"Strong Arms"

Tamina sighed as she looked out over the gardens that lay below her chambers' balcony. Her wedding to Prince Dastan of Persia was in a few hours and she couldn't get him off her mind. She knew that this marriage was supposed to be a political one, a marriage designed to make the Persians both allies and protectors of her city, Alamut, but it felt like more than that. Ever since that fateful walk in the gardens with the Lion of Persia, Tamina couldn't shake the feeling that he knew her better than he let on. There was often a knowing look in his eyes, often masked by a mysterious sadness and what looked like, longing? Regardless, she knew her duty and that was to marry Prince Dastan and carry out her roles as High Guardian, Princess of Alamut and wife.

But... was duty supposed to make her feel like this. She supposed that she could ask her only friend, fellow Guardian and handmaiden to Tamina, Nashta, but the feelings were still so new that she didn't want to reveal them just yet.

It all started when she spotted Dastan scaling down the walls of her Holy City into the gardens almost a week ago. His arm muscles bunched and flexed with every movement and the brawn of his back rippled and shimmered with his deft actions. Dastan, of course, was not wearing a shirt, preferring to go around in only his breeches when sparring. Because that was where he was heading, as it was high noon, when the guards of Alamut trained under their soon-to-be Prince Consort. After the successful attack of the Persians under her betrothed and his brothers, Dastan deemed it necessary to prevent such a breach in security from happening again. Over the past two weeks, he had taken it upon himself, along with his trusted friend, Bis, to train her garrison in battle skills and defence. According to reports, her soldiers have slowly started to accept Dastan and even respect him as their leader, a feat she didn't think was possible.

Sighing, Tamina left her chambers and entered the maze that was the palace's corridors. She didn't want to miss Dastan in battle. For reasons unknown, the sight of him in his glorious skill left her breathless and a little warm. She refused to believe that it was because of the sight of her affianced half-naked, sweaty and wielding a sword as if he had been born with it. She publicly and secretly attributed it to the heat of midday, never minding that the sight of his arms shot a thrill through her body every time.

She didn't know what she was going to do when they were married and she would be expected to lay with him and engage in intimacies. Unfortunately, no one was around to tell her exactly how those intimacies would go, seeing as her parents died before such a topic became a necessity for discussion.

"Princess Tamina," called out a familiar voice. Sighing once more, Tamina turned towards the voice and found her loyal handmaiden, Nashta, approaching her from the east corridor. "Where are you going? It is time to prepare for your wedding as we have much to do," declared Nashta, frowning at her friend and princess.

"I was just..." she sighed again, it seemed that it was becoming a habit. "Nothing. Shall we go and prepare?" suggested Tamina, pasting a reluctant smile on her face. She let her handmaiden lead her back towards her chambers and undress her. She spent the remainder of the dressing period musing over Dastan and the evening to come. She hoped, as the makeup and henna was applied, that when Dastan came to her that night, as her husband, that he wouldn't be too drunk and that it would all be over with minimal amount of pain or embarrassment on her part.

Finally, she was pronounced ready and fit for the wedding ceremony. It would be a long and complicated process, because as she was both the Princess of Alamut and the High Guardian of the Dagger there were numerous rituals that must be observed. She only hoped that the Prince wouldn't become too bored during the ceremony.

As she approached the altar, preceded by the Guardians of the Temple she found Dastan. He was watching her approach, a look of appreciation in his eyes and face as his dark, Persian eyes travelled down her body and took note of the decorative henna and jewels on her skin. His eyes returned to her face and suddenly he winked, of all things! Strangely, Tamina felt a little calmer and more relaxed after and was able to focus, mostly, on the rituals. The sight of Dastan's strong body and decorative Alamutian armour and Persian sword made an impact on her and caused unbidden images of his smooth, warm skin and gentle, happy smile to enter her mind. Shaking her head slightly, she once more turned her focus to the rituals at hand and vowed to obey her new husband and produce heirs when it was her turn to verbalize their marriage. Dastan made similar vows of marriage, agreeing to protect Tamina and her city. After, the traditional partaking of shared bread and wine ended the marriage ceremony and they were pronounced joined.

Great cheers rose up from the attendees and the crowds outside and Dastan and Tamina turned and faced their city for the first time as a married couple. Dastan smiled briefly but warmly towards Tamina as he led his new and first wife towards the celebration where plenty of food, drink and dancing entertainment awaited them. His hand gently brushed hers as they made their way to the royal table and a shock of warmth shot up her arm causing her to involuntarily shiver. Perhaps this night won't be so bad, she prayed silently.

