Tasmina's Tale

23. We Have Today

Tasmina

I lay on my back and he lay wrapped around me, his arm over my stomach and his leg wrapped around both my own. It was blissful. 

“Are you… pleased?” he asked. 

The uncertainty in his voice did something to my heart. 

“I am more pleased than I have ever been,” I replied, smiling widely at this beautiful, rugged man. 

“Rodin said he came within twenty seconds of his first time,” Rikom said. 

I burst into laughter. 

“And he told you this willingly?” I asked, still laughing. 

He nodded, grinning at me. 

“I told him I wanted to… please you. I didn’t want you to be disappointed with your first time and…”

I was overwhelmed by his thoughtfulness and I struggled to hold back my tears. 

“And there was me thinking you were just a brute,” I muttered. 

He kissed my cheek. 

“Oh, that I very much am, my jün.” 

I smiled at the term of endearment. 

“I look forward to seeing more of it, my jün. So tell me, what great knowledge of women did Rodin share?” I asked, teasingly. 

Rikom chuckled and my chest filled with warmth at the sound. 

“Well, he said women like to be touched a lot. His exact words were ‘squeeze her t**s and fiddle with her bits,’ if you must know.”

I positively hooted with laughter. 

“I knew I’d like him,” I said, wiping the tears of laughter from my eyes as Rikom sniggered. 

“He also said that women like it when you kiss their honeypots.” 

My eyes widened. I hadn’t quite considered that, if I was being entirely truthful. I found myself suddenly staring at his mouth with renewed interest. I looked away quickly, clearing my throat. 

“I see,” I muttered. 

“I’d like to try everything with you… if you’d like to.” 

There it was again, that earnestness, that vulnerability I would have never have expected from him. 

“I would love to try anything with you, King Rikom.” 

He tilted my chin towards himself and kissed me, stealing my breath. 

“I will hold you to it, Queen Tasmina.”

I sighed as he turned me around onto my side, facing away from him, then pulled me backwards, curling himself around me as he tucked me in against him. 

“Did I please you?” I asked, as my eyelids suddenly became very heavy. 

His thumbs made soft circles on my hip, soothing me and helping me drift off to sleep. 

“Like you couldn’t even imagine. I am grateful for you, Tasmina. I didn’t think it was my fate to find a mate, as it hasn’t been for so many kings before me. Goddess has blessed me with a gift. I will treasure you until my last breath.”

I brought his hand to my lips and kissed it, unable to put my feelings into words. 

“For someone who claims to be bad with words, you’re certainly not living up to the reputation, jün.”

I felt the rumble of laughter in his chest against my back and as he pressed his face into the back of my head to kiss it, I fell into a sweet, dreamless sleep. 

—

I woke up lying on my front, feeling soft lips leaving velvet kisses on my back. I grinned into my pillow. 

“Good morning,” I mumbled. 

He didn’t respond as his kisses moved lower. I felt him shift behind me, his large hands on my waist as he sunk his teeth into my backside. I cried out and he soothed it with kisses. With his hands around my waist, he turned me around and laid me on my back. 

The sun streamed through his balcony. 

“This is the latest I’ve woken up as far back as I can remember,” he said, grinning. 

“Same,” I replied. 

He leant down and my eyes closed as he kissed my thighs.

“Did you sleep well?” he asked between kisses. 

“Mmhmm.”

“Yes?” he asked. 

“Yes,” I whispered, breathless as his light beard scratched against my sensitive thighs. 

“Good,” he murmured. 

His nose grazed against my p***y and I gasped. 

“Your scent… it drives me insane,” he murmured. 

He pushed up my legs, bending my knees and exposing me completely. 

“You’re already wet,” he groaned, his voice deep, his breath hot against my thighs. 

“What are you doing?” I gasped. 

“I’m making good on my promise to make you mine,” he growled. 

I felt my face flush, but there was no time to feel embarrassed. His tongue slid between my lower lips and I gasped as a shock went through my body.

