Completed [The Dreaming Lady] There Comes a Time... (Chemar)

[Kovac]

"Does this mean that each night you dream of me, you will bust down my door?...You're not opposed to all dreams...are you Kovac?" "Of course not..." There it was. Kovac had seen that side of the dreamwalker the evening they spent in the company of Sairque. Chemar had proven herself to be cleverly seductive and wickedly tempting. It seemed a symphony of nerves danced across his skin as the dreamwalker's lips brushed across his jaw, her taunting words whispered into his ear. For a moment, he could not respond. In a way, things were still like a dream, the heat of the mountain and its subtle intoxicating fumes surrounding them heavily, affecting them, the dark room illuminated only by the veins of luminous rock running around the walls. In another, Chemar seemed more real to him than ever before. "Good thing I locked the door." Gods. The woman's lips were so close to his that Kovac swore he heard her words through his mouth rather than his ears. Whether it was the dream, the sobering news of their lost baby, or Kovac simply taking Aidara's advice and letting go, the Avora found no obstructions of his own design in the way. Finally, it was no longer dreamer and client, accuser and defender, transgressor and victim. It was simply a girl named Chemar and a boy called Kovac. Sure, their hearts literally beat as one after a dreamwalk gone wrong, and they had conceived a child and lost a child he never knew about, but in the true way of the Inarta, passion for each other won out. Kovac worked his hands into hers, their fingers laced together as he pulled her arms behind her, his arms around Chemar's waist. Their lips still lingering torturously close, Kovac's sly tone slipped out. "But doesn't your sister have a key?" Though he voiced a concern, Kovac did not stop as he walked forward, guiding Chemar as she stepped backwards, until her back was pressed against the warm stone wall. With some skill Kovac managed to keep his lips from doing little more than brushing hers in the process. His hands lead hers to hang at her side, his fingers still entangled in hers. The mongrel took a step forward, pressing his body against hers so slighty, before finally allowing his lips to slide against Chemar's in a long kiss. "You wouldn't want me to confuse you twins in the dark." He muttered against her mouth, a small chuckle slipping from his throat. His hands released her to encircle the dreamwalker's slim waist.

[Chemar Tisserand]

In the past, even with Kovac, Chemar had experienced moments that were more physically exposing, but as her heart thundered in her chest she knew that this was the most intimate moment of her life. It might have been that during their first encounter, the momentum of the situation, Kovac's anger and her bewilderment had stolen away those subtle moments of discovery. Blocking the experience of those perfect pictures in life that would continue to take her breath away as long as she had breath. That was not the case this time, this time she had the luxury of being able to relish every touch, each kiss and the myriad of tremors the Avora sent across her skin. It was thrilling...

Feeling like a girl experiencing the clumsy touch of a boy for the first time left Chemar breathless and undone, mostly because Kovac's touch was anything but clumsy. In fact, his skill was breathtaking. The weaving dance his fingers performed between hers had her so distracted that she heard, but did not really take in his subtle joke.

But doesn't your sister have a key?

Yes...the thought materialized and disappeared within the same breath, decimated by the distraction of Kovac's body driving her toward the wall. The breath caught in her throat until he kissed her, a wait that seemed too long even though it was but a moment. It was not relief but intoxication she felt when his lips finally met hers, a feeling that was amplified by the husky whisper passing from his mouth to hers.

You wouldn't want me to confuse you twins in the dark.

You dog. A smile parted her lips, adding another layer of intimacy to the play of his mouth on hers. She touched her fingertips to his ribs and dragged the smooth surface of her fingernails along the length of his side, savoring the tremors she left in the wake of her touch. Those same fingers snaked their way up the center of his back and along his neck before threading into his dark hair and taking hold. With a playful jerk, she pulled his head back and looked at him through half open eyes. Carried on a breathless whisper, she spoke only one question.

"Is this really the moment you choose to talk of my sister?" The smile that accompanied her words was playful and disarming in its complete lack of defense. Somehow, the steady pounding of their rhythmic heartbeat, along with Kovac's lips, convinced her to set aside any caution she might have felt, and let him in, she was mesmerized by the feeling of freedom it gave her.