As the night wore on, she surveyed the revellers with distaste, noticing the crude drunkenness of many of the Persians, whom in turn affected the Alamutians, also drunk with happiness, wine and the celebration of their Princess's marriage. She noticed, however, that Dastan seemed to be in control of his actions, hardly consuming more than a cup of wine, unlike his brothers who let the drinks flow freely. Her eyes narrowed as she pondered this new piece of information. When she looked back, Prince Dastan was gone. She was startled when she felt a hand at her arm and turned to find Dastan smiling down on her.

"How are you this evening, Tamina?" he queried, his voice smooth and deep, sending more thrills down her spine as she struggled to reply.

"Fine," she finally responded, wondering what his purpose here was. It was not customary for the bride and groom to interact at the celebration, society preferring their interactions to be of a more private nature, in the consummation chamber. Thankfully, Alamutian tradition dictated privacy towards the consummation of marriages, unlike Persian practices. Even more wondrous was that Dastan overrode his brothers' and father's wishes and agreed to follow the Holy City's marriage customs.

"What are you doing here, Prince Dastan?" she asked eventually, unable to meet his eye.

"Dastan, if you don't mind, now that we're married," he grinned. "And I came over here, Tamina, to let you know that your servant is wishing to whisk you away for preparations," he said, stressing both her name and the word preparations for effect.

"Very well then," she answered, rising gracefully. She refused to allow Dastan to see how the mere thought of what those preparations were for affected her countenance. She really was naïve, Tamina realized as she met Nashta and headed for what was known as the consummation chamber. She had absolutely no idea how the night would go, what would happen and most importantly, what was expected from her, beyond the obedience of a wife. Her agitation grew more and more as her handmaidens dressed her in the finest and sheerest silk night gown, braided her hair with care and dabbed her with perfume and incense for fertility and good luck. Finally, it was time.

Her handmaidens bowed as they left and soon after her new husband entered from the adjoining waiting chamber. His gaze, kind, traversed her evening look and he met her eyes with a smile.

"Tamina," he said his low, reassuring voice that she had grown to lov- like. "You have nothing to fear from me tonight. I am not a barbarian, nor do I take a woman carelessly. Rather, you will come to find everything enjoyable and pleasurable. While I understand that you are nervous, and you have a reason to be, this is happening tonight," he said gently, but firmly. She nodded dumbly as he slowly made his way to stand in front of her.

"Tamina," he said again, reverently this time and his hands, warm, strong and scarred, settled on her bare shoulders. She shivered at the contact but met his gaze head-on. Dastan let his hands move down her arms and back up again in a gentle caress. Slowly, he leaned forward and placed a gentle kiss first on her forehead, then on each of her cheeks and finally on her lips. She gasped at the new sensations and unconsciously moved closer, to his mouth and to his body heat. Dastan groaned low and wrapped his arms around her smaller frame as his mouth descended on hers.

Tamina couldn't make sense of everything. The emotions, sensations and tastes were so overwhelming, yet so wonderful that she could only wish for more. She didn't know how to get more, but figured that crowding closer to his warm, strong body and pressing her lips more firmly against his would get her what she wanted. It worked. Dastan practically crushed her to his frame and surprised her with his tongue as he ran it across the seam of her lips, begging her silently to open her mouth to him. She acquiesced, wondering what feelings this action would bring to her body. The very best, she discovered as his tongue entered her mouth and swept around, tasting her and allowing her to taste him. He tasted of the fine wine he consumed earlier and she felt almost drunk on the emotions and sensations he was evoking in her. She barely registered as Dastan moved them towards the large bed that dominated the chamber and gently lowered them onto it, so that he lay atop of her as he continued to kiss her.

Dastan gently removed his arms from around his new wife so that he could prop himself up as he delved more deeply into the kiss. He, it seemed to Tamina, was determined to make her enjoy every second of their consummation, and it was working. She barely even noticed that he started to untie her wedding nightgown, so consumed in the feelings he induced in her. That is, until he moved his lips to her neck and began kissing down her throat to reach her bare shoulders and newly revealed collarbone. She gasped, startled at this new turn in events and made to push him off of her.

Dastan rose up slightly with a small smile gracing his features. "It's okay, this is a natural progression of what we're doing," he murmured, reassuring her. "I won't do anything you feel is distressing," he added, seeing her doubtful expression. She hesitantly nodded her agreement and Dastan recommenced. What happened next shocked her to the core. He had revealed her breast and kissed one! But... it actually began to feel good as his lips locked around her nipple and she accidentally let a moan slip out. Dastan grinned against her skin and switched breasts, determined, it appeared, to treat her whole body to every pleasure possible. As he moved further and further south down her body, she began to writhe more and more, expressing sounds of pleasure at his actions. She clamped her legs shut however, when, long after he had removed her gown, he moved to kiss her down there, in her secret place.

