by Orr, Krystal
"I missed you so much," she whispered, holding Arizira's intense eyes.
"I have missed you, too, failira. You are my everything."
Talliea smiled again, her teeth flashing behind her lips. She trailed the fingers of her right hand down Arizira's nose before leaning back down to kiss her forehead and her eyelids.
"You are my world, tahlet vahllah." And then no more words were spoken.
Talliea's hand lowered down Arizira's neck and reveled in the softness and the warmth of her skin. She could feel the fast-paced pulse which indicated Arizira was alive, and felt a strong surge of emotion settle inside her chest.
The two of them came together again in another kiss. Moans left both of their mouths. Outside, a steady rain began to fall. It was not harsh or violent, but merely a simple cleansing of the world and its environment. Talliea and Arizira did not notice. To them, only the other existed.
Talliea's fingers began to glow with a pleasing light. She spread them out across the skin of Arizira's chest, the place where her life had nearly been taken from her, and twirled them around the outside of her breast.
The electrifying sensation sent flutters through Arizira's body and caused her nipple to tighten. She gasped into Talliea's mouth and pushed herself closer toward the fingers giving her so much pleasure.
"You are still so weak," Talliea whispered against Arizira’s lips. Kissing her fully several times, she leaned her head against Arizira's and palmed the fullness of her left breast in her hand.
She focused her abilities, the powers granted to her that she now knew were nothing more than the physical manifestations of her love for Arizira, on sharing herself. She envisioned Arizira as she remembered her.
Strong. Lithe. Agile. Graceful and full of life.
Arizira moaned and nipped at her chin which was the nearest part of her body. She felt the smaller woman shake beneath her as she continued to use her abilities to give more of herself to her love.
"Tah-li, what are you -- what are you doing to...me?"
Arizira's question was heavy and thick with the weight of lust and pleasure in her voice. What she was experiencing defied all rational and logical thinking. She and Talliea had not even progressed into anything completely sexual, but already she was more aroused than she could ever recall.
A slow and steady strength began to seep into her bones. She grew light-headed as a warmth expanded throughout her body. Talliea's lips brushed across her forehead and eyebrows before trailing a series of small kisses down the slope of her nose. She kissed the small tip and then moved lower to reconnect their lips.
Feeling the surge of strength inside of her, Arizira kissed Talliea with all the passion and love she could offer. Her hands moved from dark, raven locks and landed on either side of Talliea's face. Fingers reverently touched a tanned jawbone and neck before moving back into black hair.
Arizira arched her back and attempted to get closer to Talliea. It was not often that she allowed any other to have such control over her body, but Talliea was not just any other. She was her love, her lifeline. She was her heart and her spirit and the very essence of who she was.
Talliea moaned into Arizira's mouth upon feeling her body pressing against hers in so wanton a way. The hand she had on Arizira's chest moved to her stomach and gently pushed her back down to the ground. With one last parting kiss, she leaned back and looked down into the eyes of her love.
Mesmerizing, blue, intense, and shimmering eyes looked back up at her. Hooded lids spoke of Arizira’s aroused state while a heaving chest and tight nipples told Talliea that her actions were very much enjoyed. Talliea slowly began to untie the strings holding her blouse together. Arizira watched her with unblinking eyes.
This was where the two of them belonged. This was what they were meant to be doing. All of their questions, all of their fears, all of their processing and worrying and feelings of guilt, were unimportant. This sharing of their bodies, of their souls, was what was needed for both of them. It alone held the power to heal them both in more ways than one.
During their separation, they had felt ripped apart and less than who they were. Only by coming together in this fashion could they both hope to reach and obtain equilibrium. Talliea knew that, afterward, matters would be much less confusing for each of them.
Her experiences would be Arizira's experiences, just like Arizira's journey would be hers. They would each understand their respective time apart much more fully.
"I have missed this," Talliea said, holding Arizira's eyes and allowing her blouse to fall away from her shoulders and down to the ground behind her. "The way you look at me," she elaborated.