The wall felt warm against her back and she could feel the pressure of Kovac's fingertips as they pressed into the flesh at her waist, every breath she took drew in a mixture of the spicy smell of the mountain fumes and Kovac's familiar scent. A firm grip of his hair with one hand, Chemar slowly raised the other to trace a light touch along the contour of his lips. She was enjoying the simple act of touching him. As if to contrast the existence of such tumultuous history she felt like this was the first time they'd gotten to enjoy real intimacy and she was savoring it. The movement of her touch paused in the center of his bottom lip then slipped along his strong chin to follow the column of his throat.

"It's good to be touched...yes?" The quiet and yielding sound of her voice surprised her a little and she flashed a look to Kovac's eyes to see if he too was surprised. Her traced line continued to his collarbone then stalled in a series of delicate circles over the small depression at the base of his throat. The occupation of her fingertip marking the spot on which she would softly press her lips. His pulse pounded against her mouth and tightened her stomach with the excitement of anticipation.The reflections of her own hot breath off his skin made her smile, and she enjoyed a long sigh. Her tongue rode along her lower lip as she returned her gaze to Kovac.

"You like games. So do as I do...be my reflection, Kovac." The way she spoke his name was like a layer of honey had coated her tongue and she tasted the sound of the word as she spoke it. Pulling aside anything that might get in his way, a necklace, a strand of red hair, she left exposed the very same spot she had just kissed. Their actions to this moment had been more innocent than most in their history, but Chemar felt ready to leap out of her skin. Her thoughts could not move beyond the desire to have his lips upon her collarbone. Do it... She released her hold on his hair and let her arm drape lazily over his shoulder. As though he needed more incentive to follow her lead, she added more to their game.

"Our next action is yours to choose."

[Kovac]

An exquisite quaking wracked Kovac's body as the Inartan's nails lightly raked up his sides, evoking an audible inhaled gasp. As Chemar entangled her fingers in his hair, jerking his head, the half-blood reveled in the unexpected aggression their sudden freedom had revealed in the woman. His hands widened at her hips, fingers spread, grasping at her her soft curves as if trying to seize as much of her in his grip as he could. Kovac watched with bated breath as the dreamwalker raised one finger to his mouth. Chemar's contact was applied with torturous measure, a simple caress of the pad of one small finger, but the scintillating sensation of its circuit around his lips drew every ounce of the man's attention. "It's good to be touched...yes?" Oh gods...this was Chemar? Her voice was glazed with seduction, seeming to caress his ears as tangibly as her gentle finger pressing on his mouth. "Yes...touching is very good..." Kovac muttered, his voice huskier than he had expected as her finger traveled the sensitive length of his collarbone, to tease the base of his throat. Kovac had no idea how erotic the spot could be, until Chemar's lips were pressed against it, her long hair brushing against his bare chest.. The smoldering burn in his core flared. A game? Well, Kovac had boasted he had games they could play, but, to his delight, Chemar had some of her own. His green gaze lingered on the ringed depths of Chemar's, as if each one of them were feeding off the lust betrayed in the eyes of the other. He leaned down, pressing his mouth lightly to one shoulder, at the tip of her collarbone. With steady movement, Kovac laid kiss after kiss along the ridge, until he reached Chemar's throat. His lips lingered on the tender flesh, savoring the warmth of her heated skin. Pulling away, his eyes paused for a moment on hers, before one hand lifted to the side of her head. With a sweeping motion, Kovac brushed Chemar's bead-encrusted mane aside, until her ear and neck were exposed. Leaning in again, his moist lips traveled up the side of her neck, just over the artery, until it stopped behind her ear. Then, with a soft tickle of his hot breath, he took the lobe of the ear between his lips, giving a small suck before gingerly setting his teeth to the soft flesh and tugging ever so gently. When he lifted his head again, his lips made an audible smack as her lobe slipped out between them. His grin was devious. He was on fire, she had to know it. But the anticipation, the torment of slow contact was intoxicating, no less powerful in the fact that it was her, Chemar, whom he had desired, and feared, for so long.

[Chemar Tisserand]

Smack

The sound his lips made as he released her earlobe shot a charge of energy straight through Chemar so intense that she bit her lower lip until she tasted a coppery wash of blood. It would take every ounce of her restraint to maintain the torturous pace of their breathtaking game, but she would maintain, for her part, if only to savor this man.

