Anya's Raven

Anya strode to the woman she sought, who sold various charms at one of the smaller stalls towards the west end of the market, its tables shrouded in purple velvet. The edges of the cloths trailed the ground, and carried dust almost a foot along each edge, but otherwise the rest of the stall was impeccably neat. Crystals were laid out in staggered rows, some alone, others strung together in differing combinations. Pouches in a range of colors lay along another length of the stall.

"Greetings," the stall owner said, her dark robes swishing as she bent forward in the hint of a bow.

"Greetings," Anya replied. She looked at the woman squarely before speaking again. "You are Valdine, of the Sisterhood?"

"I am she," the Sister replied. "Have you a matter that concerns the Grove?" Valdine's eyes were tranquil, though her lyrical voice had lowered. The Sisterhood worked towards its own ends, mingling with local populations as individuals, but never overt about their positions as Sisters of the Grove.

"I have recently settled a matter for the Grove, and in return, I was given to know that you might have some knowledge of breaking a Kujheel's bond."

Valdine paled slightly at Anya's statement, causing the black of her hair and brows to stand out in sharp relief. She studied Anya speculatively, turning after a moment to survey the patrons of the bustling market.

"Let me close up. We will need to speak more than casually."

"I thank you, Sister," Anya replied, bowing her head in appreciation.

When Valdine had finished storing her items, she let down large heavy cloths over the entrances to the stall, securing them to thick wooden posts. She then lit a lamp, and unfolded two chairs from the corner of the stall, motioning Anya to sit.

"Male or female?"

"Male," Anya answered.

"For you? Are you the Kujheel'a'ta?"

"Yes."

Brow quirking in inquiry, Valdine asked, "Is that all you can tell me?"

"He has never bonded me fully, and not even partially for many years."

Valdine gaped in disbelief. "Years? You've been accessible to him for years?"

"He was acquired by our Household in his youth, and was still there when I left. I haven't had contact with him since then. Nine years now. Does it change the circumstances much?"

"He knows you well, then. Well enough to practice his control of the bond at will. That will have made him strong, though the time apart could work in your favor. Then again, it may have garnered something of a hunger in him. Were you intimate with this Kujheel?"

Though the years had hardened Anya considerably, heat rose to her face at the question. Perhaps because even the memories of those intimate moments still had the power to quicken her pulse, though she had tried to drown them with other lovers.

"We were intimate more than once, but our relationship was never...consummated, so to speak. I left before it got to that point."

"Quite remarkable that he just let you go. Quite unusual indeed," Valdine replied, tapping her chin with a thin, graceful finger.

"He goes where my father tells him to go. He would only come after me at my father's wishes. For a time, that was not a concern. I believe it to be a concern now."

"Would it be such a misfortune to bond, Kujheel'a'ta? There is a reason the Divine created such as you and he."

Anya shook her head, though she had let herself on more than one occasion wonder at the life of the bonded after she had learned what Raven was, and what it meant for her. The question that kept nagging at her was, what was her father's scheme in all of this? She had spent the last five years of her independence dismantling what she could of her father's empire, sabotaging businesses and relationships, to the extent that she was sure he would have her killed. She couldn't just submit to his grand plan, if there was one, after she had already decided to ruin him.

"I don't think that's an option. If circumstances were different..." Anya trailed off. If circumstance were different, she and Raven would most likely have never crossed paths. "I need to break with him."

Valdine sighed, rubbing her forehead with her fingers. "It is a complex thing, attempting to sever from a Kujheel. The bond is woven with emotions, as well as the genetics that make Kujheel and Kujeel'a'ta. Are you willing to face the danger of failure?"

Anya nodded. She didn't stand a chance against Raven if he was coming to kill her for her father, not when he could wipe away everything from her mind but being with him. And she couldn't bear to think what other plans Syril had for her and Raven, what ways Syril had anticipated using the bond. "I have no alternative. When can we begin?"

"Come back tomorrow evening. Do not eat after the morning. I will attempt the severing within you, and I must find a surrogate for your Kujheel."

******

Raven stalked her dreams that night.

Her heart stopped to see him, half in fear, because his eyes shone so coldly, but also half rejoicing, for he had meaning to her far beyond what she allowed her conscious mind to acknowledge. Her feet moved towards him, as they always did, but she stopped cold when she heard her father's gleeful laughter.

Anya shot Raven a look, but his face remained impassive, giving no hint to his intentions. The laughter continued, and she turned to flee, though she felt the pull of Raven, even in her dreams.

