“There is soap? Drying cloths?” Enda demanded as he loosened his grip on Lara, and drew his hand from her chemise.

“Everything is as you would have it, my lord,” the giant replied.

“Then get out, and do not return until you are certain we are gone. Go and ask for food at my brother’s hall. Tell them I said you were to have it.”

“Thank you, my lord, you are generous,” Og said, bowing, but Lara heard the hint of sardonic rebellion in his voice. The giant withdrew from the bathhouse.

“He sleeps here,” Enda said. “It is the only place in the village large enough for him. Come!” He led her into a room with a great stone tub in the floor. “Take off your garments, but do not enter the water until I have had my fill of looking at you.”

Lara complied with his request, feeling shy, but refusing to show it. Enda and Durga had seen her naked when they had inspected her, but that was somehow different. She slipped slowly from her gown and chemise, standing quietly beneath his gaze.

He stared hard, and then said, “The hours until I can couple with you will be long, Lara. Get into the water, and do what you must.” He sat down on a single stone bench in the bathing room, and watched as she bathed herself thoroughly. He almost wept at the beauty of her body, and the long hair she now washed. Even dirty, it was glorious.

When she had finished she said quietly, “Would you not like to bathe, too, my lord? I have been taught by my stepmother how to wash a man.”

He couldn’t resist, stripping his clothing off so quickly she had no time to look at his masculine attributes, but she noted that his arms and legs were hairy. Well, she thought, soon enough she would be most familiar with them. He slid into the warm water and placed himself in her capable hands.

He would have never admitted it aloud, but this custom of the City’s was a most enjoyable one. Her soft hands moving the washing cloth over his shoulders, his back, his chest, was not simply pleasant, it was seductive as well, although he could see she was working hard not to entice him.

“I’m going to wash your hair,” she told him, and before he might protest she did just that. And then she washed his face, his neck and his ears as well. “There!” she said finally. “We are done, my lord.” And she climbed swiftly up the tub’s steps, and wrapped herself in a drying cloth, while holding one out for him.

He entered it meekly, and sat quietly as she dried him efficiently. Then he watched as she dried herself off, and toweled her long hair damp.

“I’m sorry you must wear dirty garments,” she said. “Mine were clean this morning. I should have thought to bring some. Next time, then.” She handed him his clothing while quickly donning her own. “Did you like it?”

“I did, and Durga will be most jealous when he learns of this interlude. But then, if he had come with us he would have not been able to restrain himself, and would have taken you upon the floor. But we will bring him next time, eh?”

“It is your right to command, my lord, and mine but to obey,” Lara responded.

Enda laughed. “Why is it I sense you are not as meek as you pretend?” he asked her. “But I shall soon teach you that a man is the master.” He caressed her beautiful face with his hand. “And when I have taught you the beginnings of passion, I shall make you beg me for the pleasures a man and woman can give one another when his manroot is buried deep in a woman’s hidden garden.” Then he yanked Lara into his arms, and kissed her surprised mouth hard. “Tell me you want me,” he groaned.

“Not yet,” Lara heard herself say, and wondered where the answer had come from. She was amazed at her calm in the face of her situation. She felt an odd strength filling her, and knew that she was indeed protected, as the guardian of the crystal had told her.

“Tonight you will,” he said curtly, ashamed to have shown her even the slightest moment of weakness. What was the matter with him? This faerie girl was intoxicating, and he began to wonder if they had not made a mistake in purchasing her. “Come,” he said. “I must return to my brother’s hall, and you to my rooms. You will not yet be allowed to speak with our women.”

Back in the dayroom Lara found her supper waiting. She had been given a portion of broiled trout, a ham slice and a roasted capon’s wing. There was bread, and cheese, and another peach. And wine, a large carafe of it. She ate everything and drank sparingly. Then, finished, she washed her hands and face, and cleaned her teeth. Removing her clothing she climbed into the large bed. She instinctively knew he would want her naked, and she had few garments as it was. Tonight she could hear singing from Durga’s hall. She finally fell asleep, only to awaken at the sound of a footfall in the other room. She heard wine being poured into the silver goblet that had arrived this evening with her meal.

