Closed The End of the Chase

[Claire Lexi'lya]

In all her time spent thus far with the Eypharian, Claire was positive this was her favorite. It wasn’t so much the position she found herself him—though she certainly wasn’t going to complain—or even the bond. It was the simple fact that for the first time the two of them seemed to be on the same page. The Kelvic had managed to utter a joke at his expense, and the brute took it in stride. He even seemed intent on expanding upon it while ensuring that his affection wasn’t bound to waiver just because her mouth wandered from her before she could truly think before she spoke.

Thinking, however, was becoming more difficult by the tick. Rhodri’s mouth had first taken her gentle kiss into something far deeper before wandering across every expanse of skin he could find. Every nerve under her skin seemed to fire at the slightest brush of his lips, and the girl let her head drop back as much as his grip would allow encouraging him. The scent of his pheromones combined with the heat of the surrounding steam only muddied her thoughts further. Perhaps the most unfair of all was his hands. They left her greatly outnumbered as they could both band her tightly to his body and yet move across her skin. His desire flared across the bond, mingling with her until she was unsure of who wanted the other more—not that it really mattered.

It did feel odd though, to allow herself this. The tightly held reins of her control to keep herself separate from him still tried to pull at the back of her mind, not because she needed to, but entirely out of habit. After an entire season of resistance, there was nothing in the way between them. No reason why she couldn’t just let herself be happy in the moment instead of living in a repetitive miserable state—one she was mostly responsible for in the first place. His words that rushed across her skin with every kiss solidified this fact. Claire released a breathy laugh that merged into a moan as his lips passed over a particularly sensitive spot across her collarbone.

The loss of control shifted into the butterflies that swarmed through her belly. Claire felt the need to move—something his fingers were already doing across her own body. They spiked a fevered heat through her veins that left her trying to squirm in his arms as he moved her. Her knees flexed around his hips as she tried to find a cure to the tremble passing through her. Her fingers roamed across his skin wherever she could reach. Her left twisting her fingers into his hair at the base of his neck. Her right wandered across his skin, starting at his shoulder and trailing back down to rest over his heart.

“I think…” The Kelvic groaned softly, cutting off her words for a moment before she let her hand move from his heart down one of his middle arms until she had to twist her arm to reach his hand. Her fingers lightly gripped at his as she licked her lips. It was only then that the girl vaguely realized his blood was smeared against her skin. It had to be the first time in her life she hadn’t put healing first. “I think you have me at a disadvantage. I don’t believe that is fair.” Claire mumbled the words as she let her left-hand retreat from his neck to reach underneath his chin, giving a gentle tug so that he could look at her. Without releasing her hold with her right hand, she let the fingers of her left brush across his the wound on his cheek first. The familiar tingle of her gnosis passed through her fingertips before she let them follow the line to his lips.

Leaning forward the Kelvic appeared to be preparing to kiss Rhodri, moving her hand back to his neck so that she could tightly grip the back of his head. Instead, she deviated at the last moment, lips brushing across his cheek until she reached his ear. “You’ve got some things to teach me as well.” It was whispered as if it was some great secret she was revealing. Under any other circumstances, the Kelvic might have actually been embarrassed, but the ache pulsing through her, and the awareness of the Eypharian’s grip across her body, made her feel bold.

Claire was a healer—she entirely knew what happened between males and females. Every technical aspect wasn’t a secret, but the way the two of them were pressed together felt anything but. She had instincts to guide her, but they felt entirely… selfish. The raptor had no idea how to balance what she felt with what he needed—or if they were one in the same. It was also an assumption, that her brute had done this sort of thing before. He was a ridiculously handsome man, and while he was a racist, she imagined such things hadn’t been a problem before he had come to Riverfall.

“Rhodri…” His name came off her lips with a sigh before she let her lips follow the same path his had only chimes before. The taste of his skin made her squirm against his hold again in an effort to relieve the nerves and desire racing through her.

Common | Isur

[Rhodri]

Rhodri had to pause amidst the sound of his name coming from her lips. He already ached to show her the things that he had dreamed. The way she bent and moved so that he could kiss her neck and shoulders was as if she was feeding his desires. Slowly, the Eypharian realized that part of the urges he was experiencing belonged to her. Claire dug into her own skin as wants and visions plagued her sanity as well as his own. The line where his fantasies blurred with the kelvic’s and the overwhelming thirst to quench the fires of his being transformed into an inferno that the spoiled racist could no longer contain.

