“You know, baby,” Brand said later, while they were unpacking in the plush hotel suite they had been given to stay in during their visit. “Darden Three is even more beautiful than I was told. I can’t think of a better place to spend our Tasting Week.”
He was eyeing the vast bed as he said this. It had a strange construction. Rather than four bedposts or any kind of a platform to rest on, it had four thick, strong ropes, one at each corner, which were attached to a sturdy wooden frame on the ceiling. If you even brushed it a little, it swayed with a lazy rhythm that was—according to the Darden guide who had showed them to their room—very good for inducing sleep.
“Of course, it’s also helpful for other things,” he’d added, winking broadly at Brand, who had laughed and sent him on his way with a generous tip.
The other Darden furniture was set up the same way. There was also a swinging chair on the balcony overlooking the pink, sandy beach. They had been told the view of the sunset over the ocean was spectacular and now Allara could see that it was true. The sun was half-set in a glory of pink and orange clouds as it dipped beneath the sea.
“Our Tasting Week? Oh, yes,” Allara said nervously, bringing herself back to the present. “But…do we not have to wait until the night to do…what it is that we do during this week?” she added in a rush.
“Baby…” Brand stepped away from the bed and cupped her cheek in his hand. “Are you nervous about letting me taste you?” he rumbled softly.
“Well…” Allara hung her head, looking down at the toe of her slipper as she drew patterns in the plush carpet.
“Because there’s nothing to be afraid of,” Brand murmured. “You know I would never hurt you, right?”
“I know that, husband.” She was able to say this with absolute certainty after what she had learned during their Bathing Week. “It’s just…” She stopped, not sure how to go on.
“Just what, sweetheart?” Brand asked softly. “Whatever it is, you can tell me. I promise I won’t be upset.”
“It’s just that among my people it is considered so wrong for a man to press the source of his Song to any part of a woman’s body,” Allara burst out at last. “I do not understand why you would wish to lower yourself to do so. It is as though you decided to sing the secondary part instead of choosing to sing the first or Ascendant part.”
A smiled twitched the corners of Brand’s sensual mouth.
“I love how you just compared singing harmony to tasting pussy.”
“But you see what I mean, don’t you?” Allara asked. “I do not understand why you—why any male—would wish to do this…tasting.”
“Come with me. Let me see if I can show you.” Brand took her by the hand and led her out onto the balcony overlooking the sunset and the sea.
“Oh!” Allara murmured, because once they stepped outside, the sound of voices could be heard, ringing out over the waters. Some were faint and some were nearby but all were musical and true. It seemed that the Darden custom of singing to the sunset was in full effect. “This is beautiful,” she murmured. “The way they raise their Songs to sing to the sunset.”
“I want us to sing to the sunset too, baby,” Brand told her.
Allara bit her lip. “Both of us? At once? Entwining our Songs?”
“I want you to sing first,” he said.
“Yes, husband,” Allara said. “But…what shall I sing?”
“Sing the song I sang to you during our wedding reception—I know you remember it. You never forget a piece of music,” Brand told her. “And no matter what happens, don’t stop singing—all right?”
“Yes, husband,” Allara said again. For one did not disobey one’s husband. Lifting her voice, she began to sing.
“You feel the wind against your cheek
It is my love.
You see the stars in space so deep
It is my love…
At that moment, Brand began singing with her. But he was singing the secondary part—the harmony as he called it. Allara could hardly believe it. For a moment, her voice wavered, but then she remembered that he had told her not to stop singing under any circumstances. Lifting her voice again, she continued to sing, though the feeling of the big Kindred’s Song mingling with her own sent sparks of desire racing through her body.
“Wilder than a river
Deeper than the sea
My love will always
Bring you back to me…”
They sang, every true note ringing out over the beach and the ocean below.
“Again,” Brand murmured and this time they sang their wedding song—as Allara was beginning to think of it—together from start to finish.
When it was over, she was nearly panting. The feeling of their Songs entwined was incredible—it was almost as though Brand had been kissing her slowly and tenderly all over her body—especially the sensitive tips of her breasts and the place between her legs.
“Oh, husband,” she gasped when the music was finished for the second time. “That was…I cannot begin to describe it!”
“Did it give you pleasure, baby?” Brand’s voice was low and hoarse with desire. “I know it did—I can smell your heat.”
“Oh, I…” Allara shook her head and pressed her thighs together tightly, embarrassed by this.
But Brand shook his head.
“No, baby—don’t be ashamed. I’m just trying to show you that turning you on turns me on. Giving you pleasure gives me pleasure.”
“And…tasting me would give you the same pleasure as singing the secondary part with me just now, when our Songs mingled?” Allara asked.
“Exactly, baby.” Brand’s eyes went half-lidded with desire as he led her back into their room. “Pressing my face between your beautiful thighs with your legs over my shoulders and your soft little hands in my hair while you pant and moan and come all over my face as I tongue your soft little pussy—what greater pleasure could there be?”
Allara bit her lip. She was still filled with desire and need after their “duet” as Brand called it when two Songs mingled. But the shyness remained.
“But what if I cannot…be open for you as you wish me to? What if I cannot allow myself to let go and feel the pleasure?” she asked in a small voice.
“Then we’ll take things slowly,” Brand promised her. “In fact, I don’t even have to kiss your bare pussy to start with.”
“You…you don’t?” Allara asked, rather breathlessly.
“No, baby.” He shook his head. “We can start with me kissing your panties, so you feel all covered up and safe. What do you think about that?”
Allara bit her lip, still a little uncertain. But she had to confess, she was intrigued.
“You mean…the panties I have on now?” she asked him. They had been dressed up for their first state dinner with the Darden Prime Minister and she was wearing a brand-new outfit—with a brand new pair of panties—which Kat had given her.
The dress she had on had a plunging neckline and a split up the front that went almost to her mid thighs. It was made of a velvety black material which clung to her curves and highlighted her figure to best advantage.