She ran just a few steps, and suddenly she was in the Grove, its towering trees providing a canopy for those it sheltered. Anya breathed in the purity of the place, and headed toward the Circle where she had first taken a lover. It was peaceful there, and warm.

But when she arrived at the Circle, she found it blackened, as if burned, and a terrible stench arose from the ashes. Raven stood in the center, looking about him solemnly.

"What have you done?" Anya cried.

"Nothing," Raven answered, his jewel-like eyes rising to meet hers. "It is you who did this."

Anya shook her head, stricken. She backed away from him, despairing of the scene before her, despairing of Raven's presence in the midst of it.

"Be wary of turning the hand of destiny, An," Raven said, as he began walking toward her. "You cannot be rid of me."

"No!" she protested.

Anya turned again, but he was in front of her before she could run. His arms closed about her in a circle of steel. He stood nearly a foot taller than her, and the heat of his body mesmerized her, spread liquid heat through her core.

It's a dream, she told herself, just a dream.

"Give yourself to me," Raven commanded softly. His hands slid up her back to tangle themselves in her hair, her body quivering in response. "You've never given yourself to me."

He felt so good, his skin hot through her clothes. He was broader than she remembered, a full man in comparison to the youth that lived on in her memories. Raven pulled her closer, and the burning press of his erection caused her loins to tighten in aching response.

Hands still in her hair, Raven tugged her head back. His eyes roamed her face and neck, lids heavy with desire. Trailing one of his hands back down her back, he lowered his head, covering her mouth with his, nudging the seam in her lips with his tongue. Anya's mouth parted on a moan, her lids drooping closed, and their tongues clashed as their lips pressed harder together.

Her arms came up under Raven's and around him, fingers exploring the rigid muscles of his shoulders and back. She could feel them contracting under her touch, and suddenly there were no clothes between them. Her eyes flew open, but drifted closed again when Raven ground his burning length to her body, groaning her name into her mouth. The scorching press of skin caused a rush of wetness to her pussy.

When he released her lips, they were on the ground, soft now with new shoots of grass. Raven leaned above her, drinking in the sight of her breasts, flushed with heat and heaving with her breath. His head dipped to take a puckered nipple gently between his teeth, his tongue flicking its tip as he applied the smallest pressure to his bite. Anya's hips rose up instinctively to his, her hands buried in Raven's dark hair.

He squeezed her other nipple between his thumb and forefinger, rolling it around and pulling up on it gently, the pleasure so intense she could think of nothing but Raven. When his hand traveled over her abdomen and continued to the wet curls below, her legs parted wide without hesitation.

"Raven," she moaned, as his fingers slid over her swollen nub. "Oh..."

Sliding two fingers deep into her pussy, he thumbed her clit, and she near exploded. He alternated his mouth on each nipple, tonguing the hard tips while his hand slowed at her slick core, biting down with harder pressure while he flicked her clit hard and fast. The rhythm drove her crazy, and she cried out his name, her head tossing back and forth as her back arched, driving her hips harder onto his hand.

"Come to me, Raven," Anya begged him softly. "I need you, now."

But he didn't hear her, instead increasing the pace of his hands, fingers sliding ceaselessly through her wet cleft, pushing her to the brink of orgasm.

"Raven, please!" Anya ground out, hips moving against him of their own accord. Her hands stroked over his shoulders and then tried to pull him up. "I need you to fuck me."

"Tsk, tsk," a chilling voice said above her. "Such language from a woman of a noble House."

Her eyes flew open in panic to see her father standing above her, his eyes riveted to Raven's mouth at her breast. Raven was oblivious to Syril's presence, and continued his barrage on her senses, his fingers working her pussy furiously now.

"No, no!" she cried out, pushing futilely at Raven's shoulders.

But she was powerless to move him, her own traitorous body leaden under Raven's ravishment. She was desperate to get away from Syril's leering smugness, and yet she had been too close to orgasm to turn back now.

Raven pushed a finger to the pucker of her anus, and Anya went over the edge. A scream tore from her throat as the orgasm rolled over her, and her body convulsed with pleasure to her father's pleased laughter. When her eyes opened, it was to the darkness of her tent. She was free of the dream, awake, yet tremors still racked her sweat sheened body, her nipples hard and aching. A shaking hand reached down to her sex to find it sensitive to the touch, and dripping with her juices.

Anya took a shuddering breath. Whatever it took, she was resolved to break Raven's bond. And break her father's scheme. Her eyes closed as tears leaked out, but she didn't sleep for the rest of the night.