The Baron and the Shepherdess – Part III

by The Qmoq (c) 2006

The Baron gave Jaina a day to rest – this was essential for her, for after spending all night in the pillory, she could barely stand to tend her sheep. She used the time to lie in bed, dreaming of him and how she could convince him to stop using the potion. She knew he was powerful - perhaps he would like to demonstrate that power in some other way? A plan began to formulate in her devious, feminine mind.

He sent for her after the day's rest, and told her to resume her position naked underneath the sheets. As he brought the bottle to her, she sighed at him, and smiled politely. "Sire, I will drink from the bottle if I must, but would it not be more of a challenge for you to prevent me from my desire for a release in some other way?"

"Such as, my dear?" The Baron was intrigued. Jaina's heart leapt.

"Sire, if you instruct me to simply stop my frustrated rubbing when I am as close as I can get, then I will fulfill your regrettable desires without recourse to any potion."

The Baron mused this for a moment, before nodding. "Very well," he said, then in a firmer voice: "Begin."

Jaina stifled a grin as she began to pleasure herself, knowing that this time, finally, she would achieve her innermost wish. Within only a moment, due to the soft, satin sheets and the Baron's deep, passionate voice, she was purring with delight. At the back of her mind, she worked through the steps of her plan. She was to continue beyond the point at which he instructed her to stop, for she knew that he would still maintain his oath of not laying a finger upon her person. By the time that he could call for guards or Mina, she would have triumphed over her the infuriating barrier that the potion had provided. Any subsequent punishment would surely be worth that moment of liberation, she had argued with herself.

She was getting closer, and she told him so, but he recognised the signs of this from staring into her bright blue eyes and noticing the twitching of the sheets that covered her body. He was ready with his instruction, and wanted it to be timed at the right moment to have the greatest impact. His mind imagined the workings of her brain and her fingers, and he got a surge of excitement from working without the potion. He cleared his throat and said: "Jaina, I do not want you to release your joy."

Jaina smiled at the Baron, and bit her lip. "Sire, I cannot, I must continue." She proceeded to rub herself faster.

The Baron stood from his chair. "You disobey me?" he asked, his voice tinted with surprise, not anger. "I ordered you not to climax," he confirmed.

She felt as though he was King Knut trying to command the tide from coming in. Nothing would stop her from rubbing herself. But then, just as she was on the edge, she stopped. She waited a moment, and tried to rub again, but stopped again. It was as though some invisible force was preventing her from continuing. The Baron looked on, silently, watching the disbelief grow in her eyes. He did not smile or frown, his face was impassive.

"I c-can't go on," she sobbed. "M-my body won't let me. But I must. I feel I might die if I don’t!"

Still he said nothing. She cast the sheets from the bed, revealing her naked frame, for she wondered if their weight was preventing her somehow. For a third time, she disobeyed him and rubbed herself, tears of shame and embarrassment streaming down her cheeks. The Baron could see the redness and hear the dampness of Jaina, now scratching herself and pinching at her own flesh in desperation. But she could not get to the final point. She looked up at him once more; her face beautifully dazed and confused, sighed "Oh," at him, and fainted.

When she awoke, she was sitting up in bed, surrounded by Mina, the Baron, and a mysterious woman who she correctly guessed was Curious One, the magician. She looked at them all, but when her gaze fell upon the eyes of the Baron, she looked down at her lap, ashamed. "I'm sorry, sire."

The Baron spoke. "Jaina, I will forgive you your disobedience this time, given that you did not disobey my deepest wish, which was that you could not completely satisfy your womanly craving. After you fainted," continued the Baron, "I called for Mina to revive you, and I also asked for Curious One to come, to see if she could explain what happened. I feared that it was as a result of taking the potion. I love you, my dear, so if the potion hurt you in any way, I would throw myself from the tower and dash myself on the rocks below."

Curious One looked to the Baron, then to Jaina, and bared her teeth in a wide grin. "I have a confession to make, sire," she said. "There is no potion that can prevent a woman from performing this passionate act. What I provided to you was merely coloured, flavoured water. Before you interrupt, Jaina, let me continue, I implore you. I knew of your passion for the Baron, and I suspected that you would be willing to submit your entire being to him. I was correct. Only through the will of one to whom she is devoted, only then will a woman be able to deny herself that which she craves most. Only through his direct instruction that you must not take it, only that will stop you from taking it." She turned to the Baron. "The potion was merely a reminder of that, and I fear that Jaina believed the potion more than she believed you, sire. When the potion was gone, she was not disobedient, for you did not order her to stop rubbing, did you, sire? Your order was for her not to finish her pleasure. Deep inside her heart, she still knew that she had to obey. That is her glory, but it is also her curse."

While the Baron and Jaina were casting glances at each other, trying to confirm Curious One's words, Mina sighed and began to speak. She too directed her words at the Baron. "Sire, I too have a confession. I am here as your servant, that is true, but I also serve another. You see, you are betrothed to my aunt, my father's sister. Fortunately, I take my appearance from my mother's side of the family, so there was no chance of you uncovering my deception. I was here to see what type of man you were, and I discovered that you were the most honourable man that I know. I know that you only wish to marry my aunt to prevent a war, sire, but I am compelled to intervene after hearing this tale. I believe that if I talk to my aunt, who has a romantic soul despite her stern countenance, I would be able to convince her that you have found your soul mate in a shepherdess, and she would be willing to remove the threat of war from your shoulders. All she would want in return is a seat at your wedding. However,” she paused, “there is one more stumbling block. Sire, I know we have not talked of him, but Jaina is already betrothed to another," Mina ended her speech quietly, not sure how to resolve this final problem.

"Oh sire," chirped Jaina, "I believe that I can solve this conundrum, for as I tended my sheep this morn, I am sure that I observed my fiancé taking his masculine pleasure on young Belinda."

"Very well, then he shall marry Belinda!" cried the Baron. "Dash his infidelity!"

"But sire, Belinda is my most favoured sheep."

There was a moment's silence, after which the gales of laughter began to peal from all four occupants of the bed. Catching his love's eye once more, and seeing the light in her eyes, the Baron waited no longer.

“Mina,” he said, though his dark brown eyes did not waver from Jaina’s. “My oath was to not touch Jaina for I was betrothed to another. In your wise opinion, am I free from this oath?”

“Oh yes, sire!” clapped Mina.

“Very well then,” he replied, and unprecedented warmth was in his voice. Sliding between Mina and Curious One, he held Jaina's head to his chest, sinking his face to kiss the flaxen hair that he had longed to touch for so long. They embraced fully, finally. His shirt and her hair both became damp from the tears of joy that were wept, and they held each other forever.

The End.