She awoke to a cool breeze and the first sun dipping behind the horizon. Her skin was no longer wet, but the wetness between her legs lingered. She was tempted to lie here, continuing to explore pleasure on her own, but she needed to move on. It was time to enter the outskirts of the city and find a place to stay before approaching the Sultana. She had only an hour or two before the later sun would follow his sister, and Aedra did not intend to sleep alone tonight.
Gathering her belongings in her arms, she walked, undressed, back to Endellion and set them down. She began to rifle through her bag for fresh garments. She had acquired several sets of incredible silk panties, a rare luxury, in her most recent journey and had been waiting for this moment to enjoy them. She selected an olive-green pair, embroidered with small golden flowers around the waist, and slid them on. As she reached for the matching bra, however, she heard the sound of someone approaching from the road. A woman, perhaps in her late twenties, was rolling a small cart back from a market. She was lost in thought and didn't see Aedra until nearly upon her.
"Oh Gods, forgive me, sister," she exclaimed.
Aedra smiled, and drank in the sight of her full lips, long red hair, and ample curves.
A long bath, kisses on the ear, a hand stretched over her belly button.
"Well met, sister, and don't worry. I have nothing to hide. Tell me, what are you selling today?"
The woman was taken aback to be beckoned closer to a mostly naked stranger, but Aedra's pull was so warm, so magnetic, that she hesitated only for a moment.
"Apricots, my lady. I have only a few left."
"Then perhaps we should share one," Aedra said, stepping still closer to the cart. A light shone in her eyes, and the woman stared at her transfixed. A flush rose in her cheeks, and she glanced around for confirmation that Aedra was the only person, stranger or otherwise, who was on the road this afternoon.
"May I?" asked Aedra, gesturing towards the basket sitting atop the cart. Receiving a nod from the red-haired woman, she reached down and ran a thumb over the fuzzy skins of the beautiful fruit. Selecting one that was noticeably ripe, she took a bite while keeping her playful gaze upon the woman. Juice flowed immediately down her mouth, dripping onto her neck. She chewed slowly, savoring the sweetness on her tongue.
A gentle wind came down from the hills, and now that the heat of the day was fading, Aedra's nipples began to harden with anticipation. The woman noticed (how could she not?) and swallowed hard. It was clear that, surprise aside, she was not finding this encounter unpleasant in the slightest.
Aedra ran her tongue across her lips, as her eye contact with the woman intensified somewhat. She held the apricot out to her. She was standing close to her now; very close.
"What is your name?" she asked softly.
"Dellana," the woman replied, reaching slowly for the apricot, entranced. Their hands brushed and the juices of the apricot flowed freely on to both of them.
"Dellana," Aedra repeated, casting her name up into the sunset as if to name the day itself. "My name is Aedra. I am looking for a place to stay tonight. Is there an inn nearby?" Her hazel eyes danced in the fading light, and the truth behind her words was all too obvious.
"No, sister. You have a ways yet before anything like an inn." She hesitated much longer this time. Dellana was clearly a farmer, a vendor. Someone who relied on hard work and routine to get through life. Beautiful, yes, but not in full control or expression of that beauty. Spontaneity was a word that had never been used to describe her before, yet there was a definitely longing in her eyes as she searched Aedra's high cheekbones and soft mouth.
The soft mouth was curved into a smile, and the cheekbones raised towards the hazel eyes. Aedra didn't need to rush things. She had been here before, and her patience was boundless. The moment of hesitation, the gorgeous tension, the surge of resolve. She reached for the Dellana's hand, still holding the apricot, with both of hers and raised it toward her mouth. She raised an eyebrow in question and received the slightest of nods in return. In a moment, she was eating out the palm of her hand without saying a word.
Dellana took a deep breath and something like the rushing river beside them stirred in her eyes.
"My house," she said softly, and then the strength in her voice grew, "has a spare room if you are in need." For the first time, she smiled, and the effect was lovely.
Aedra licked the juice off of her finger, and when Dellana's smile deepened, she took a finger into her mouth, savoring every last drop of sweetness as it ran back out of her mouth. "That would be a blessing," she said. "Give me a moment to gather my things."
She walked back to Endellion and dressed quickly now, though sure to make sure Dellana didn't miss every sight. Most women, she had found, got almost as much pleasure out of watching her get dressed as they did in the opposite.
"Is your home far?" Aedra asked, pulling on her boots.
"Not at all, just back over the hill. You will have an easy ride tomorrow."
And a pleasurable one tonight
, thought Aedra. She liked this woman. She also felt sure that she lived by herself. A loneliness lingered about her, and a dormant joy. Pleasure with several could be great fun, but this evening she looked forward to focusing solely upon Dellana.
Having packed, she walked Endellion back to Dellana and they made their way up the road, exchanging stories of the town and the road. Dellana became more and more relaxed as they turned left and made their way down a dirt path surrounded by groves of trees, flowering shrubs, and a sweet smell on the wind.
"It isn't much to most people," she said, "but this is my farm." She stopped and looked around, with a glow on her face and added, almost to herself, "this is my heart."
Aedra smiled and reached towards Dellana. Her fingers moved down her wrist and wove themselves into her calloused hand.
"Show me everything."
And she did. Endellion cared for, the women walked hand in hand through the orchards. Aedra heard all about the farm and its bounty. She heard how Dellana had cared for it with her two sisters, but one had craved adventure and set off for the sea, while the other had met someone in the village and gone off to form a different life. How Dellana was happy for both of them but couldn't bear to leave the farm herself. As dusk turned to night, they returned to the house.
It was a small but well-cared-for wooden home, and it looked particularly charming underneath the pale moon. Outside the door, Dellana stopped and pulled Aedra in toward her. Aedra exhaled as the rough hands wrapped around her waist and the heat coming off of Dellana enveloped her.
"Who are you?"
"I am Aedra," and when Dellana raised an eyebrow, added, "I am a traveler. I am a righter-of-wrongs. I am a lover of people."
"Can I kiss you?"
"Those," Aedra said, "are the magic words." She buried her fingers into the flowing red hair and pressed her body fully into Dellana's as their lips met with incredible longing. They stumbled toward the wall and soon Aedra was pinned against it. Dellana, an inch shorter but certainly as strong, leaned up to take Aedra's lower lip between her teeth. One hand pushed against the house while the other pulled them together, needing to be closer.
Their tongues ran circles around each other while Aedra continued to hold Dellana's head in her hands. Her thigh was being straddled and she could already feel the wetness forming there. She moved her mouth until she found an earlobe to do some biting of her own.
"You smell like the heavens," Dellana said. Suddenly self-conscious, she laughed, "I'm not sure that I can say the same after the day's work."
Aedra stopped and looked her full in the face, her head cocked to the side. "Across the continent, the rich spend their gold trying to smell like the exact combination of apricots and earth that is in the air and on your body right now."