"Trust me," whispered Dastan, looking into her eyes sincerely, and strangely, she did. She nodded and slowly opened her legs, fighting the urge to close them again as his breath feathered against her sensitive skin. She threw her head back as he made contact and moved his tongue and lips against the crux of her body. She couldn't stop the whimpers as he brought even more new and strange sensations to her, as heat danced across her skin and tightened her womb. She felt like she was being brought to the precipice of some sort of grand climax, like the height of a performance but Dastan, curse him, ceased his ministrations before she could find out what it was.

He chuckled at the glare on her face as she crossed her arms in petulance. He rose above her and uncrossing her arms, settled his warm and heavy yet safe weight onto her body. "Relax, my Princess, I am merely getting started," he smiled. She huffed in response, yet to see him make good on that promise. Suddenly, warmth shot through her body as he rolled his hips across hers. She startled as she realized that there was something warm and hard laying on her thigh. She tried to look and find out what it was, when Dastan, noticing her confusion, sought to clear a few matters up.

Minutes later, she was blushing hard as she digested the information her new husband presented her on the manner of consummating a marriage. She couldn't believe no one had ever told her before, but seeing as her only companions of late were those of the holy, religious kind, she supposed that they wouldn't know much either.

"I assure you, Tamina, that you will find nothing disgusting about our marriage bed," said Dastan softly, stroking her waist gently. He was still hovering above her as she slowly came to terms with what was about to happen. Dastan once again rolled his hips over hers and this time Tamina was prepared. She cautiously responded to the roll and Dastan smiled appreciatively. His hand stole between their bodies and separated her legs. He stroked her secret spot once again, fanning to flame the fire that had earlier consumed her. She felt her body become wetter and lusher as she attempted to move against that hand, clumsily trying to bring herself more pleasure.

After a few minutes of Dastan's pleasurable ministrations, he withdrew his hand, much to her disappointment, only to replace it with something bigger and harder. Her gaze flew to between their bodies, where she saw what represented his masculinity for the first time, the enormous amount of candlelight flickering in the room doing it, she felt, no justice. It was magnificent. She moved to touch it when Dastan intercepted her hand and brought it up above her head with the other hand, clasping them in his own. He nudged her legs further apart with his hips and placed his manhood at, what she later guessed was, her entrance. He gently thrust in, causing her to gasp in surprise at the new feeling of fullness. Dastan slowly made his way further into her passage, pausing before breaking through the wall of her virginity. Then, he wrapped his strong arms, muscles bunched in the biceps, around her body and began thrusting and rocking his hips against hers.

"It feels better if you wrap your legs around my hips," Dastan rasped, consumed by the emotions and sensations he was feeling. Tamina, curious to see if it was true, followed his instructions and found him reaching deeper into her body, feeling as if he was stroking all the way up to her heart. Pelvis to pelvis, chest to chest, they matched their movements to each other as pleasure washed over her and her body tightened with unexplained tremors. Dastan, though seemed to realize that she was feeling and so quickened his movements, once again bringing his hand between their bodies and stroking her. Her body soon bowed with pleasure as it crested over her, tightening her passage around Dastan's manhood. Dastan growled as his wife reached her pinnacle and he let himself go, feeling his release wash over him and into her.

They both slumped down onto the bed, panting and heated from their climax. Tamina ran her hands down her husband's sweaty back, revelling in his strength and powerful body. She brought her hands over his shoulders and rubbed them down his arms, replete in her satisfaction. She had never imagined anything like this in her wildest and secretest of dreams. At best, she hoped for a quick coupling but this, this was wonderful and she desperately hoped it would become a common occurrence.

"Now that," commented Dastan once he recovered his strength, "is what I call mind blowing." He grinned as he lifted himself off his wife and rolled over, bringing her to lie over him. He met her gaze and chuckled when she blushed. He brought the covers over them and pulled Tamina closer to his body. He yawned and mentioned something about her exhausting her new husband to ridiculous extents but Tamina was more focused on the feeling of Dastan's hard and powerful chest beneath her cheek and his strong and safe arm wrapped around her shoulders, bringing her closer. She sighed, happily this time, and settled down for a deep sleep, knowing she was safe and well loved in her new husband's strong arms.

I've been wanting to read a story like this for so long, so I decided to write one of my own. It's very different from my usual work, but I'm pleased with the outcome. I always figured that Tamina would be fascinated by her betrothed's body, so here's my interpretation of her feelings about Dastan and her wedding night.

Enjoy! And as always, reviews are welcome, loved and appreciated!

~poser16