"My turn..." Her voice was a sultry whisper as she became his feminine reflection, mimicking every action he'd taken. His neck was her prize, and her lips lit upon it with such softness, that it could have been mistaken for a breeze whispering across his skin had it not been for the searing heat her body had begun to radiate. She followed the path of the blood coursing through his throat, and paused to feel his pulse against her lips before her tongue sought out the tender flesh of his earlobe. As he had, so she pulled it into her mouth, letting her tongue trace every contour. Then it was released, but not without a gentle clenching of teeth to add a little resistance. At that moment, she was close enough for her lashes to brush along his face, and for her own breath to reflect back at her, but she did not linger.

After taking a moment to enjoy the increasing pressure of Kovac's fingers as they pressed into her waist, she caught his wrists in her hands. One after the other she lifted them to her lips and kissed the center of his palm, giving his hands the opportunity to caress her face before placing them at his sides. When their contact was broken she slowly pulled a small vial from between her breasts where it hung on a delicate chain. Keeping her eyes locked on his, she pulled the cork free and revealed a glass filament coated in a clear oil. The fragrant oil wafted into the air and blended with the already intoxicating aroma. The chamber was transformed into a exhilarating blend of the mountain...and Chemar.

A smile curled her lips as she touched the glass filament to his chest, painting the oil along his skin in the same winding pattern that the viper had made when it crept across the forest floor. She traveled down the length of his chest until she reached his navel, at which point she traced a series of circles that steadily increased in orbit around that spot. The circles reached the tip of his bryda and she lifted the glass free, only to replace it in the vial. Slowly, but with clear intent, she grasped his hips, letting the pads of her thumbs settle into hollows on either side of his stomach, then she leaned in, her eyes still holding his attention. She drew a long breath, then without a word, began to release it as a soft stream that warned the oil. At the first contact it heated into a line so warm it felt as though it would burn, but as soon as the breath was gone it turned to ice. Chemar had found the waking reality of the breath she had breathed into the dream Kovac, and now used it to disarm and seduce him. As she took the breath lower and lower on his body, her thumbs pressed into his hips until she knelt at his feet, her breath soft on his stomach.

It could have stopped there, leaving Kovac to make his move, but she was inspired, and wanted to drive him to a point that no one ever had. To make him suffer such exquisite longing at her hands that it would change both of them. She leaned forward and touched her tongue to his stomach, retracing the circles that orbited his navel, sending a flash of burning ice across his abdomen. She tasted the heat of the oil and grinned to feel the tremors that danced beneath his skin. When she reached the top of his bryda, just as with the oil, she withdrew, slowing climbing up the surface of his chest until they were face to face.

Using the heat of the oil still on her tongue, she painted his lips, then whispered into his mouth as she pushed the tip of her tongue to meet his.
"Let me in." Like the icy hot breath she had breathed into him during their first walk, Chemar kissed him until the memory of that dream kiss became reality. But instead of leaving behind fear and emptiness, when she pulled away there remained a palpable feeling of need between them. Shocked at the strength of her feelings, she fell back against the wall with a SLAP and just stared at Kovac for a breathless moment.

"Your turn." With a coil of erotic tension in her stomach and a heartbeat that was deafening in her ears, she tried to appear calm, lazily draping her arms over her head as she pressed her shoulders into the wall. "Or are you ready to go back to the rabbits?" She looked at him with a wicked smile, knowing that neither of them was going anywhere.

[Kovac]

