by Mark Albany
I opened my mouth to speak, but she put her finger on my lips. She had a habit of doing that, knowing that it was a lot more diplomatic and distracting than just telling me to shut up. Her hands moved into the water and toward my body but stopped just shy of touching my bare skin.
Even without our skin touching, I could feel something reaching through the water as she closed her eyes. Something pressing gently against my skin as she stroked up and down over my chest, neck and back. As her hands moved, I saw them dislodging the dirt, sweat and grime that had built up over the past two weeks, washing it away. I could feel myself relaxing with each stroke. The stresses, the pain from our training, my worry over what would come next was being pushed into the back of my mind. There was magic involved, but it was far too complex for me to have any idea how it worked.
I stiffened when I felt her hands moving down lower than my stomach, reaching a particular bit of me that wasn’t relaxed at all.
“I think I can clean that for myself, thanks,” I said, my voice throatier than intended.
“I don’t have to be a mind reader to tell that you want me,” she whispered. “And I want you, too. Why can’t you just give in?”
“I want it,” I admitted through gritted teeth. “Don’t think for a second that I don’t. I’d have to be an idiot otherwise. I would have said blind but even a blind man—”
“Grant,” she chided softly. “Focus.”
“Right.” I looked up at her. “Bound to me like this, I just can’t… I can’t put it out of my mind that I’d be making you do something you don’t want. You say you want it, but I have no idea what you’d want if you were free of… whatever this fucking ring does.” I raised my hand. I’d taken to wearing it since I didn’t want to lose it.
“Then free me, help me find my sisters, and find out,” she whispered.
I still had both of her hands in mine. I raised them to my eye level, inspecting them closely before looking into her eyes.
“I want you to be free,” I whispered softly, intensely. “But I don’t know how to do it.”
She didn’t answer me. Her eyes locked with mine for a long moment as she leaned in, leaving her hands in my grasp as she pressed her lips to mine. It was a hungry kiss at first. She leaned into me hard enough to almost completely submerge me in the water, but after a few seconds, the intensity faded, leaving us gently pressed together before she pulled away.
My eyes remained closed for a few long moments, basking in the aftereffects of the kiss. I suddenly realized I’d been forgetting to breathe and inhaled before opening my eyes again. They were greeted with the sight of her hands still in mine. There was something different about her, but it took me longer than I would have liked to realize what it was.
“Your bracelets. They’re gone.”
“That was all it took,” she said with broad grin. “It’s like I keep telling you. Focus and will is much more important than technique. A lesson that applies to a great many other fields than just magic, you should know.”
“Noted,” I said with a nod. I looked down at the ring I wore on my finger. I barely even noticed it anymore. “Does that mean you can’t just slip back into the ring if we need to hide?” I asked, attempting to joke. It wasn’t great, by the shaking of Aliana’s head as she leaned in to kiss me again. This time I pushed back, moaning softly into the kiss.
“Now do you believe that I want you, with no ulterior motives?” she asked, with a small smile.
“Well, I could always use some more convincing,” I said as I looked up at her.
“Say no more,” she murmured, pressing light kisses to my cheek, trailing down my jawline, over my throat and shoulder as her hands moved further in advance. I was still unbearably aroused, and the whole two weeks spent with her hadn’t helped with that. I was aching for release.
And she could feel it. From the shaft that throbbed in her hands to the soft gasps coming from my lips as she pressed her body to mine, her kisses trailing down my chest, over my stomach and finally, as she pulled me a bit further out of the water so that I was fully exposed, she pressed a light kiss to the thick head.
“Oh gods,” I whispered, my head falling back as I felt her tongue darting out to toy with it, running down the underside of the shaft before climbing back up, her hands alternating between stroking me slowly and caressing my balls underneath. It was difficult to describe the number of sensations rushing up and down my spine at the moment. Besides, I was supposed to keep my mind from interfering with what I was feeling.
I pulled myself up, suddenly wanting to watch as she slipped my cock into her mouth, teasing at it with her lips first before sloppily sucking it in. She pressed it to her right cheek then the left before bobbing her head a few times, moaning loudly and letting me feel the vibrations from her throat, sending shivers up my spine from the way they shuddered around my shaft.
She reached up, grabbing one of my hands and pulling it down to tangle with her long hair as she started bobbing her head over me. My hands curled around her horns, toying with them curiously before threading through her locks. She took the second hand too, but this one she guided down to her breasts. She had to know I wanted to touch them, from the amount of time I’d spent pretending not to stare. I moved with her, careful to keep my hips from thrusting as she fed herself more and more of my thick shaft.
My fingers gripped her breast at first, almost disbelieving how firm and yet soft it was. It was heavy in my palm, the nipple hardening as I rubbed my calloused hand over it. I kneaded the soft flesh for a few moments, closing my eyes and letting the fullness of the sensations wash over me. From the way her head felt against my hand, enthusiastically moving up and down over my cock, to the weight and delicious softness of her breast. I was still laying back on the hard rock, with the warm water lapping gently over my suddenly very hot skin, all mixing together to create something. I couldn’t tell what it was, but I knew I wanted more of it.