Arizira's hands, which had been kneading Talliea's thighs, tightened their grip. She lowered them until they met the bunched up material of Talliea's skirt. Needing to feel the warmth of skin, Arizira began to push her fingers back up, with the skirt as well. Her hands shoved the cloth material up to the top of Talliea's thighs.
"You continue to take my breath away, failira. Especially now."
Talliea smiled and leaned back over Arizira. Immediately, she felt hands attach themselves to her breasts and she moaned heavily against Arizira's ear. For a moment, she allowed herself to enjoy the feeling of her love's skilled fingers bringing her such pleasure.
It had been so long since she had been touched this way. So long since she had felt loved and cherished and adored.
She rolled her body into Arizira's hands. Sweat began to form across both of their chests. Moans and whimpers and gasps of contentment sounded around them, drowning out the gentle pitter patter of rain as it sloshed across wood and rock.
The longer Talliea and Arizira touched one another, the easier it became for them to fall into old patterns. Recent hurts and pains were soon forgotten. All that mattered was them.
Their joy over finally being back with the other seemed to hit each woman at the same time. Talliea kissed Arizira's jaw, following it up toward her chin, and then further to the other side of her face and ear. Arizira's fingers pebbled her nipples before biting at her neck.
"Oh, Ari..."
The words were little more than a growl. Arizira panted against her neck, gaining strength with each passing minute. Talliea forced herself to pull away from her love's touch. She sat back and grabbed Arizira's hands which were still massaging her breasts.
For another moment, she enjoyed the touch, throwing her head back and moaning loudly. "I love you. I love you so much, Ari."
Arizira managed to sit up. She wrapped her arms around Talliea's back and pressed their chests together. Her head landed with her ear against a tanned chest. For several moments, that is how they remained. Hugging one another, wrapped around each other, feeling the other's skin.
'I love yous' were whispered and kissed across every inch of skin. Feelings began to pass from one to the other. They had reached a new level in their slow love making, a level they had each yearned for for two months.
Talliea slowly lowered Arizira back down. She quickly shimmied out of her skirts until the both of them were bare before the other. Their naked, sweaty, and heated bodies melded together. Skin caressed skin. Bones kissed bones. Flesh embraced flesh.
Arizira's wetness met Talliea's and the two of them moved their hips for a moment and glided together. At such an intimate touch, they both began to connect again.
Talliea experienced brief flashes of Arizira's memory in her mind. She watched as Arizira ran through the woods after their separation. She saw her graceful movements and felt her determination in rescuing her.
Talliea saw the world through Arizira's eyes. She noticed the sharpness and detail of the textures and world around her. She smelled the trees and grass and flowers as Arizira did and heard the smallest of insects to the largest of night birds.
Arizira, too, relived a brief moment of Talliea's life. She watched as a man, Markahn, entered a dimly lit hut and spoke to her...to Talliea. She experienced Talliea's feelings of defiance in answering any
questions pertaining to her. She felt her sorrow and her guilt.
For a moment, Arizira knew what it was to be an Esu female. She knew the restraints and the responsibility and the suffocating weight of duty.
Both women opened their eyes and looked at the other. Everything was clear to them. They knew that their coupling was to be a healing avenue for both of them.
Talliea pushed forward and kissed Arizira again. Their kisses became more rushed and heated. Tongues glided over teeth, lips nipped and sucked and bit, while moans and gasps of appreciation sounded into the silence.
Arizira had never felt more loved or cherished in all her life. Despite her feelings of confusion and inadequacy, she was being revered and loved by Talliea. Talliea did not care if she was half Esu; the knowledge did not diminish her feelings in any way.
What had happened to them had not lessened their need and desire for the other.
Arizira tossed her head back and exposed her throat. Talliea, the woman who, their first time together had been hesitant and slightly apprehensive, had grown. She was confident. She was sure. She was touching Arizira in such profound ways there was no word to describe the sensations.