The soft touch of Chemar's lips along his neck, the playful nip at his ear, brought the woman closer to Kovac, and Kovac closer to losing control. But the poor Avora had no idea what was to come next. He was curious as the dreamwalker produced a small vial that had been hidden in her cleavage. The woman had no end to her surprises, something the half-blood admitted he liked about her. He had not been with Chemar at any time when she did not floor him with the unexpected. Certainly, Kovac did not expect to be this intimate with her, with such intensity, and he surely did not expect what she did next. He ached, it was so obvious, and Kovac no longer felt the need to conceal it. Chemar was wicked, in a delicious way, trailing the mysterious oil down his torso so slowly, spiraling the filament around the sensitive skin of his taut stomach. As his core tightened, even spasmed with heat, Kovac let out a soft moan, denying himself the satisfaction of pulling her close and devouring her. Instead, he endured with euphoria the incredible sensation of her breath on the oil slick trail down his chest. It felt as if she were breathing from a furnace, only to bring a chill as her soft breath flowed lower and lower. But when Chemar's tongue traced circles around his navel, Kovac burst out in an audible groan. His hands went to the wall to steady weakened legs. A low needy growl persisted in his throat, his head thrown back. The muscles of his stomach shuddered at the warm sensation, pulling strings of desire deep in his loins. By the time she kissed him again, the frigid heat of the oil on her tongue now on his, Kovac was in danger of ruining the game. "Petch the rabbits." He murmured, releasing a breathy chuckle at the dual meaning. Kovac paused a moment, his eyes slipping shut as he tried to gain his composure. Chemar had driven him mad, but Kovac was not about to move on without returning the favor. His breathing steady, the rising fire in his body contained for the moment, Kovac looked down into the vivid eyes of the dreamwalker. There was something he had to do, if he were to return the favor. With the deft fingers of a musician, his eyes never leaving hers, Kovac released the two glass buttons that held Chemar's vinati in place. The garment fell free, giving Kovac the access he needed to continue the game. The Avora's eyes lowered, and he paused in admiration before plucking the small vial dangling between her breasts and taking out the oiled filament. He started his oily serpentine trail between them, winding it down her flat tummy to her navel. Just as she did, Kovac left a spiral of the oil across the plane of her stomach, touching the edge of her bryda. His hands laid hold of her sides, just over her hips, his thumbs against the slight contour of her abdomen. He leaned down, close, and blew upon the oil, leaving the tantalizing hot/cold sensation on her creamy skin. Now on his knees, he glanced up at Chemar before his own tongue circled her naval. He drug it along the edge of her bryda, even tucking it beneath the fabric before letting it dart into her belly button. Kovac paused, inhaled deeply of the aroma of the oil mixed with Chemar's skin. His hands caressed her sides, running lightly up over the slight ridges of her ribs and down to the crest of her hips, just above the edge of the bryda. He was on the edge, hesitating, unsure of where to go. One hand moved to caress her tummy, smearing the oil into her flesh. The more urgent need in Kovac wanted to yank down her bryda, cut to the chase and end the torturous game they played. Yet, the playful side relished torture, the intoxicating anticipation that burnt up his insides and drove him to a heady high with maddening want. Finally, his hands slid from her hips forward, until his thumbs met at her navel. Then, as he moved to stand, he slid his hands up her torso, riding every contour on the slick mix of oil and sweat, until they stopped in a gentle encirclement of her neck. Unlike times in the past, there was no threat of asphyxiation in his gesture, his hands gently touching, his thumbs moving to rest on either side of her throat. The hunter moved his hands to cradle her face, tilting it slightly so he could press a kiss to her lips. Soon they were engulfed in another passionate, probing kiss, Kovac having laid hold of Chemar's wrists and pressed them to the wall above her head. He pressed against her, heated skin to heated skin... Then, still holding her wrists in her hands, Kovac twirled Chemar, until she faced the wall. He pressed her hands flat to the wall next to her head, his over hers. Again the Avora leaned against her, his breath causing the hair at the side of her head to flutter. "Don't move." Kovac instructed with a low, devious laugh. The dreamwalker felt him slide down, his hands brushing along her sides, over the curves of her breast that spilled out as they were pressed against the wall, down the ridges of her ribcage to the softness of her sides until they rested on the crests of her hips. Hot kisses accompanied, leaving a trail down her spine. His fingers grasped a fist full of fabric in each hand and tugged Chemar's bryda down several inches, exposing just the upper part of her hips and backside. His kisses continued to descend, covering the roundness of her flesh where it flared out from the small of her back. Then Chemar felt the hard ridges of his teeth press gently into her soft flesh. It was a light nip, leaving only slight indentations in her pale flesh. He kissed the bite mark before standing again, his hands slipping up her torso again and spreading to cover her hands with his. Again he leaned against her, his breath in her ear. He whispered sofly, the unseen mischief in his smile audible in his tone. "Now you can agree with everyone when they say I am a pain in the arse."

[Chemar Tisserand]

The wait for Kovac to take his turn was damn near interminable to Chemar, or perhaps it just seemed as such. One look into his eyes gave the dreamwalker a charge of confidence in the efficacy of her game when that stolen look revealed the effort it was taking for Kovac to maintain any amount of composure. She became so engaged in watching the hunger in his eyes that when his hands moved to the closure of her vinati, she was unprepared. How had she not considered this eventuality? She may actually have gasped. Gods she hoped not.