She moaned, smiling and looking up at me in approval as she felt my hips starting to move in time with her mouth, my fingers gripping the back of her head tighter, toying with her horns as the other hand started toying gently with the nipple between my forefinger and thumb, squeezing, tugging. Her moans of encouragement and pleasure only drove me further.
My hips thrust harder, and my grip tightened to the point where I stole the control from her, feeding her my cock in rough thrusts over and over again as she gripped my hips, then my ass, nails digging into my skin, wanting me to thrust harder before I felt shots of pleasure rushing through my body, focusing on where her mouth and hands were as I bucked hard, feeling my warm seed soak into her mouth. She moaned encouragingly, taking hold of the shaft with her right hand and coaxing more and more until I dropped back, feeling the shallow water sloshing around me.
She remained where she was, poised between my thighs, the head of my cock in her mouth as she kept milking me for every last drop. Over the past two weeks, enough had accumulated.
Finally, she pulled away with a sigh, swallowing and smacking her lips.
“You taste good.” She pressed light kisses up my body as she dragged herself over it until she was laying over me, breasts pressed firmly into my chest as she kissed me tenderly.
I hesitated for a moment as I realized where her lips had been before, and the fact that there was a new taste in her mouth which I could only assume was from me. It was interesting, but not in a bad way. After coming to terms with the thought, I leaned into the kiss a bit more before pulling back.
“I’m sorry if I handled you roughly toward the end, there,” I whispered.
“I can’t speak for all women,” she replied. “But I can say for myself that I rather enjoy being roughly handled. Especially when the ending is that satisfying.” She pushed herself up and placed a kiss on the tip of my nose. “Although if you’d like to make up for it, I think I know a couple of things you could do.”
“Oh?” I asked, watching as she rolled off of me. There was a m
oment of regret as I missed the feel of her almost inhumanly hot skin pressed against mine. She didn’t move too far away, though. In fact, she just rolled onto her back right next to me and was quick to pull me with her as I half-lay over her, kissing her lips tenderly.
“What did you have in mind?” I asked, letting the words out each time my lips parted from moving down her neck and shoulders.
“Mmm.” She didn’t reply for a moment, just closing her eyes and enjoying herself. “Well, I thought about something rather similar to what I was just doing.”
She paused as I moved down, my hand playing with one of her breasts while my mouth latched onto the nipple of the other. Sucking, kissing, licking and teasing playfully as I could feel her growing a bit more aroused.
“Come,” she whispered, a sense of urgency entering her voice as she spread her legs wider. I took that as an invitation, slipping between them as I continued kissing her skin. She trailed the fingers of one hand down her side, guiding me down before taking hold of my hand again. She wasn’t afraid to let me know what she wanted, I realized with a small smile, still feeling the warm water lapping around us in response to our movements. It was a soothing, rhythmic sensation that I rather enjoyed.
“Here,” she said, pushing my hand down between her legs where I found a thin strip of hair leading my eyes down to her pussy. I could see she was already wet as she pressed her hand to it. She guided my fingers to part the lips, rubbing my thumb on the small nub that presented itself there.
Not needing any more indication, I dropped my head, following her leading hand as I used my hands to keep her lips parted and applied the rough wetness of my tongue to the nub. Her reaction was almost instant. Her back arched and a low moan escaped her lips as her hands gripped the back of my head more insistently. I took that as a good sign, working my tongue over her clit some more as my hands started to explore. I could feel her thighs wrapping around the sides of my head and squeezing gently, but I really didn’t mind.
I dipped my head further, finding the source of the delicious wetness. I could hear her moaning insistently, her hands almost confused about what she wanted as I pushed my tongue inside her, moaning in response as she gasped.
Out of pure instinct, I reached up, feeling the softness of her breast pressed into my hand again as she pulled me back up to pay homage to the delicious nub. As my tongue slipped out of her, my fingers took their position. First only one, and then two, slowly starting to pump into her wet pussy.
“Oh fuck, Grant,” she whispered. “Oh yes… that’s it… a bit to the lef…. Ooooohhhh…” I could feel her body shaking and shuddering, wings fluttering in excitement and pleasure. I hadn’t been sure if she meant my fingers or my tongue, so I moved both, and the results were encouraging. I felt a small bump deep inside her pussy, and the reactions from that seemed to pull more reactions from her. She had lost the ability to say anything that wasn’t an elongated vowel, so I simply applied myself to what she’d shown me. Her pussy tightening as I brushed my fingers over that bump in time with my tongue over her clit had her gasping and her hips bucking like mine did when I came, leading me to believe that she was coming too.
Hers lasted longer than mine did though as I felt her cum drench my fingers and mouth. I wanted more. Demanded more, almost, as I kept working, kept sucking and pumping until I felt her bucking and gripping me again. Her hands were pulling at my hair, trying to drag me out from between her thighs, which were sending a different message, pinning me in place. The cave was awash with her moans of pleasure, soft gasps and delicious growls.