A hand lowered and began a mind-numbing and pleasurable trail down Arizira's stomach. Talliea's lips sucked at her pulse. Fingers occasionally pinched or grasped the silken skin along the way.
Everywhere Talliea touched her, Arizira felt renewed. The residual weariness in her body began to wane. She managed to wrap her legs around Talliea's back. Her ankles locked as she held her love over herself. Heels pressed into the small of a dark-skinned back slick with sweat.
"Tah-li, touch me..." Arizira begged in a ragged whisper. She used her legs as leverage to roll her hips up into Talliea. The ache inside of her, the need to give herself completely to her lover, to feel normal and balanced and protected, was overwhelming. Only through Talliea would Arizira regain her sense of self.
She understood that now.
Talliea's fingers stopped over Arizira's lower stomach. She flattened her palm and paused for a moment. Their child was there, resting beneath her hand, growing. Talliea could not help the sudden smile that brightened her features. Being so close to Arizira, sharing herself like she currently was, allowed her to feel and experience so much more than was normally possible.
She could feel every reaction Arizira's body had.
Her arousal. Her excitement. Her need. Even the still small weakness that was present.
But now, she could feel the life inside of her love. The life that was one half of her. The life she had created solely through an expression of her feelings for Arizira. If there was magic in the world, Talliea knew it existed in her child with Arizira.
For what else could produce a life, a new and innocent creature, in such a unique way?
"I feel the baby," she whispered against Arizira's cheek. Her lips brushed across soft and sweet skin.
"She feels you," Arizira answered back with a smile and her words were a truth.
Talliea laughed softly while her forehead rested against Arizira's temple. Arizira had been referring to their child as a girl since she had awakened. It had made Talliea wonder how her love knew the sex of their baby so early.
"How do you know it is a girl?" she asked while her fingers momentarily dipped lower and ran along Arizira's upper sex.
A strong and sudden gasp breathed between them. Hips moved. Arizira, her legs still holding Talliea's back, wrapped her arms around her neck and brought her closer. "What else would she be?" she asked, as if the answer were obvious.
Talliea briefly thought of replying to the rhetorical question, but the feeling of Arizira's abundant wetness and the desperate hold around her neck and back, told her such a thing was unimportant.
Arizira wanted her, needed her. The sudden realization that she had never done anything like she was about to do nearly stopped Talliea with its panic.
Arizira picked up on the emotion. Instead of saying anything, she reached for Talliea's hand which was hovering above her center. Talliea peered down into her eyes and all grew silent. No words shattered their moment.
Eyes locked together, Arizira slowly guided Talliea's hand down between her legs. Talliea watched Arizira's face change as she touched her. Eyes closed, a brow furrowed, lips parted. She moaned the longer her fingers moved through hot and wet folds, slick from her stimulation. It felt unreal and wonderful.
"Do not be upset. This is good."
Words from so long ago came to her mind.
"This is your body's approval of me and my actions."
Arizira's voice.
That moment seemed from another lifetime. She remembered how nervous she had been her first time with Arizira -- not only her first time with Ari, but her first time with anybody. She had been anxious, yet excited; calm, yet restless.
Now, she was the one leading Arizira's body to fulfillment. She was the one creating and sustaining the bond between them. Like a storm, she could the sensations becoming stronger, the feelings becoming bolder. She could practically see the results of her actions. Of Arizira's actions.
Her fingers were warm and coated with Arizira's arousal. She buried her neck into a fair shoulder and felt Arizira's free hand come up around her neck delicately. Fingers wove into her hair and held her close.
And then, Talliea stopped thinking. She stopped analyzing. She allowed herself to do nothing but feel. Arizira released her hand and wrapped it around her ribs.
Talliea took another short moment to rub her fingers across the hard little nub between Arizira's legs, enjoying the extra wetness the action resulted in, before lowering them to the slick entrance of her sex. Every reaction from Arizira's body emboldened her.