With no effort at all, Kovac's nimble fingers freed the glass buttons and the fabric fell away; Chemar was compromised, and more exposed than she had expected to be. Even in the warmth of the dreaming chamber, without her vinati she felt chilled, vulnerable, and when green eyes settled upon her, it made her skin tingle and the chill that had merely danced on across her body now soaked in to wrap around her bones. By the time he touched her, there was so much tension contained within that she had to clamp her teeth onto her own lip to contain a throaty sigh.

Like a perfect reflection, he acted on her as she had upon him, and the effect was exquisite. She has to restrain to keep herself from pressing toward his mouth as it fluttered across the skin of her stomach, and when his tongue rode along the waist of her bryda, slipping playfully between fabric and skin, she felt her nails scrape along the luminous walls just to offer them some form of employment. "Good god." Her whisper was so breathless and soft that she was quite certain it was inaudible, but she could not have cared less in that moment, as his hands has begun to traverse the scape of her body. His movement was slow enough that the heat from his hands served to warm every inch of skin he touched. He took liberty in their game, cheater, letting his touch linger as his hands painted heat onto her skin. As his hands encircled her neck, it was as though he held her breath in the palm of his hands. What was she expecting? The soft cradling of her face in his hands was so sweet that she was surprised, in spite of the intimacy of the moment, and when he kissed her, she was lost.

"Do you submit?" The words, that passed from her mouth to his were an ironic jab, and he responded by claiming her wrists and spinning her toward the wall. "Oh?" She got only a flash of his mischievous grin before the wall was her only view.

Don't move. Where was he going with this?

She waited, as his touch became more liberal, pressing into her flesh as his hands were pushed along her sides. His patience for her game seemed to be waning, and in truth, she was in no mood to object. When his hands settled at her hips she shifted unconsciously, pressing into his hands. She was distracted by the soft play of his mouth as it kissed along her spine; leaving her gape mouthed and wide eyed when he shifted the aspect of her bryda. A gasp caught in her throat, stifled by his continued kisses, but with the surprising addition of teeth she was torn from the moment. The light kiss and his snarky remark were lost to her and as he pressed her to the wall once more but she was not the disarmed and docile puppet of moments earlier.

"Kovac!" She spun beneath his weight and looked up at him with bright eyes, a shocked, yet playful smile on her lips. His weight still pressed her to the wall in spite of her turning, and when she faced him she found herself sharing the very air he breathed, exhaling as he drew breath, as though that single draw was exchanged over and over. Their shared heartbeat created a cacophony of vibration between them and for a brief moment they both seemed at a loss. Chemar cocked her head and closed the distance between their lips, once again speaking his name. "Kovac..." Her kiss was stopped before it began but a repetition of his name once more, but this time, the voice dripped with venom as the speaker spat it into the room.

"Kovac!"

The sound of that voice was an utter shock, while in the passion of the moments with Kovac she had not even heard footfalls in the corridor. Though Kovac would not, Chemar recognized the voice immediately. Rae. Before she had the chance to advise her sister as to the change in the complexion of her 'dealings' with the halfblood, Rae burst into the room and shoved Kovac away from her sister. Making sure to drive herself like a wedge between the two of them, acting as Chemar's protector. Set off balance by the forceful shove, Kovac did not expect her assault, so when Rae coiled her fist and let it fly, the blow hit him solidly in the mouth and sent him careening toward the floor.

"The petching balls you must have to show your face here again after what you did!" The speed at which her sister moved caught Chemar off guard. "And you Aught, what were you thinking?" She looked back at Chemar in utter disbelief. Kovac was already down by the time Chemar pushed off the wall, and even though Rae's anger seemed to focus on the dreamwalker, she wrapped the angry redhead in a bear hug that halted any more action toward Kovac.

"Skyke Rae! Stop!" Even Chemar's shouting voice was only half the volume of her sister's, but her hold was firm, and the elder Tisserand could no longer reach the disabled Kovac. Chemar looked at him, seeing a thin line of blood spilling from a split in his lip, unconsciously she pulled her own lip into her mouth in sympathy, running her tongue over the spot that had been so recently kissed by the man on the floor.

