Heirot

Tenara tilted her head at him. His expression seemed mournful to her, and she didn't want him to feel such a way after what they'd done. She bent forward, feeling him in her, locked so deep. He was so tall, and being locked as they were, she couldn't reach his lips, so she kissed his chest. "I like it," she said.

Was it weird that she did? She loved the fullness of him, the cry of his pleasure, his hands on her, guiding her to a rhythm that would break him, that would grow him to lock inside her—claiming her.

Even the ache of him inside had been enjoyable. What did that say about her? Rami had never tried pleasuring her with anything but himself, and he had been of average size and always gentle. Now, she knew that a little hurt could lead to a lot of rapture, and she wanted the shock of him driving into her again. The thought made her throb with need. She pushed it away, there would be time to feel it again later.

She trailed kisses along his chest and shoulder. "I think I will keep you," she said, smiling against his skin.

Havitharon shivered. I will keep you. The words were like being struck by lightning. His Yurivis. His keeper. He'd always thought this moment would mark the worst day of his life. Instead, the awe and relief of it blurred his vision. He sat up, slowly. He'd noticed his size was a slight mismatch for her species. He looped his arms supportively around her so she could relax her weight against him, and selfishly, so that he could feel her small weight in his arms. She'd guided him through a rutt. She stayed, when she could have left him to suffer.
He dropped his forehead to her shoulder. "Thank you," he choked.

Tenara snuggled into him, grinning at the feel of his arms holding her. They sat like that for several minutes, holding one another, until Tenara couldn't hold back her curious questions, "Rut... How long does it last? Do you have to, eh, mate often during it? Do you desire sex outside of it?" Then she tilted her head to look up at him. "Is this it? Am I your... fire tamer now? Your Yurivis?" She didn't know if she wanted to be called such a thing, since he hated them so.

It shocked him just how reassuring her gentle snuggling was. The feel of her in his arms made it hard to care about the outside world at all. "The rutt lasts about two days. Mating is the surest way to temper it, but it can be tamed in other ways. You could simply use commands, or forceful behavior." He felt heat rising to his face. It was a bit odd to explain such things... they were such normal things, but in front of her, he couldn't help wondering if he sounded like some pervert describing his weird fantasies. Would a male here want these things? If they did, he wouldn't need to explain them. "For example, y-you could grab or pin me. The horns are especially sensitive, so if you grasp them, I'll come under control immediately."

"And yes... you just became my Yurivis."

Tenara admired his horns, stretching her hand up to touch them with the tips of her fingers. She remembered how he'd reacted before when she'd held them and curled her hand around one. She pulled, tilting his head back until his throat was exposed. She pressed her lips there, nipping at the skin.

“Tell me if I grab too hard,” she whispered, remembering how he’d helped in the forest when giving her the advantage over the Bounty Hunters. Tenara nuzzled him affectionately, sighing at the warmth of him so close to her, holding her, knotted inside, and she wondered if something had changed in her. What magic was it that bound Havitharon to her, that made her his Yurivis, if any? Would he have chosen another woman if they were nearby, if it became overwhelming and he was driven mad by his hunger? Would he choose another woman in the next rut, if she weren’t nearby to tame him? Tenara decided not to think of it, because it made her heart ache. Instead, she chose to enjoy her Ivis—her Flame.

She paused her nuzzling and nipping to draw his face down, guiding him with his horns so that he was looking at her with those sharp, strange eyes. She released his horn slowly and cupped his face in her hands. "Thank you for trusting me."

The way she exposed his neck by tilting him by the horns pulled a soft groan from his chest. The pain in his body subsided further, forgotten in the rightness of her hold on him. A ghost of his usual guardedness nagged at the back of his mind, reminding him he was vulnerable like this. It reminded him that this sense of safety could be fleeting, that this sort of reliance on anyone would open him up to severe physical and mental injuries. What was he getting himself into?

"Tell me if I grab too hard," his Yurivis whispered.

The kindness and sheer pure intent of those words slid through his defenses and melted the alarm that had begun building inside him. He shivered under her gentle nuzzling and nipping. Her warm hands quelled the pain in his horns, until the fever inside him felt like only that - a fever.

"Thank you for trusting me," she said, suddenly staring right into his eyes.

He stared back, his breath tightening. The sense of realization of safety, of belonging, enrobed him like a warm bath. Even the fever inside him felt like a comfort, like a vulnerability to revel in and to entrust to her. He hadn't realized the backbreaking weight of his defenses, or how exhausted he was of maintaining them.

"You," he breathed. The word seized up in his throat. She had no idea what she'd given him. Her hands and body, wrapped tightly around him, pulled those defenses down. Just for a little while. Just long enough to wonder if there might be hope after all.

