When I awoke, I could smell vanilla, coffee, and mouthwatering food scents. I was still naked, but a blanket had been thrown over me and my bathroom light gleamed. Even though the power was back on, a few of my candles were lit and cozy. A robe and some bags lay at the foot of my bed, and I reached for them. Opening them, I found lace, satin, silk, and ruffles. Someone had bought me naughty wear from Charlotte Russe, and they chose exceedingly well. I selected a black-and-purple pinstriped steel-boned corset and donned it. It was one of the over-the-bust ones, and while it did cover everything it also boosted and plumped everything as well. I slipped on my favorite black underwear with mesh sides, and the magic enchantment in my home changed the color to match my corset, and made the sides smaller, more manageable, if it came to removing them. I grinned. They would be removed, and I wanted him to do it with his teeth.
Him. Gabriel. I paused while putting my robe on, one wing through the back slit, one not quite through, and thought. Gabriel. Did he still want me? Would he want to finish? Has he given up on me, did he not mean to confess, did he really confess….
I shook my head, finished putting my wing through then tied the belt to close the robe, grabbed a thick head band and tied back my hair. I went into the bathroom and cleaned my teeth, used the toilet, and went back into my room. I looked into the mirror and decided to apply makeup. Mascara, eyeliner, glimmery eye shadow, and a blush floated into the air. I sat at the vanity table I bought in England and closed my eyes. I felt the makeup being applied, then when it stopped I opened my eyes and smiled. I had smoky eyes and a light dusting of purple-and-gold shimmer on my lids. The blush lent light rosettes to my cheeks, and I selected a lipstick to match them. A light layer of a rose-gold gloss and I was done. I tried to rise but found myself stuck. All at once I watched my hair rise in the vanity mirror, free of its band and styled into a lovely coiled bun atop my head, curls draped lovingly on my shoulders and trailing down my back. I had decided to be seductive and gorgeous, so the apartment helped me be so. I said, “Thank you.” I felt a shift in the magic, then stood and sauntered out of my bedroom, ready to find Gabriel and have him.
Instead, I found roses, lilies, and candles. I followed the trail of light to the kitchen, and found Gabriel, fully dressed and wearing a striped apron, setting the table with a romantic, if expansive, dinner for two. My breath caught and a lump rose in my throat, forcing a choked sob to escape. Gabriel heard, looked at me, and set everything down with a clatter. He rounded the table and grabbed my shoulders, asking, “Rei, are you ok? What’s wrong?” I blinked and forced everything own, let the old air out of my lungs, and inhaled Gabriel’s scent. It steadied me, made me feel at peace, and made me ravenous. For him. I placed my paws on his waist and swayed into him. I angled my head and kissed him, and loved how eagerly he responded. I pressed as much of me as I could against him, sliding my arms up his sides and over the muscles of his back, tightening my hold and growling mentally, Mine.
He broke our kiss and laughed, saying, “It’s time to eat first, then…” His eyes blazed a trail up and down my body so hotly I would not be surprised if everything burned away and left me in nothing but singed tatters. “…Then, love, we can see to that.” Gabriel stepped away, pulled out a chair, and motioned for me to sit. I did, and he sat next to me, removing the apron and throwing it into the kitchen. He angled our chairs to semi-face each other and began serving us roast beef, mashed potatoes with real butter, asparagus and chicken in apricot sauce, and a medley of mixed vegetables. He poured a sweet, red wine into two glasses, set one in front of each of us, and a mug of coffee beside them. I smirked at him. “I adore a man who is well prepared.” He didn’t miss the entendre, but he didn’t acknowledge it with anything but a smile and asked, “Shall we dine?”
As we ate, he told me about college, asked me about historic events, after which I accused him of trying to use me to cheat. We laughed, and he asked about my clan. Immediately, I sobered, the apartment seemed darker and more compact. I whispered, “I loved them, but I got them killed with my carelessness. Gabriel…” I turned to him, and cupped his cheek. “Someday, when the pain has lessened, and I have avenged them. That day, I will tell you everything. Right now, I need to not remember the pain that has prevented me from finding love. The pain that fills me night in and out, it may stop me from opening my heart to someone I love dearly.” I took a sip of wine and placed the glass back on the table, turning fully to him and whispering, “Please let it rest so I can be happy with you.” Gabriel’s eyes filled with pain and compassion, and he nodded. We continued to eat and talk, but in a more subdued fashion. The apartment lost its oppressive feeling, but even the atmospheric relief didn’t stop the gloom.