The look Rae gave Chemar as she looked over her shoulder would have stopped the most fierce man dead in his tracks. "Please tell me you are not defending this piece of shyke?" With no small amount of effort, Rae shrugged out of Chemar's grip, forcing her hard against the wall before she once more lunged at Kovac, slamming the flat of her foot onto his chest to hold him on the floor. "Don't move." The irony of her statement must have struck both Chemar and Kovac. What a difference a few moments can make.

Again Chemar pushed off the wallm but this time bent to retrieve her vinati even if she did not put it on. Holding it in front of her bare skin she tried to reason with her sister. "Rae, let him up. Please. Can we talk about what's gone on?" She moved to Rae's side and pushed her gently back, putting herself between Kovac and her furious sister.

The difference between the two sisters was striking, though the faces were identical in every way, they could not have seemed more different. Disregarding her current state, Rae seemed the more polished of the two, wearing her hair in a silken plait that fell down her back. No hint of the wild curls that spilled across Chemar's shoulders and back. Though she guided souls to their happiest places, Rae's mouth was finer, where Chemar's was plush, and lacked the playful curl at the corners of her lips. But by far, the most glaring difference between the two sister's were the eyes; the eyes through which Rae saw the world were the deepest green, solid and clear, but virtually unreadable. Chemar's, on the other hand, glowed with the life inside her, not only telling her story, but drawing in anyone who dared meet her gaze.

"No Aught. He can make his excuses from his rightful place on the floor." She glared down at Kovac, waiting for him to speak. "I will not allow him to use you as his whore."

Wasn't she supposed to be the sweet one?

Chemar's face flushed and Rae's words stung just as much as if she'd slapped her across the face. The passion and abandon that had existed between her and Kovac began to disintegrate beneath the accusations of her sister, and Chemar looked at him with a sad smile before her gaze fell to the floor.

[Kovac]

There was no more forethought, no more strategy, no more calculations made to construct a manner of foreplay that would ferry them to what Kovac wanted...and he now was sure Chemar wanted as well. Instead, the half-blood rode the waves of his passion, taking each tick of each chime one after the other, spending each expanse of time consuming as much of Chemar's sensuality as he could bear, each tick and each chime bringing him closer to utter and complete abandon. The slight Inartan managed to gracefully rotate beneath him, finding himself looking again face to face, intimately close, to the beautiful woman framed by deep-hued mane, now somewhat disheveled. He gave her no room to budge, his heated torso pressed against the bare flesh of her own, the synchronous thrum of their pulses so pronounced, as only two thin layers of skin and a couple ribs separate the hearts that beat in perfect orchestration. The sound of his name on her lips, breathed out in soft, husky need, shattered his resolve. Her warm breath brushed his lips as he anticipated the kiss, his hands aready moving to finally tug down her bryda completely. But his name was repeated. Though it was similar to Chemar's it was not spoken in passion, and it was directly behind him. Comprehension came slowly to the lust-maddened mind of the Avora, and as he turned to identify the intruder, Rae had already crossed the floor, laying her hands roughly on him. Kovac staggered back, grasping in a short instant who it was. The twin. She was the mirror of Chemar in her face, a face that was twisted in anger. That was all the hunter was able to assess before the woman's small but well aimed fist smashed into his mouth and sent him toppling to the floor. Kovac leaned up on one elbow and ran his fingers across his lip, split and readily bleeding. Rae was enraged, obviously privy to the history between the hunter and her sister, and the baby. His own ire ignited at Rae's accusations, but, for Chemar's sake, he did not react when the angry sister slammed her foot against his chest, pressing him to the floor. "She is not my whore!" The half-blood roared back loudly, now indignant on Chemar's behalf. "Don't you ever call her that!" He took a deep breath, his eyes darting to Chemar, seeing the hurt in her eyes, and knowing he had brought it about. Forcing his anger aside, he tried to address Rae with an even temper. "I didn't know. I didn't know about the baby. But it was better for me to leave. I would have hurt her more, I was not thinking right, I was a coward." He confessed, again as much to Chemar as to her overprotective sister. "I know I wronged her. That is why I came back. I force nothing on your sister." His eyes moved again to look at Chemar. "I care for her very much. I don't know what is going to happen. But anything that happens between us is because I care for her, not to just satisfy an itch." "Now, would you get your damn foot off of me."