Thighs squeezed her more tightly. Heels dug into her back. The hand in her hair, holding her head, tugged while the other hand near her ribs flexed as nails pressed into flesh. She could hear Arizira's breathing so near to her ear.
Hot. Ragged. Haggard. Raspy.
In the next moment, Talliea eased two fingers into the warm, tight, sanctuary of her love.
And the result was astounding.
Arizira felt her breath leave her lungs. Never before had she felt something so...gratifying. So...fulfilling. Neither of the other women she had bonded with had made her feel so much pleasure. Talliea seemed to touch her everywhere she needed to be touched. She rolled her eyes into her head as her head fell back and her back arched.
Sensations exploded inside her body. They electrified her skin like lightning. A multitude of colors, sounds, thoughts, and memories flooded her mind. Images accompanied the onslaught of information and she felt as if she were in two places at once.
Every minute of Talliea's life the past two months were hers. She experienced every ache. every pain. She felt every moment of sorrow, witnessed every fevered dream, listened to every question asked.
Various men walked behind her mind's eye. She grew to truly know Markahn. She saw Lao'dahn and heard his vile and obsessed words. Healers came and went and then she was leaving the Esu camp.
Crude words were spoken between Markahn and two other men. She felt Markahn's hands on her body and experienced the revulsion Talliea had felt.
"Maybe, to buy our silence, your woman would be willing to use her mouth for something other than talking back."
"What say you? Care to ease that bulge in your trousers with Talliea's lips?"
Then, she was leaving the men. She was walking. She was free. Markahn had helped her. No...he had helped Talliea. Memories of their shared time together flew past her and then Arizira was alone. Markahn was gone. She was happy. Relieved.
A man attacked her, threw her to the ground.
His hands were rough. They clawed at her skirts. He was speaking, but his words were too vile to replay even inside her mind. She was scared, so scared. The concept of rape, something so elusive to her, became known in an instant. She knew what he planned to do. She saw him, saw it.
And she panicked
.
Then, he was screaming and Talliea's memories collided with her own.
Talliea felt tears leave her eyes and wet Arizira's hair as she experienced her memories all over again. Arizira's journey took her over in the next moment and she opened her eyes to see Cynra and Taetylona. A foreboding sense of loss overwhelmed her senses. Arizira's pain became her pain.
She saw a familiar white wolf and, at once, knew who it was. The revelation amazed her. Arizira's time away from her formed so quickly in her mind, she could barely follow the events.
Conversations were spoken in the span of seconds. She heard Cynra talking to her -- to Arizira -- about the truth of who she was. Cynra spoke of destiny and fate and her. Arizira's parentage and the tale that went with the information settled inside of her.
She felt a strange sense of displacement but could not determine if that emotion belonged to Arizira or to her.
Another type of Esu? One that valued honesty, loyalty, arts, and philosophy? One that did not subject their women to such a humiliating existence?
Days went by her until she was in the forest, away from Cynra and Taetylona. Iolirthas was with her, her mother. No, Arizira's mother. She heard Arizira's voice speaking.
"I did not want to love her. She scared me. We were so very different, Mother, as I am sure you know…”
"Then, everything changed, Mother. I met Tah-li, whose beauty is unmatched and whose heart is the most pure. She challenged me and I could not help but love her. It was so easy. I knew everything there was to know that was important when we were together. She made me whole, complete and without flaw. I was willing to shed my duties, my responsibilities, just to look at her."
Happiness came next to Talliea as she recalled Arizira's feelings of being closer to her. That feeling was short-lived as, in the next, she witnessed Bela'luin start a war in a single, unexpected skirmish. She felt Arizira's conflicting emotions and her need to protect their unborn child.
The following images were a blur. Her feelings were chaotic. The next definitive thing Talliea was shown was an image of herself being attacked by Lao'dahn. She felt Arizira's anger. The blinding hot emotion spread over her body. She watched as an arrow sped by her and landed in Lao'dahn's erection.