Heirot

Telanis smiled at her. He preferred her appearance without the clothes, but he didn't want to mention it for fear of insulting her. Humans were very serious about their clothes. He unfastened the pants he was wearing and his remaining clothes and slid them off to the floor, then touched the hot water running in the tub. Hot water was a concept he'd never known about in his forest life, but he was a little bit fascinated by it now that he had a human form. He set one leg into the still filling tub, tensing as he adjusted to the heat of the water, and then added his other leg. He stared down at the water around his shins like he hadn't completely decided to trust it yet. He knelt down in the water and slowly stretched out on his back, the water just barely covering his abs and...other topographical features.

He pulled his arms up behind his head and smiled at her invitingly.

She admired him, the lack of clothing only adding fuel to the fire that was burning more rapidly through her. Laya finally relinquished her gown to the floor and moved to step into the tub, one foot at a time. She liked the hot water, and though she'd gotten a bath the previous night she thought that maybe this bath had nothing at all to do with being clean.

Laya slowly knelt in what little room there was left in the tub. She slid down next to him in the water, the ends of her hair floating around in the water. Laya lay on her side between his body and the side of the tub and she curled over him, her hand resting on his chest as she kissed his cheek, and then his lips.

She felt comfortable with him in an act that had never been comfortable for her, that had been frightening and terrible, and yet she felt so comfortable and natural. As she kissed him her hand traced circles over his skin, gradually going lower, but eventually returned to the safety of his shoulder.

Telanis's nerves began to sing with the warmth of the water and the heat that spread deeper through him everywhere Laya's fingers touched. "Laya..." His breath became slightly thicker under the constant touch of the smooth wetness of her body against his. His hand slid over her hips and up to her stomach. His touch when he finally reached her chest was so light that most women would have misconstrued it as torture.

Laya could barely stand how much she needed him, and it was so much so she couldn't quite figure a way to describe it. She kissed him fiercely, moving down his neck and chest. Her body arched toward his gentle touch, wanting more. "Please," she whispered faintly her hands having a mind of their own, finding what she hoped would drive him just as mad with longing.

Telanis's breath caught in his throat and escaped as a helpless groan. The feeling was almost more than he could take, and yet he knew for a fact it led further than this. He met her kiss with equal passion and reeled at the things she was doing to him. He finally shifted over breathlessly and slid over her in the hot water. His torso pressed against hers in a hot line, and his eyes flashed to hers. They were bright with sensation, seeking her approval to do more and feel that incredible joining that only she inspired in him.

Laya lay in the water, nearly breathless, Telanis pressing in above her. She stared into his glowing eyes, realizing that one this happened when it was finished there was a clear possibility that everyone in the building would be affected, she also understood that Adonis would know without a shadow of a doubt what she had done.

She weighed her options, but her heart ached at the idea of having to turn back, not from want or need, but her heart wanted this just as much as her body. She grabbed his face with her hands, staring into those beautiful eyes. She nodded as she moved to kiss him, shifting her body against his encase he needed anymore encouragement.

Telanis's heart reeled at the expression on her face. He wanted to be close to her, as close as it was possible to joining their souls together. He kissed her and slid through her barriers, into the softness of her body. "I love you," he breathed, overwhelmed with the sensation. He moved slowly, taking advantage of the full range of his length while trying not to splash all the water out of the tub.

In the next room, Adonis drifted back into the land of the living. As usual, in his first few moments of consciousness, he sensed the world without any of the barriers he normally applied to it. The first thing that hit his senses was the passion going on in the next room. He didn't give it enough time to really understand it; he slammed his mental doors shut in a panic and lay there breaking into a cold sweat.

The room smelled of mildew and dirt, and it was stuffy with all the windows locked. Adonis sat at the edge of the room in a plain wood chair. He was watching the woman Erik had brought home fidget by the door, looking like she wanted to bolt from the apartment. *If she doesn't want to be here, let's just send her home,* he asked Erik through their link.

Erik snorted at the idea as he finished mixing a drink from his liquor cabinet. He didn't bother to shield her from their conversation. "I won the bet, fair and square. If Drake's sister didn't want to enjoy our company, he shouldn't have bargained her."

"Erik, think about what you're doing," Adonis said.

"I know exactly what I'm doing! I thought you were supposed to want me to be happy. You're supposed to love me unconditionally. Isn't that how you work?"

"I do-"

"If you were human, you'd understand why men need this. It's selfish to take it from me."

"Erik, just stop for a minute and think. She doesn't even want to be here."

"I'll make it easier on you, Adonis." Erik walked to the corner and pulled out a leather flask filled with pig's blood. He walked to the area Adonis was sitting and poured the blood in a ring around his chair. The unicorn just stared at him in hurt disbelief.

"What is that for?" the girl asked nervously.

"It calms him down," Adonis smiled. "Now, let's enjoy ourselves."

"I really think I'd rather just go home, sir," she murmured.

"That's quite rude, considering that you'd be breaking your brother's word," Erik said, taking her by the wrist and pulling her to the bed. She struggled, but didn't start to truly fight until her skirt was being pulled up and her body exposed. Then she kicked. She screamed, and she fought. He wrestled her legs apart and tore into her. Her actions excited him. Adonis knew, because he could feel every sensation and every emotion from his soulmate's link. It was real enough that he might as well have been doing the act himself. Her fear and pain and the scent of her woman's blood washed through the room.