[Chemar Tisserand]

There was no defense when Rae shattered the connection between Chemar and Kovac, the dreamwalker was so unprotected in her vulnerability to Kovac that the accusations from her own blood left her raw. When Rae focused her furious bitterness at Kovac, Chemar fumbled with shaking hands to slip on her vinati, unable to be naked any longer, neither physically nor emotionally.

Everything moved so quickly that by the time Chemar moved to disentangle Rae from Kovac, the half blood had already begun to respond to her venomous indictments. Ready for him to return her sister's words with equal anger before running, Chemar could feel the anticipation of his response growing like a virus in the pit of her stomach.

Don't you ever call her that!

His response made her stumble, then stop. Staring at the prone Avora as he defended her? When his gaze shifted to Chemar, she knew that though his regrets were offered to Rae, that they sought no other ear than hers. The flurry of anger was stilled as Kovac spoke and Chemar had a brief opportunity to listen to him without distraction, to listen as he spoke from a place unprotected by his defenses. But brief it was, and very soon the everpresent fire in his belly eclipsed that moment of vulnerability.

Now, would you get your damn foot off of me.

Chemar lurched forward and locked her arms around Rae, yanking her away from Kovac. "This is not your place Rae!" she held her sister tightly, even though she struggled more with each passing moment. "Be still!" She tightened the circle of her arms and pressed her cheek against Rae's, lowering her voice to a soft whisper. "Listen to me. You've got to trust me."

"Aughty, how can you even be in the same room with him after what he did?" Rae's voice grew quiet as she began to realize that now she might be the one hurting her sister. "I just wanted.."

"I know." She cut her off, knowing what would follow. Chemar looked down at Kovac with a soft smile, shaking her head at his unexpected words. "I've got her, I think you are safe to get up." She rested her chin on Rae's shoulder and let out a long sigh, still able to feel the adrenaline driving the blood though her body, an equal mixture of her undoing by Kovac, and the fury of her sister. Between the two of them, one day she was certain they would stop her heart altogether."I have to show you something." As she whipsered in Rae's ear gold ringed eyes locked on Kovac's, and she felt a charge of energy pulse through her. "You will behave?" Rae nodded, her anger clearly not wavering, but her common sense finally having kicked in. After all, she couldn't take him all alone.

Chemar released her sister and stepped between the two combatants, unconsciously licking her bottom lip as she looked at the split in Kovac's, the taste of him still on her tongue; even her sister's violent intrusion could not entirely stifle what had been taking place before her arrival. Chemar still could not believe that he hadn't run when faced with the wrath of her sister. A new dimension had been added to the inexplicable pull she felt toward Kovac, but before that could be dealt with, she needed to calm the current seas...

Grasping moth of Rae's hands, she looked into her sister's eyes, offering a silent plea for her tolerance. Raising her hands, she pressed one of Rae's palms to her chest, holding it there until the rhythm of her heart echoed on her sister's hand. "My heart." With a bit of resistance, and far more caution, the other hand was placed flat on Kovac's chest, allowing for the same capture of rhythm. "Kovac's heart."
Having established the synchronicity of their hearts, Chemar released her grip and Rae's hands fell to her sides. The dreamwalker stepped between them once more, just to be safe, leaning against the Avora a little more than she should have.

Rae seemed dumbfounded, staring down at the palms of her hands, not unlike the response that both Chemar and Kovac had gone though given the dame realization. But without missing a beat, her ire focused on Kovac.


"What did you do to her?"

[Kovac]

Kovac watched the interaction between the Tisserand twins. The dymanic had altered and focused for a moment between the sisters. Strikingly similar in features, the current set of their countenances made them appear very different. Chemar had tempered Rae's rage, if not assuaged it, enough for Kovac to slip from beneath the lifting boot. The Avora took a step back, ignoring the small sting of his split lip and panting slightly in the aftermath of intense arousal and the instinct to defend himself from the rampaging sister. He remained silent, allowing Chemar to handle the situation. She employed a tone rich with sincerity and soothing, such that Rae complied with her sister to restrain herself. Soon, Kovac understood what the girl was going to reveal.

