The Twelve Dancing Princesses. Nancy Madore

final stroke, and he noted with delight that, with the help of the brush, he had captured his wife’s image so perfectly that the parchment appeared more like a mirror’s reflection than a mere likeness.

      The prince set down the enchanted brush and approached his wife. Very slowly, he raised his hand and stroked one finger gently along Princess Conscia’s open slit, feeling her wetness. She gasped and moaned, thrusting her hips toward him so that she was pressed more forcefully against his hand. He reached down farther beneath her and found the sensitive part of her that he wanted to caress. Meanwhile, he resumed rubbing up and down the length of her open slit with his tongue.

      Princess Conscia cried out with bliss. The pleasure was so intense that nothing else could penetrate her consciousness. She focused on her husband’s tongue and what it was doing to her with every bit of her awareness. Her hips pumped up and down as she rocked herself absently against her husband’s hand and lips and tongue. She was losing herself fully as she sought after the exquisite pleasure that she now realized she could get from him.

      The prince did not want to disrupt the princess’s pleasure, but he felt he must be inside her or die. Her newfound excitement increased his own arousal tenfold, and so he, too, was finding something new and amazing in their intimacy that he had not felt before. He quickly and efficiently mounted his wife from behind. Her body seemed to draw him in and clutch at him, causing him to moan loudly. He forced himself to go slowly as he reached around her hips and resumed his caressing of her. He realized how much harder it was for her to become satisfied than he, and so he used self-restraint and diligence to support her. It was, after all, just as much to his benefit as to hers to do so. He had been astounded to find how much more intense his own satisfaction became when he put it off time and again. He was certain that this was no coincidence; he knew his increased pleasure was a direct result of his consideration for his wife. He wondered that he could have remained ignorant of the connection between the two for so long.

      He was, in fact, becoming more capable in holding off his own pleasure in order to satisfy his wife. He could feel his command over his body strengthening. He stroked and caressed his wife leisurely, enjoying every exquisite sensation without concern for time. When the pleasure came close to being too much to bear, he slowed even more in his movements to hold himself at bay. With his new knowledge of his wife, it would be unimaginable for him to allow any weakness on his part to thwart her. He was determined that she be satisfied.

      As he watched his wife’s hips wriggling around his hardened flesh and listened to her cries, the prince found it harder and harder to withstand the temptation to let the pleasure overtake him. There were a few times when he had to turn away from the luscious sight of her, and close his ears to her enticing cries. Pleasing her brought the most intense sensations he had ever known. It seemed to soothe all of his broken places and give him strength.

      Princess Conscia rocked her hips instinctively. The pleasure was incredible. Her husband’s slow, measured movements were exactly what she needed to remain focused and keep her rhythm. They moved together in perfect harmony until suddenly the princess stiffened and shuddered, crying out convulsively. She closed her eyes as the waves of pleasure rushed over her.

      The prince took one small moment to languish in the sweet satisfaction of satisfying his wife and the exquisite anticipation of fulfillment to come. He moved his hands over his wife’s backside, delighting in the soft feel of her and then, settling his fingers halfway between her hips and waist, he grasped her securely and thrust himself into her violently.

      Princess Conscia was suddenly filled with a new and strange exhilaration that was at once thrilling and poignant. She had always wanted to please her husband of course, but never so much as she did while under the effects of this mysterious afterglow. Throwing the very last of her inhibitions to the winds, she opened her legs even wider and arched her back to thrust her hips up as high as possible, opening herself to her husband even more absolutely and completely, and willing his pleasure to be as wonderful as hers had been. Noting his groans of delight when she moved, she accelerated the rocking of her hips in the manner she thought he liked best. How delightful it was to be able to excite and please the one you loved best!

      The prince half thought he must be in a dream. His wife’s response was so unrestrained and enthusiastic he hardly recognized her. That she wanted to please him he could clearly see, but his heart leapt at the fervor of her desire to please, and the pleasure she was deriving from it. All of this he perceived from her behavior; although he noted it unconsciously, for it was beyond his capabilities of self-restraint to resist such wanton surrender. His whole body quaked from the power of his release as he at last gave in to all of the pent up desire and stimulation. He let out a loud cry of satisfaction that caused the princess to tremble. He clung to her hips after the initial rush of ecstasy, momentarily dizzy from the intensity of it.

      At last they collapsed together, entwined as closely together as they could get. She clung to him and he clung to her. They remained quiet, for words were not necessary. Princess Conscia wondered that she felt not the slightest uneasiness or embarrassment over her behavior. Quite the contrary in fact; she felt positively joyful and self-possessed. It seemed to her that she had learned something new about life and what she wanted from it. No more would she look backward for simpler pleasures. She had grown up.

      The paintings continued throughout the years, although the need for them disappeared after that very first night. The exceptional artwork covers their bedroom walls completely, with erotic images of the princess in every imaginable position. Often the princess will find herself alone in that room, staring at the walls in amazement. The images never fail to arouse her. And needless to say, the princess no longer dreams of escaping her bedroom to rush away to her father’s castle and dance holes in her shoes with her sisters.

      PRINCESS DEVOTIA

      PRINCESS DEVOTIA PUT DOWN HER BIBLE AND ROSE UP TO GET HER husband more coffee.

      “My dear,” said her husband. “I can get it for myself.”

      “I know,” she replied. “But I enjoy getting it for you.”

      It’s too bad, he thought, that my devoted little wife doesn’t enjoy doing the things I want her to do for me. But alas, she was zealous to please him as it pleased her—not him—to do. He sighed in frustration and she looked at him.

      “Are you still hungry?” she asked.

      He was not sure how to answer that question. “Yes and no,” he said with meaning. But the doorbell rang before she had time to respond to this.

      In truth, Princess Devotia wanted very much to please her husband, and she knew full well what he referred to in his little innuendos. It was just that the things he was always pining for did not always feel appropriate to her. For one thing, his desires were far too concerned with the gratification of the flesh. Surely that had nothing to do with love; for the heady sensations they evoked led to the kind of abandon that felt more like lust and greed. Love, she believed, hadmore to do with self-control and restraint.

      The prince returned to his wife with the wizardess in tow, and Princess Devotia eyed her with a mixture of curiosity and distrust. She was wary of thoughts and activities that could undermine the beliefs she had collected since childhood about right and wrong.

      Harmonia duly noted the princess’s prim appearance, the bible on the kitchen table and her guarded approach.

      The wizardess was a spiritual woman also, but she had learned to rely upon her own inner conscience for guidance, rather than what certain men had set down before she had even been born. However, she had a deep respect for all fellow humans who were aware enough of their spiritual needs to seek guidance, provided they did not follow that guidance too blindly, to the detriment of themselves and others.

      More importantly, she could see the glaring discrepancies between the husband and wife as she watched them, and she suspected she knew the reason.

      “I could not help noticing that your castle overlooks the ocean,” the wizardess began conversationally. “I would dearly love to have a closer look at the view, if you would be so