“Rikom… that… oh goddess…”

My grip on the sheets tightened at the sound of his groan.

“You taste as good as you smell.” 

Then his tongue was on me. He licked slowly, luxuriously, as though licking honey from the comb. He was slow, deliberate, following the directions that my moans gave him. When his tongue flicked over my c**t, I hissed loudly, grabbing his thick hair. He took this as encouragement, tasting me as though he were ravenous for me. He licked and sucked until I came undone. My orgasm tore through me, my body shaking of its own volition as my thighs clamped around his head. I let out a strangled cry that faded into soft moans as I came down from my climax. My chest rose and fell heavily. I felt a gentle pat on the outside of my thigh. 

“Tasmina… I can’t really breathe,” came his muffled voice.

Mortified, I opened my legs as his face emerged from between them with a wide grin. 

“Goddess, I’m so sorry,” I wailed, as he covered his body with my own. 

“Don’t be. It would have been a glorious way to go,” he replied. 

I laughed despite my embarrassment. 

“It was certainly a wonderful way to be woken up,” I said, blushing.

“I will wake you up each morning this way if it pleases you,” he murmured, kissing my nose.

“Rikom, I don’t think my body will survive,” I replied, laughing. 

“I’d like to push it to its limits,” he said, grinning. 

I had absolutely no doubts he would. 

“Come, my queen, we have today. And then life begins.” 

—

We spent almost the entire day in our chambers. We bathed together, scrubbing each other’s backs. It was there I noticed he almost fell asleep while I scratched his back. 

“I love having my back scratched,” he murmured. 

“You’re more kitten than you are wolf,” I laughed. 

He turned to me, feigning offence but said nothing as I continued scratching his back and his shoulders. Food was sent to our chambers and we ate together on the floor. He asked me questions about Mama, my brothers and Ruki. 

“Faris seems very serious,” he said, observantly.

“You’re one to talk,” I replied, raising my brow.

He grinned.

“I’ve been raised serious. I find it hard to believe that your Mama was a stern disciplinarian.” 

I smiled, wistfully.

“She didn’t need to be. We would have done anything she asked. She had that effect on people, you know. She could make you do whatever she wanted, just with a smile.” 

“I think you inherited that trait from her,” he replied, winking. 

It was odd to see such a playful gesture from a man who found it difficult to smile in public. 

“You said you and your father weren’t close. Why?” I asked. 

He sighed and for a moment, he seemed sad. 

“He was a man trapped by his own legend. Iza the warrior, Iza the strong. He was chasing duty and in doing so, he was burdened by those who loved him.”

“Queen Maha?” I asked.

“All of us,” he replied, looking down into his drink. 

“We each loved him in our own way. But to accept love, or even show it in return, I think he deemed it weak.” 

“That sounds awfully sad. And lonely,” I said, quietly. 

“I think he found peace with Mama. I would sometimes hear them laughing when they were alone. I know he was also happy with Queen Rita… she’s left now, she decided against staying and went to her homeland. But she was also a good companion to him. 

“For a man who took so many wives, he certainly didn’t seem like he had much time for them,” I mused. 

Rikom shrugged, biting down on a blackberry. 

“He wanted to create an abundance of heirs. Assure the Zal lineage. Mama didn’t want more children after Rodin, and we still had alliances to make.” 

“It’s probably a good thing they weren’t mates… it couldn’t have been easy for her to see him with other women.” 

I paused and he seemed to read my thoughts. 

“You won’t need to worry about that, Tasmina. You are my mate. I have no need for anyone else.”

I could see the sincerity in his eyes as he spoke. But I had seen Lord Silas at our wedding – and his daughter, Sanaz. I had seen how hungrily she gazed upon Rikom, whether it was lust or love or something else, I didn’t know. Whatever happened regarding the custom of the King of Zamee taking multiple wives, I had the distinct feeling it wouldn’t entirely be up to him.