Erik wasn't gentle, nor was he quick. The task lasted for hours, until she was too tired from screaming and crying to do any more than wish him out of her. She looked over at Adonis from time to time, hate and accusation in her eyes for the person who was just sitting there, watching her plight without trying to stop it.

Adonis tried fiercely to stop himself from thinking. His breath came in short gasps as he tried to accept what was happening, to let himself hope Laya was different. Humans were too selfish, their needs were too strong. What should have been love quickly became abuse. Instead of understanding resistance, they reacted with sadism. He wasn't just skeptical of human sexuality. He was terrified by it. It took several minutes to work up the courage to check in one more time on his brother's safety.

The passion and raw affection tasted different this time, when he managed to let himself judge it without immediately shutting it out. There was so much intensity to the feelings in that room, and he wasn't sure what to make of it. It was a very different, softer feeling than the reactions he'd felt from Erik and other humans. And it was coming from both of them. He could pick out his brother's psyche and Laya's as distinct, but well tuned notes in his mind.

A few seconds was all he could really take, and then he pulled his shields shakily back into place. There were too many feelings battling for control for him to know what to do about it, so he just lay still and took deep breaths, listening to the sounds in the next room.

Laya's head was swimming with every sound; from the ones that they made, to the water around them. His words washed over her along with the sensations his body brought her. This was even better than the first time she'd been with him, because all fear was wiped away.

Kron was the first man she'd ever been with, and all she'd known before Telanis was pain, abuse... submission. Telanis offered equality, gentleness, love.

It made her heart swell until it felt like she'd explode. It made her so happy her eyes brimmed with tears.

Laya kissed his lips, his neck. She clutched at him, holding on for dear life as he brought her closer to a realm she was as unfamiliar with as he. "Telanis," she gasped. She clenched her eyes, the tears of joy rolling to mix with water that had splashed on her face.

She wrapped her hand around the back of his neck and drew herself towards his ear. "My heart is yours," she told him in a breathless whisper. "Even beyond the end of time."

A thrill went through Telanis's spine at both her words and the depth of sincerity behind them. His, forever? He'd never even thought of having her to himself that way, but her pledge resonated with some need inside him that he wouldn't even know how to express. Yet she knew exactly how to fulfill it, when he himself hardly understood it. "It is I who am yours," he whispered, golden eyes glowing intently into hers as the thrill of her words compounded the ecstasy drumming through his senses. He cut off a moan by covering her mouth with his.

The pressure inside him rose and swelled until it was unbearable and heavenly at the same time. His hands tightened against the bottom of the tub. *Laya,* he gasped, not wanting to stop kissing her or to end this incredible dance, but knowing he was running out of time.

She had never felt more healed, more hole since she'd escaped Kron. At the moment the world was wonderful, and no one could hurt her. No one could tear her feelings or her body. If Telanis was there she was safe, she was happy, she was loved.

Laya her legs hugged him tighter to her as she spiraled into a state of being she never wanted to return from. She went over the edge with a cry that was louder than she'd expected. She pressed her mouth against his shoulder to quiet herself, holding onto him to the point she feared she'd hurt him.

Telanis had to stop kissing her just to breathe as he went over the edge. He shuddered and let his coalescing feelings spill over with hers. A glow surrounded them both, lighting the small bathroom and making it into a more magical place than should have been possible. He hugged her tight to him in the warm water and listened to his pulse racing in time with hers.

Laya could hear her heart in her ears, or maybe that was his heart. She pressed her cheek against him, wrapped her arms around his neck and held him. Her body trembled, but she wasn't cold. She was burning.

She ran her fingers through his wet hair, trailing kisses across his skin. "Did it happen again?" she asked drousily. "Remember the ship. Everyone felt it."

Telanis focused his blurry senses and thought carefully about the ship. "That woman gave me something that somehow amplified my normal senses. It was like I couldn't keep anyone else out, or myself in. I can't be sure, but I don't feel that way this time. He looked at her with eyes that were still warm with golden energy. "I think the only one sharing this feeling with me is you," he said, intimately. He sat up to admire her.

Laya blushed, smiling softly. She liked it that way. She didn't want anyone else to feel what they had felt together. She was his, and he was hers, and that was all that needed to be.

She put her hands to her face, as if she were expecting to feel them tingle with his magic. She then put her hands on his chest, and admired them there as if it were the most facinating thing in the world. Then, she moved her hands to his face, cupping his cheeks. "I'll get the towel..."

She stood up. The water ran down her curved form into the tub. She stepped out, and reached for the hook on the wall where the towels hug. She grabbed on and handed it to him, pulling the other one around her.

Telanis took the towel and stood up in the water. He smiled to himself and shifted his weight to step out of the tub, only to lose traction with the porcelain surface. With a yelp, his legs slid out from under him and he fell with a loud thunk and a splash of water. He ended up flipping over the edge of the tub and landing on his side on the floor, looking stunned.