face shook her to the core.

A moment passed, then another, the appeal hanging heavy in the air between them. They both knew it was an impossible fantasy. As if somehow their love could defy duty and god and destiny to forge a new fate together. It was absurd. But in their stolen moments in one another's arms it almost seemed possible. Almost.

Jenevieve looked up and their eyes met for one soul-shattering instant before she cast her gaze to the floor.

"Be reasonable, my love." At last she answered in a soft, hollow voice. "There is no place we can go that the prince won't find us. Besides, what ever would we do? Become simple farmers in a wattle and daub hut. I cannot ask you to trade in your sword and titles for a patch of dirt and a pitch fork."

"But I would most willingly. I need only you, Jenevieve. Titles, prestige, glory, they all became meaningless the moment I saw your face." He held her fiercely. "Run away with me and our humble hovel will seem like a castle with you by my side."

"One day." She replied, not knowing if her words were true but hoping against hope that they were.

She felt his grip on her easing as if she was already slipping through his fingers. His voice dropped. "No one is promised anything but today."

"Then let us not waste it with talk of an uncertain future. Now is ours."

Jenevieve shoved him roughly so that he tumbled backwards onto the bed of straw. Before he could object she was straddling him and pressing her lips to his. He accepted her kiss, but his body remained stiff and restrained. He was determined to hold back, she saw it in the tightness of his jaw, felt in in the tautness of his muscles. Nevertheless, she was equally determined to conquer his resistance. She would not let thoughts of tomorrow ruin this glorious night.

Gradually Eldrick returned her kiss, thrusting his tongue to duel with hers. Their mouths sparred. Their bodies battled. As the kiss deepened she felt his resistance waver. He softened, his rigid frame easing so that she could press her soft curve against him. Though one part of his body remained decidedly stiff. His erection bobbed up between them.

Without breaking the kiss, she shifted her weight so that his hard shaft was prodding between the lips of her sex. She let the tip slip inside and they both groaned in unison. Slowly she slid down inch by inch, feeling her inner walls stretch to accommodate his thickness, until they were fully joined.

She took control of their lovemaking and this time and he let her. He let her set the pace. Taking him deep inside, she rode faster and faster, allowing herself to be impaled on his lance over and over again.

Never had she felt so powerful as she did in these moments with him. For her whole life men had sought to take power from her, to control her, to make her feel less than, but not Eldrick. He built her up, imbued her with strength and daring until she felt invincible.

"What would you do for your princess?" She asked, digging her nails into his broad shoulders.

"Anything," Eldrick swore between gritted teeth. He reached up to fondle her breasts and she hissed out a sound of pleasure.

"Would you betray your oaths for me?"

"My devotion belongs only to you."

"Would you die for me?"

"Aye, a thousand times." He growled, his body tense like a rearing steed.

She was clutching him fiercely, nails digging deeper until they left crimson trails in his bronze skin. As her legs wrapped around him ever tighter, she felt a surge of possessiveness. He was her knight. Hers to command. Hers to enjoy. And she would, by god, even if it cost her everything. Even if it cost her her life.

Balancing on a sword's edge of pleasure she rode his pikestaff with increased speed. Her knight groaned low in his throat and muttered declarations of affection, but they were broken and unintelligible. In wordless response she arched her back, writhing madly on his cock. Her yellow hair spilled around them wildly as she bounced.

"Upon my soul, I will love thee forever and always." He panted out his devotion.

"Yes, forever and always," she repeated, sealing the vow with a deep kiss.

In that moment they shared one breath, one heart, one soul. With only a single lantern and the bright fire of their passion to keep the darkness at bay, they sought salvation in one another's embrace. Their bodies were locked in a battle to stave off grim reality for a few more precious minutes. As if the sheer force of their love, only allowed to exist in moonlight and shadow, could banish the dawn so that they may never be parted again.

Alas, they could not hold back their pleasure forever, any more than they could hold back the rising sun.

The slow torment of lust built little by little until it became an unstoppable force. Finally, the heavenly sensation overtook them. They reached their peak together. Beneath her, Eldrick was bucking and spilling inside her, flooding her pulsing channel with warmth.