Enda entered the room and slowly pulled off his garments, folding them neatly and laying them upon the chair. Then he moved to the hearth and added some fuel to the fire. Lara noted his buttocks were nicely rounded and firm. Finally he turned to her, pausing to allow her a full measure of his manliness. Men’s bodies, Lara decided then and there, had not the beauty of a woman’s. Enda was big-boned, as were all the Forest people. He walked to the bed and, lifting the coverlet, climbed into it, reaching for her as he did so.

Lara tensed as he pulled her atop him so that their bodies were matched breast to breast, belly to belly, thigh to thigh. Her flesh seemed to melt into his hardness. She swallowed hard as a big hand caressed her from the nape of her neck to her buttocks, but she was unable to restrain the shudder that overcame her. The touch was so possessive.

“Easy, girl,” he said softly as if he were speaking to a frightened animal. The hand encircled her bottom slowly, slowly, slowly. “That’s right. Get used to your master’s touch. Be good, and you will be rewarded.” The hand fondled her again.

Just as she was getting used to it, his two hands clamped about her slim waist and lifted her up just enough to put his face in the narrow glen separating her little round breasts. She felt him breathe deeply, inhaling her scent. Then raising his head, Enda deliberately licked the flesh between her breasts. Lara’s eyes widened with surprise, and when he shifted her position just slightly to clamp his mouth over a nipple, she felt her heart skip a beat.

The brown eyes stealthily observed her every little reaction. He suckled on her nipple and was rewarded with a startled gasp. He sucked harder, his teeth gently worrying the tender nub of flesh, and she cried out softly. She was utterly charming in her surprise. He released his hold on her breast and quickly rolled Lara onto her back within the curve of his embrace. “Did you like that?” he asked her.

She hesitated, but then remembered Ethne’s advice. “Aye,” she admitted. “I did.”

“There is more to mating than the coupling,” he told her, “although with Durga you will simply be mounted and used. My brother is not a subtle man. I, on the other hand, find women who enjoy passion more enjoyable as lovers. Durga does not understand why the slave women prefer my attentions to his, except for women like Truda, who think by lying beneath him they can gain power and status for themselves.”

“But they cannot,” Lara noted quietly.

“Of course not. She is not of the pure blood,” he answered her. Then he tipped her face up to his, and kissed her. “How clever of you to see it so clearly, and so quickly, Lara.” His knuckles grazed her cheekbone. “Now enough talking, girl. If we do not get on with this business of deflowering you soon Durga will be here, and eager for his share.” He kissed her harder now.

He was the first man to ever kiss her, Lara thought. She let her mouth kiss him back, tasting him, sensing the rising desire in those kisses. What would it be like to love and be loved? she wondered briefly. Then she put the thought from her mind. Love was a luxury available to a very few, if indeed it even existed. It was not her fate to be loved.

Enda now rolled Lara beneath him, growling in her ear, “Open your legs for me, girl! I am almost ready to have you.”

Obediently she spread herself for him. This much she understood, for Susanna had explained it. She felt his fingers playing with her most intimate flesh, which sent a bolt of sensation through her. What was this? Susanna had said nothing of reciprocal feelings, but perhaps she was not allowed to speak on such things. The tingling in her nether regions made Lara uneasy, and she squirmed restlessly.

“Ahh, yes, girl, you are almost ready for me.” The fingers swirled expertly between her nether lips, playing with the sensitive nub. He half rose, putting her between his two sinewy thighs. He leaned forward, moving carefully toward his ultimate goal.

Lara watched him, fascinated, through half-closed eyes. The play of emotions across his face was most revealing. She sensed the tip of his manhood touching the entry to her body, felt him pushing his manroot into her, stopping, and then with a cry of undisguised triumph bursting through her maidenhead to fill her entirely. Lara cried out, for the momentary fork of pain caught her off guard. She struggled to unseat him, scratching and clawing at him even as the pain subsided quickly and was gone.

Enda caught at the dainty hands that fought him, pinioning them at her sides as he found his rhythm, and began to pleasure himself within her tight sheath. He groaned with his enjoyment, relishing her compactness as he was filled more and more with hot desire. Never had a woman given him such delight. He actually wept with the feelings consuming him, and realized he craved far more of her than he had any right to want. He brushed her lips tenderly, and was startled when their gazes met.