Party Piece: Author’s Comments

As their hands met the glass slipped; he grabbed for it but could not stop the contents slopping out upon her bare thigh. Allisandra started. ‘That’s cold.’

Leander bit his lip and looked at the dark brandy splash on her leg. He felt light-headed; his limbs seemed to throb and buzz as if they were ready to explode. This was worse than the moment before the charge at Moriens. There was only one cure, and that was action.
‘Ducina,’ he said formally; ‘allow me.’ Without hesitating he slid to his knees on the deck and pressed his lips to her inner thigh. He heard the soft intake of her breath. Her flesh was satin-soft and warm and he could smell her secret musky perfume. He lapped the sticky moisture from her smooth skin, and it seemed as dreamlike and terrible to him as that first charge into battle. When every trickle of the pungent liquid had been erased he rose before her again, his colour high, his jaw set.

‘How gallant,’ she purred.

‘My pleasure, Ducina,’ he said almost with a groan. His scrotum felt as tight as a clenched fist.

Her laughter was like the jingle of spurs. ‘And so charming!’ She began to play with one of the silver buttons on his jacket; the one directly over his left nipple. ‘You are a very handsome boy.’

‘Don’t mock me, Madame,’ said he, eyes narrowed. ‘I am no boy for you to tease: I am a man.’

‘Prove that,’ she whispered.

Plot: A grand ball is taking place on the Royal Galleon, with the Prince himself in attendance. Leander, a young nobleman and soldier, seeks out the Ducina Allisandra, whom he has long desired to meet. A superb fencer, renowned battle-leader and heroine of the Empire, the Ducina is entertained by the adoration of the handsome young man. She honours him with a dance and then joins him on deck. Searching for somewhere to consummate their mutual desire, they hide behind a screen on the forecastle deck, but as they couple she kicks the screen over, revealing them to a surprised and appreciative audience.

Sexual themes: Straight. Thigh-boots.

Notes:

Male point of view.

This was originally written to be one of the stories in Cruel Enchantment, but when I sent it in as a taster to Black Lace the then Editor, Kerri Sharp, snapped it up for an anthology. I ended up writing Captive Audience to replace it.

Party Piece has a pseudo-early 19th Century Regency-style setting, all tight trousers and rapiers and military uniforms. I had a lot of fun with the sumptuous decadence of the party: trained baboons serving drinks, roasted phoenix for the dining table (How do you roast a phoenix?!) and fairy-lights with real fairies in them. It’s the only story I’ve written with a young male lead too, as normally I prefer my men with some maturity. But gallant, callow, overwrought Leander is cute.