Jenevieve heard her own keening cries but they sounded far away. She had abandoning her earthly body to travel to the very heights of paradise above. Flickers of gratification pulsed through her and brilliant white stars burst behind her shuttered eyelids.

Eventually the divine sensation ebbed and Jenevieve was reluctantly called back to her mortal form. When next she opened her eyes, she was wrapped firmly in her lover's strong arms.

The stables fell silent then, apart from the sound of their unified breathes.

"My princess," he breathed into the curve of her neck.

"You can cut that out now Rick." Jenny let her New Jersey accent return in all its gaudy glory. "I can't freakin' breath in this damn corset."

As if on cue, her cell phone chose that moment to ring. The electropop beat of Taylor Swift's "Look What You Made Me Do" cut through the stillness of the night, effectively jarring the pair back into the modern world. Quickly, Jenny scrambled off Rick's lap and reached for the phone stowed away in a nearby rafter.

"Oh shit, it's Reggie." She pressed the phone to her ear. "Hey babe."

"You're late." He announced in a smug and slightly slurred tone. Reggie never knew when to drop the princely performance. He carried the character of Prince Reginald over into their real lives so regularly that Jenny began to wonder if the pompous prince act was really an act at all.

As the only son of the owner of King Edward's Faire it was no wonder he turned out to be a total bougie brat. When Jenny had first gotten a position at the faire as a lowly, serving wench, straight from the trailer park, she had been too flattered by Reggie's attentions to notice his utter lack of character.

By the time she figured it out it was too late. She was in too deep- forced to play the part of dutiful trophy wife in and out of work. Then Rick came along. As head stunt rider at the faire he was valiant and caring and just what she needed. (Not to mention sexy AF.) She had fallen for him, hard and fast.

Ironically, it was only in their role-play games that she could truly be herself. Even if it did complicate the situation further.

"Sorry, I'm just closing up. Be there soon." She heard Reggie's grunting response and then he was gone.

"I have to go." Jenny blurted out to Rick who sat casually regarding her from his nest in the hay.

Reggie was waiting for her at the King's Head Pub, the typical afterhours spot for the cast and crew. He was there most nights after closing time, hanging with his sycophantic squad and his band of basic wenches.

"We mustn't keep the prince waiting." Rick shot her a cheeky look.

"Cut it out, okay." She tossed his duffle bag at his head before retrieving her own bag from the loft.

They dressed quickly, exchanging medieval garb for jeans and t-shirts. Jenny slipped on her sneakers and hurried to tie her hair into a high pony tail, trying not to be distracted by the scintillating sight of Rick sliding into his jeans. She hadn't thought it possible, but his ass actually looked as good in a pair of tight Levi's as it did in his hose.

In fact, the sight was so distracting that Jenny did not notice the bale of hay at her feet. It pitched her forward and she would have quickly met with the ground had Rick not caught her in mid-fall. Without warning, she found herself staring up at his dangerously alluring green eyes.

"I meant what I said, you know." He brought his hand up to stroke her face. "Let's run away, start over somewhere far away."

Tenderly, he plucked a stray piece of straw from behind her ear. His firm hand then wound behind her head to guide her lips to his. He delved into her mouth with the most sensual rhythm, at once soft and strong. The kiss unfurled between them, full of love and longing with just a twinge of regret.

Once their lips parted she sighed softly. "One day."

A flicker of sadness crossed his handsome face. For a moment, the habitual smile faded from his lips, the armor slipping slightly. And then, just like that, it was back in place. Undaunted, he flashed that dazzling grin in her direction. One that promised patience and understanding and hinted at many more trysts to come.

Rick popped a baseball cap on his dark head and pressed a gentle kiss on her hand before heading towards the door.

"So, meet you here same time tomorrow?" She called after him.

"I wouldn't miss it for the world, milady." Rick turned and doffed his baseball cap in a courtly gesture. Jenny rolled her eyes as he strode away.

"That's Your Highness to you."