Rata bit her lip as they emerged from the forest. Their small campsite...and Fate...loomed large before them. She cast a furtive glance at him. They had barely said a word all the way back. Yes, she supposed in the dark it was wise to concentrate upon the journey, make certain not to step on anything, rocks, animals or trip and fall. But still, she got the feeling that like her he was debating this whole thing, turning it over and over again in his head. And she was more than a bit nervous about what his final decision was.
What was hers even? Her hands itched, wanted to run across his shoulders and back, soothe tight muscles even as they fanned the flames of passion. She wanted him. She remembered Soji's words, admitted that she had probably wanted him for some time. She could not pinpoint when exactly. When had the little boy that she had saved in the market become the man that fueled her every fantasy? But somewhere along the way that was exactly what had happened.
He stopped by the fire, stared into the dying embers for a long moment. "Go to our bed while I building the fires back up, Rata," she nodded at the authority in his voice. She reluctantly let go of his hand, felt bereft somehow as she walked over to the pile of fronds that served as their bed. She reached for his tunic that lay there, still covered in blood.
"Leave it," he commanded as he fed another log onto the fire, stirred them with a long stick. The flames danced higher then. She saw the hunger in his eyes, "I want to watch you."
She swallowed hard as she nodded, but she obeyed. She knelt on the fronds uncertain what to do. She chuckled at the irony. The High Priestess of the goddess, who had served as her whore for three hundred cycles, did not know what to do. How to seduce the virgin acolyte.
He laughed too as he watched her, "Want to tell me what is so funny, pri...Rata?" The fire was beginning to blaze back to life and she could see that other fires were growing too, his sword lengthening and thickening as he worked.
She bit her lip harder, shook her head, but the look in his eyes, the need she saw there stopped her denial. "Just nervous I guess. Not sure what to say or do," she fumbled over her words as she stared nervously down at her hands.
She looked up when his laughter rang loudly across their deserted home. "You think you are nervous. Try being me."
She smiled, "Yeah well," she stumbled over her words, looked down at the fronds nervously as she whispered her deepest fears, "I'm just not very good. Not a very passionate person."
His laughter this time was like a knife to her soul, "I seriously doubt that. Everything about you is sensual. The way you move." He stopped as the flames grew higher, stared at her seriously, "Lay back and touch yourself, prie... Touch yourself for me, Rata."
She wanted to argue, wanted to tell him no, but something in the way he looked at her stopped her. It was something that she had been doing since she came of age, was practically commanded by the goddess to do, regularly release her energies. But never once, not ever, had she done it in front of anyone. Not even her sisters. But she could deny him nothing.
She did as instructed as the fronds embraced her. Her hands moved to her large breasts, cupped them, squeezed softly until they ached. Her eyes held his gaze. She saw his deep intake of breath, "I always loved your tits. They are so fucking beautiful, but when I touched you tonight, I almost came right then. If they look good, they fucking feel so much better."
She watched as his hand found his sword, it was her turn to breath heavily as he stroked it. She remembered the feel of its thickness in her hands, how it throbbed with each stroke, how sweet it tasted. She moaned at the thought of it.
"Play with your nipples. They are so fucking hard." He said as he sat back on his heels, his hand slowly squeezing his erection. "Tell me what you're thinking about, Rata."
Her fingers moved up to pinch her nipples, her mind completely disconnected she thought only of obeying him, "How good your mouth would feel on them right now."
She was rewarded with a deep and almost tortured moan, "Soon, baby, soon." He promised as he stroked himself harder and faster. "Touch your fountain."
Rata continued to pluck softly at one nipple with her left hand as her right slid slowly down her body, traced its way across her stomach and lower still. Her thighs fell open. She blushed as she realized that he could see everything.
"Don't stop now, tell me how wet you are for me, baby," his voice was strangled as if he was forcing each word out by sheer will.
Her finger brushed across her mound, slipped lower between her folds. She jerked, her body arching up off the fronds when she accidently brushed across the bundle of nerves that was her love button. She cried out.
"Fuck yeah, Rata. Rub yourself for me."
She looked over at him, sought some reassurance as she treaded deep into unfamiliar waters. "I have never," she stammered. "Not in front of anyone," she whispered so quietly that she doubted he heard her.
"Good, I want it all, baby. I need you to cum for me."
Electricity zipped through her at his words. Her body obeyed his command as her hips arched higher; her inner muscles tightened and throbbed. She felt the power of the collar. And it all came flooding back. The memories of that night...her body betraying her, her gifts turned against her, until she was practically destroyed. And yet again she was powerless to stop her body from reacting to his words.
***
Leamus watched as her face went from pure ecstasy to complete horror. He did not need to ask to know what was happening. And he cursed himself for the total heartless bastard that he was. He rushed to her, scooped her into his arms and rocked her gently. "It's okay, I have you now, priestess," he promised as she trembled and shook in his arms.
He kissed her forehead as he had so often those first days when she had lain unconscious. He brushed her hair back from her face with one hand as he felt her body begin to relax from the power of her release. She lay as still in his arms then as she had then. He looked down at her, wondering if perhaps it had been too much, had her mind once again retreated into that total darkness. He sighed as he stared into her eyes. "I am sorry. I did not think..."
She shook her head, "Think what?"
His fingers brushed the cold metal that gleamed in the moonlight, "I will find some way to get this goddess damned thing off you. I promise."
She shook her head, "We both know you can't. I read that fucking tablet as well as you did. Even if you managed to somehow, I would." Her voice trailed off at the truth they both wanted to avoid. She would die. At least that was what the tablet said, and as much as he wanted to doubt everything in the stupid thing, it was not a risk he could ever take.
He nodded and pulled her closer. His mind poured over what else the tablet said. Its meaning. The collar responded to only the two people...the one who applied it. Or... His mind fought at it. Was he ready to admit it, face the truth? But there was only one explanation for why it would sing, would respond to his command. The only person besides the owner who might command the collar, whose power actually over road all others...a true mate.
He held her close, kissed the top of her head. "We will figure something out. You have my word on it," he promised as he pressed a kiss to the top of her head. He drew her tight into his arms, felt her gentle sobs to his core. His hands moved over her soft back, trying desperately to soothe this new pain. "I am sorry, honest I am. I did not think. It should not have..." he tried to explain the unexplainable.
She shook her head against his chest, "It is not you. It's me," she sobbed. "I'm broken...that night I could not stop it...no matter what I tried I could not stop my body from reacting. But I felt nothing. I never feel anything. I never have. It is all a lie...my whole life. The great High Priestess of the waters whose body responds to anyone or anything, but who feels absolutely nothing."
"Nothing?" he questioned. As much as it might hurt, he needed to know the truth. "Earlier? It seemed so real...when you knelt at my feet. The way you..." he could not continue.
Her sobs died to gently hiccups as she buried her face in his chest. He could empathize with her need to hide; he felt the same way at the moment.
"That was different," she whispered so low that he had to strain to hear her. "You were always different."
He lifted her chin, forced her to look at him then. "How different?"
She blushed deeply; her eyes seemed to stare endlessly at some spot on his chest as she tried to pull away, "Maybe we should get some rest."
He shook his head, "No, sweetheart, neither of us would be able to sleep now." He pressed his hips against her, heard her soft moan as his erection rubbed against her thigh. But it was he that was moaning when they fell open. He could not resist the temptation, his fingers trailed along her inner thigh. "Open for me completely," he commanded as they moved higher, sought out the prize that he had dreamt of for so long.