Her heart tugged at the vulnerability sweeping his face. He had hated women, she was certain, and had allowed her this, to touch and kiss and make love to him. He’d given in to something he’d fought years against—something he’d gotten a magical tattoo to avoid. It was slowly dawning on Tenara just how much he’d given her.

Would he regret it when the buzzy warmth of afterglow faded? When his rutt passed, and he was no longer overwhelmed with need and want? Would he ever want her again? Why did it bother her that he might not?

Because she trusted him too. Because he didn’t want her for a throne or to shackle her with a child. He required her, and only her—not for her blood or power or purpose, but simply because she was Tenara.

Tenara felt tears prick her eyes and an overwhelming urge to have him again, over and over until the end of the world. She wanted him to feel the years of pleasure he had denied himself, to be the reason he finally knew peace.

She took one of his supporting hands and drew it to her chest, guiding his fingers to the iridescent scar running between her breasts, the place that had called him into her world and bound them to the sword. She pressed his large hand against it, over the soft curve of her breast and heart.

“I trust you, too,” she said, and kissed him, testing and slow, as if she expected him to want to flee.

Havitharon's fingers spread slowly across her chest, feeling the toughened skin where her scar was, and the softer heat at its sides. This wound was proof of the damage his summoning had caused her, but she pressed him to it as if it was something she wanted him to treasure, and so he did. He brushed his fingers over her left breast and cradled its soft weight. She trusted him. She welcomed him.

He stilled under the touch of her lips, letting her explore him. Everywhere their bodies touched, heat buzzed along his skin. A hushed gasp filled the quiet moment between them, and he found himself kissing her back. His thumb rubbed a firm circle against her cupped breast, pressing her nipple with each swipe. Her kiss was driving him crazy. He slipped his tongue between her lips and tasted her back. His body shouldn't be ready again so soon, but he could feel himself growing sensitive again. His shape changed inside her, lengthening as if it could reach all the way into her body. "Hah..." he moaned against her lips.

Tenara relished his returned affection, her breath quickening at the exploration of his fingers across her chest. She made a soft noise against his mouth at each tender brush across her nipple.

She wanted him again, but wasn’t certain he would be ready so soon. She felt him changing, and assumed he was unknotting inside her to depart, to draw away from her. Instead, he seemed to grow, push deeper. She sucked in a surprised breath to compliment his moan against her lips.

Her gaze turned questioning, but she decided to test his mood by grinding softly against him.

Her small movement produced so much sensation that he winced. A growl pulled from his throat as he tried to decide if this hypersensitivity was pleasure or pain. She was so warm around him, her muscles shifting...

Against his better judgment, he pressed himself deeper into that heat. The knot that had blocked him earlier had nearly smoothed, and he slid deep, until he could feel the pressure of her belly against him. It was impossible to be any further inside her. That thought alone drew another hypersensitive huff of pleasure from him. "How are you so..." he couldn't finish his sentence. He slid his hips back, and pressed in again. His other hand slid around her back and supported her as he ground his hips slowly back and forth.

Tenara gripped his shoulders, her breath hitching at the feel of him striking the deepest part of her, each plunge driving out a moan. It was beyond anything she’d ever experienced, like a bolt of lightning arching through her. “Havi…” Another arch of pleasure took her voice, and her heavy-lidded gaze watched him. “Gods…”

"If you look at me like that," he thrust into her again, groaning, "I..." He slid his other arm behind him and lifted her, pressing in as he held her tight. He raised her just enough to allow him the freedom to move, and his hips glided in smooth, firm thrusts. He hoped his instincts were guiding him correctly. He was transfixed with every sound she made, every twitch of her form against him. He wanted to please her.

Tenara's moan edged sharp and high at the change of angle and pace. Her nails gripped him as her body took the length of him, and she wanted, desperately, to know what he'd do if she kept looking at him like he was the only thing that mattered. She forced herself to release her grip on his shoulder and grabbed one of his horns, looking him deep in his eyes and showing him her appreciation. "You... are so good... at this," she huffed, kissing him.

How? How was he so good?

"Ah!" He cried out, nearly losing his rhythm. His horn... Her mouth crushed against him, smothering his moans. His arm folded under him and he tumbled back to the floor. His gold eyes flashed desperately up at her.

Tenara yelped as they collapsed to the floor and he drove into her. She curled over him, pinning his head back against the marble. Hadn't he wanted this? He said she could pin him. Was it something he liked? She rode him as she gripped his horn, bucking against his hips until she felt herself topple mercifully over the edge of reason. She came with a cry, pressing her forehead against his, still pinning him to the stone.