The archer stood stock still, watching the skeptical sister press her hand to Chemar's chest, until she could gauge the beat of her heart. Kovac knew it thumped strongly, for his own mirrored hers. His emerald gaze volleyed between Chemar's gold ringed eyes and Rae's glowering deep greens. Once the reluctant twin pressed her palm to his heated chest, Kovac saw those same clear green eyes widen slightly with surprise. When the demonstration was completed, and Chemar moved to his side, brushing against him, Kovac's hand moved to encircle her waist.

"What did you do to her?"

Though the mixed-blood did realized an explanation from her dreamwalker sister may better serve both he and Chemar, Kovac did speak up in his own defense.

"We don't know what happened. It was there after our first dreamwalk, and has been ever since."Kovac still wrestled with the significance of the shared heartbeat, if there was one. Regardless, it meant something to him. "I don't know what it means, but Chemar and I are connected. Regardless, I like your sister very much, and if she is willing, I intend to spend time with her. I understand your concern for her, its admirable. But she knows me, who I am, and its her place to choose for herself whether she will put up with me or not." Kovac's gaze shifted to Chemar, inhaling the sweet scent that surrounded her.

[Chemar Tisserand]

The two of them stood as the most united of fronts that they could be in the face of Rae. Chemar listened as Kovac once again defended their actions, her eyes carefully watching the expression on her sister's face. To her credit, the elder Tisserand listened to everything the Avora had to say; the intense fury quelled by Chemar's words. Without turning, Chemar pulled her focus from Rae to Kovac, concentrating on the sound of his voice.

But she knows me, who I am, and its her place to choose for herself whether she will put up with me or not.

The end of his defense brought a quirk to the corner of the dreamwalker's lips, leave it to Kovac to put the choice in her lap even while his arm wrapped around her in a subtle show of possessiveness. Or was it support, this new Kovac had her confused. She did not need to make her decision in this moment, she only needed to get all of them out of the dream chambers without serious injury.

Rae's only response to Kovac was a dismissive 'hmfph' and her eyes narrowed. She was not easily swayed once her mind was made up, she lacked the soft spot that Chemar had toward the halfblood. When she finally spoke, it was to Chemar, letting the issue of the Avora remain unresolved, for the moment.

"I will help you lock up." Subtlety was not Rae's strong suit, a fact in which she reveled. She even went so far as to take Chemar's hand, and would likely have tanked her from Kovac's grip if the younger sister had not flashed her a warning with her gold ringed eyes.

"What made you come here Rae? It was my turn to close." Chemar tried to distract her sister with details leading up to her visit."A client told me about the note on the door, and I was concerned." Her eyes flicked to Kovac. "And rightly so..."

"Rae.Stop." Rae, shifted her gaze to Chemar, and her face softened. "This is not your decision to make. It is mine, and while you may think you know what I need..." Chemar glanced back at Kovac, feeling his soft grip on her waist squeeze just a little tighter. "You do not. Shyke Rae, I don't even know what I need." She brought her sister's hand to her lips and softly kissed the back, then markedly released her grip, making a point of accenting the separation. "I don't know if Kovac is what I need, but I do know, that mine is the only voice with any authority here. He has offered his truth, and I trust him."

Rae lifted her chin defiantly, a trait common to both Tisserands. "Indeed. Well, we should go."

"Rae." The solitary word was enough to spur Rae to leave the room and begin making her way toward the entry room of the Lady. Alone again, Chemar turned toward Kovac, never leaving the circle of his arms. As she replayed the words spoken in her defense over in her head she rested one hand flat on his chest, to feel his heart, the other hooked lazily behind his neck to pull him closer. She lifted to kiss him, withholding a little less than she had before, every vulnerability shown her by Kovac was reflected in her by the lowering of another defense. The mood they'd shared before Rae, had returned upon her departure and Chemar could feel a flush of heat burning through her body. Into the warmth of the kiss she whispered, letting her breath carry soft words past his lips. "Don't make me a liar." Returning to their entanglement had very nearly driven Rae's interruption from her sister's mind altogether, only when an impatient voice rang from the hall was she rudely pulled from the delicious mesh of limbs, lips and bodies.

"Are you two coming?"

Rae's impatient call brought a sly smile to Che's plush lips, and she took one last opportunity to ride her tongue slowly along Kovac's lower lip. "We've been evicted..." She exhaled a long, warm breath, trying to slow the pace of her heart, then smiled, and whispered in a voice that would have melted butter. "Coming?"