We finished eating and Gabriel led me to the den pit, the coffee mugs drifting on an invisible tray ahead of us. The faux-fire pit in the center blazed with light; our shadows danced across the windows, shutters opened and curtains drawn. Snow drifted past, and I was suddenly glad I was not patrolling instead of being here. Here, with Gabriel, who was still filled with a depression and I felt lost. Maybe to cold snow would be better. It didn’t make me feel so…guilty.
Gabriel stepped into the pit, turned and lifted me in his hands. He lowered me to the cushions and kneeled in front of me. He took my paws in his hands and looked me in the eyes. I opened my mouth and he touched my lips with trembling fingertips. “No Rei.” He shook his head. “I need to say something, and I need you to hear it, if you will.” I nodded and he relaxed, but only slightly. Gabriel took a deep breath and continued.
“I have loved you for so long now. Every woman I have had, has been a replacement for you. When I was eighteen I went to live with my father’s tribe, as you know. I was determined to find my worth and prove to you, that I was worthy of your love. As I lived among the rock trolls, as I learned their customs and found a place in them. My father, Liam, he is the head of the tribe. That puts my brothers and Louelle and me at roughly the rank of princess and princes, albeit rather common ones. When trade season came, about a year after I went to live with him, my father introduced me to true rock troll royalty; Jessica, her father, mother, and entourage. Jessica and I had chemistry, and so I sought to woo her, with her father’s blessings. I had not though of marriage, but her mother certainly did. She began to hound me and my father, whispering tales of Jessica’s and my betrothal. Jessica and I, we ignored them, and continued as we were, neither asking more than a warmth in bed for a bit. We even shared women; I am sure you understood the implication she made yesterday. Then Jessica showed her cruelty. She purposely told several young men that she and I were married in secret, that we were waiting for the perfect moment to announce it. Young girls were terrified of me because she had her lady’s maids circulate the rumors of my viciousness and prowess in bed, enough to destroy a woman if she weren’t careful. I went full rock troll for her once, and I couldn’t handle the strain of it. I nearly died, doing it for a little pleasure and not blood. The brownie in me stopped me. Still, Jessica raved and put it about that I was better in every way that her former lovers or suitors. That earned me animosity, and I had to fight. A lot. I spilled blood, but left every one of them alive. The last one, though, that took my shoulder…” here his hand went up in a self-conscious manner to that very shoulder, then dropped to trail his fingers on my wrist. “I had left Jessica. I told her that no one, save one woman, was worth this sort of damage and exhaustion. I had no intentions of having her for anything anymore, much, much less as a wife.
“Jessica grew angry and told her father I took her virginity. She also claimed to be with my child, even though at that point I hadn’t fucked her in nearly two months, so the king came to me. He brought with him the prince from another part of the States- the rock troll court near Washington, D.C. That prince had already paid his dowry-right price, and was angry with me for “stealing” what he made a payment for. I tried telling them both that she wasn’t a virgin when she and I began our affair, and that I wasn’t the only one, but neither would listen. The queen stood moping and mourning the lost virginity and the coming babe. I stopped and counted, then immediately told her and the king that if Jessica was pregnant, it wasn’t mine. I hadn’t seen her since we moved back two months prior, and she would have known farther back than now. She claimed to be nearly one month along. Even our wise woman told them what I said would be true, but they still wanted my blood. My father offered a deal- Have me fight this prince, and have the girl take a pregnancy test. He beseeched the king to gather all the young men from his court and from our tribe, to have them interviewed while I fought for my life. The king agreed. Needless to say, I was so angry my troll side overpowered my brownie side, and I nearly killed that soft prince. He did rip a chunk off, and that was after I had officially won. He was sent home, without his dowry-right money or princess. Jessica wasn’t pregnant, and the king and queen had many witnesses to nullify the virginity issue. I had to allow the injuries I got to heal naturally, but as soon as I could I came home and got magic to heal what it could. My shoulder, however, was too far gone, and the rest you know. “
Gabriel stopped, took a drink of the now-cooled coffee, and gasped. I sat frozen, not wanting to even breathe, because I was afraid if I moved, I would frighten him off. He was ready to run, but I refused to give him a reason. He inhaled, then finished his narrative.