Finally, as I pulled away, I heard a soft sound of pleasure shudder from her lips. She dropped against the ground in relief as I finally let up.
“You are a natural at this,” she whispered with a small smile, pulling me closer to reward me with a long, delicious kiss. I wondered if she could taste herself on me like I had, but from her moans, she didn’t seem to mind either way.
We moved away from the warm water of the pool, seeing that night had fallen outside while we’d been inside the cave enjoying ourselves. We’d spent the nights in two different ‘beds,’ improvised as they were, but this time she joined me in mine instead. Due to her wings, she had to settle in behind me, but I didn’t really mind, and feeling her body wrapping around mine was more comforting than I thought it would be.
It wasn’t long before we both drifted off to sleep.
12
It had been a while since I’d been back, I thought. Aliana told me that she had been taking daily trips into the city, using her portals to get in and out and that magical field of hers to stay out of sight while trying to keep an eye out for Norel, as well as making sure she knew what Vis and Pollock were up to.
I assumed she could have done it without as much effort by using the orb she’d taken from Kruger’s men, but as often as I found her softly cursing at it when she thought I couldn’t hear, I assumed she was having troubles with that as well.
I asked why she didn’t take me with her to go scouting, and she answered, with painful honesty, that I wasn’t ready to return yet. I wasn’t sure if she meant to say that I wasn’t ready to be in the same room as Vis again, or that even as quickly as I was advancing with improving on my talents, I just wasn’t ready to defend myself should trouble arise.
Either meaning hurt my ego, but it only drove me to work better and harder, keeping up with her instruction and hoping that eventually she would think I was ready, one way or the other.
A few days after we’d been together, I heard the warbling, twisting sound of her creating one of her portals. Or stepping through one. There wasn’t much difference between the two, but I could tell it was one she was returning through since I’d seen her leave. More specifically, she’d told me to keep working on my training even while she was gone, before disappearing.
There was a small part of me that was really thankful I wasn’t going with her, if only because it meant not having to deal with the awful headaches that came a direct result of them.
I knew that she would know if I’d been training or lazing around while she was gone, so I made sure to run through all the various forms and motions that she’d taught me for about three hours. I’d finished, and since she hadn’t returned, I took to meditating. Oddly enough, after that… rather enjoyable bath we’d shared, I’d somehow found it easier to focus, even when she wasn’t around. Taking deep breaths, I closed my eyes again, reaching out into the world around me. I could feel the trees moving in the wind, which had picked up as the summer months were starting to wane. There were animals all around us, all seeming to ignore the fact that I was just sitting there, reaching out and exploring. I could feel Aliana too, walking over toward me.
With what control I had over my talent, I took a phantom grip on her top and undid it as she came closer.
“Hey now!” she protested as I opened my eyes, licking my lips at the delicious view she presented me with before she quickly put it back on. “Behave. While you’re training, at least.”
“I was practicing my phantom grip,” I said, keeping a straight face. She laughed, shaking her head as she took her place next to me. I noticed she was carrying a pack over her shoulder.
“What have you got there?” I asked. She never carried packs. I wasn’t even sure where she carried her dagger. It just seemed to appear out of thin air when she needed it.
“I managed to steal some food while I was at your former master’s manor,” she said, pulling the pack open and showing me a couple of loaves of bread, strips of dried meat, apples and cheese. I wasn’t sure how, but my mouth was full of water all of a sudden. I normally would have complained about the repast, but after this long of only having fruits, berries, and other treasures offered up by the forest, it looked like a feast worthy of the Emperor himself.
“I brought news too,” she said, tapping lightly on my shoulder. “I’ll tell you while we eat.”
I nodded, eagerly following her back to the cave. She seemed
almost as hungry for proper food as I was, and the first five minutes after we returned was spent hungrily digging into the feast she’d brought back. I felt bad for the servants that would be held responsible for food having gone missing, but I could deal with that later. There were more pressing matters at hand right now.
Once we were finished and spent a few minutes laying back and enjoying the gorgeous sunset we could see from inside the cave while taking small sips of the clear water from the waterfall, I turned onto my side to face Aliana.
“You said you had news,” I said as I laid next to her. “We were both rather engrossed in the food, but now that we’re finished… care to share it with me?”
She turned on her side to face me, placing a light kiss on my lips. I was getting used to having her this close to me. Not so used to it that I wasn’t in a near-constant state of arousal, but enough that I knew to look past that.
“Well, I managed to pick up some news from servants in Vis’ manor,” she said, kissing my cheek as well before leaning back, her wings spreading lazily to catch the wind drifting into the cave.
“I don’t suppose they noticed that I was missing at all, the bastards,” I said. “Probably already moved on and found a new familiar to replace me.”
“You actually could not be more wrong about that,” Aliana replied with a chuckle. “You should know that after we disappeared, Vis spent a good deal of time and effort as well as coin to find us again. There was a man called Cyron that he was working for in doing that, and he fears this Cyron so much that when he failed to produce any results, Vis went into hiding as well.”