“I earned a name in the Rock Troll community, and I was done with that anger and violence. Jessica, she made me go back to that. Rock troll women fight as much as men, sometimes even challenging men. For her, fighting like that, is a turn on. Gods and Goddesses help me, I was too. I was even more aroused when you intervened and she had you pinned. I need you to know this so you understand why I held back last night, and why I dragged out the foreplay you started until the sun rose. I was afraid you didn’t want me, or worse, that you wanted the violence you saw in me. I want to keep that from you, I don’t want to hurt…” I leapt forward and kissed him, wrapping my arms around his neck and slamming him into the floor. I ground myself against him, eager and damp, and he responded in kind. I finally reared back, straddling him and gasping. Gabriel was likewise afflicted. I spread my wings and growled fiercely, “I will not be hurt. I need you, want you, because…” I closed my eyes and prayed. “I love you as well. I have been fighting it since two years ago, when you were twenty-five.” I opened my eyes and looked at him, lifting myself off him and back onto the cushions. He sat up, hands trailing down my thighs and haunches, then back again. “Say that again.” I blushed a furious shade of red, muttering, “Seriously?” I inhaled and said, rather shakily, “I said I love you…” he grasped my hair and kissed me, deep and joyous. When he stopped I could barely think. Gabriel, my Gabriel, smirked and said, “I thought you were in love with someone else, from what you said at the table…” I lifted a paw and laid two claws on his lips. “A lot of things were said, but I meant you. I love you, Gabriel, and for all my years I never have had someone, anyone, hold it and respond in kind. Now,” I lleaned against the walls of the pit, encouraging it to expand so I could recline, and so it came to pass I lay, open and inviting, waiting for Gabriel’s touch as I continued, “I think you should start dessert. I want my first true lover to be you.”
Gabriel’s eyes glittered, and his face was taut with desire and pleasure and that truly wonderful masculine smugness. He reached out and caressed my body from chin to breast to stomach through the robe. He reached that knot and tugged it loose, pulling my robe to either side and I swear, his nostrils flared and his eyes went black. “Glad you liked my gift.” His voice was dark and sultry. I shivered and waited, nearly breathless. “I think… I need a taste before I unwrap my treat. Don’t you agree, Rei?” His eyes bored into mine and I gasped out my agreement.
He kissed my face, one cheek then the other, my forehead and horns, nosetip, everywhere but my lips. He kissed his way down my chin and neck, licking and kissing my ears and biting the sides of my neck. His hands pinned my wrists, and I enjoyed the futile struggle I felt I needed to do. I made eager, needy noises, and writhed my hips against him. Gabriel licked and nipped every available inch of my skin from shoulder to shoulder, across my breasts, and dipped his tongue beneath the fabric of my corset. I gasped and lifted one haunch, throwing it over his hips like Jessica had done, digging my toe-claws into his jeans and urging him closer. He chuckled against me, then raised himself above me, lifting one of my ensnared wrists and repeating what he had just done on my chest. I whined and writhed, but it did no good. He kept his deliciously painful pace all the way up my arm and to my chest again, then shifted sides and repeated the process. When he was done, I told him, “If you try that on my legs I will combust and you will have nothing. Please, please, my love, end my suffering…” my voice trailed off at the delightfully wicked look that gleamed in his eyes. He took both hands and slowly, so slowly, began to undo my corset while kissing and licking every inch that he revealed. I tangled my claws gently into his hair and thrashed my tail back and forth. He shoved my leg from around him and knelt further down my body, chest level with my aching and desperately wet vagina. He finished undoing my corset and peeled it off slowly. My breasts thrust themselves at him and I could feel my belly quivering. Gabriel grinned, and then I knew I was lost to this man and his desires as the snow blew and the winds howled outside our small, warm, candlelit world made of just us two.
Comments (0)
See all