Rhodri could feel her tension in the movements of her body but also across the bond as it stretched between them. Like a raincloud that was too full or a levy that could bear no more, the Eypharian broke. Inhibitions were forgotten –crushed under the weight of their combined desires and a season’s worth of frustrations was released in a single action. The aristocrat took a step forward through the hot pool but with her body attached and the height of the water it became more like a driving lunge. His mouth found that tiny shadow below her left collarbone and despite her tickling curls that clung to his face, he nipped and kissed at her skin; teasing it until the tanned flesh turned red from his hot breath. The brute’s push sent a wave crashing ahead of their tangled masses which overcame the sidewall in a large splash. Inertia carried them until Rhodri’s left middle arm collided with the stone.

The man was no longer standing upright even though he held Claire tightly the same as before. His body was tilted on an angle as if he was driving her into the wall with his hips between her legs and his arms encompassing her completely. There was no need for words; no time for them as his upper hands supported her head. One controlled her by the thick locks of hair which had all but tied themselves around his fingers as the long digits massaged at the base of her neck and skull. The other hand clung to her own and kept it firmly over his heart so that she could feel the physical drumming of the organ as well as sense the driving force of emotion through the bond –one echoing the other. His middle left arm acted as a bumper between them and the rock wall but also a pivot point as the desert exile’s excitement and relief fueled him into a steady rhythm of rocking his body into hers which maintained a constant back and forth of waves around them.

The other middle hand wandered like a curious peasant amidst a palace of jewels. His fingers explored the shadows that formed along her side and torso. Any audible response of joy caused the stranger to linger and appreciate the warm welcome. The same held true for Rhodri as he floated his consciousness over the bond. If he could discern anything specific from the woman’s heart or body, he would use it and exploit it. Strong fingers plied at her skin until he found the places that made her quiver and sweat. All the while, his mouth would feast upon her body while leaving trails of kisses from one course to the next and never ignored the tender petals of her lips for too long as that was the one place that sent a shock through him every time they touched.

Fear. Doubt. Hesitation. These things were gone. All had been answered and replaced by the absolute certainty that this –their bond- was the only thing that mattered. Heat drew his wandering hand down along her side to her hip where the lower hands held her bottom tight to his waist. The core of Claire’s desire seemed to flow from here and it adhered to Rhodri’s own urges as if some kind of alchemical reaction was spurring them onward. The fingers on his lower hands had been massaging her muscles and squeezing the firm base of her womanly figure when a sudden urge exploded in his mind. The wayward hand slid along her thigh down towards her knee then twisted until his thumb rested under the joint.

The scruffy scoundrel used the momentum of the waves and his rocking to lift her left leg up and slightly out which allowed him to dip his shoulders inside of her vice-like hold. His middle arm slipped off so that the back of her knee fell into the crook of his arm and the lower right hand caught her bottom in the same place. The difference was the angle of exposure and lack of burden gave these fingers the opportunity to dance along the lines of her muscles where her shapely limbs came together. Heat and tension were found in a central location but the man born in the sands did not abuse his position or his sensing of the eagle’s desires. Like any masseur worth his salt, Rhodri worked pressure from his fingertips against her body in the places he had never seen. Her fire was melting him but he would endure to fulfill her lustful thoughts. These powerful circles of his hands, albeit small were in sync with his constant state of swaying against her in the water as well as the incessant tasting and teasing of his mouth and tongue.

No words needed to be spoken. If he wished to communicate with her, to ask Claire for direction, it was simply done over their bond. It was in this euphoric mentality that had combusted between them that he stayed. All of his physical actions were simply manifestations of what he felt from Claire. She had asked for him to teach her and had called him on having her at a disadvantage but the truth was far simpler. She was the teacher in her own right and could use his superior size and knowledge to fulfill her own desires because his only goal was to satisfy her. It was in this that he believed she would understand his devotion. All of his power, his designs for life and his ultimate purpose were now centered in making her understand her importance. That is why he assaulted her with affections and subtle manipulations of her own flesh. It is why his hands never stopped moving or his body refused to shut down despite the accumulating urge to explode. Rhodri needed to complete what he had started at the vineyard when he first felt her passion. He needed Claire to realize her desires could only be met in his embrace. That epiphany would give him peace and only that knowledge could sate his need to please his woman; his own personal goddess.

[Claire Lexi'lya]

Rhodri’s lunge forward was the silent answer to her request. The world moved, spinning, despite the straight line he took. The heat made her head swim—though it could have been the contact his lips found along her collarbone. The Kelvic would have never guessed one small spot on her body could incite such heat to curl through her. It was only when his arm jarred through her back that she realized he had managed to find the wall of the pool. Vaguely, beneath the sound of her heart in her ears and ragged breath, Claire could make out the sound of water rushing over the sides. Her attention to the outside world didn't last long as the Eypharian took advantage of the new angle. Despite the wall stopping his forward motion, the brute remained in motion himself. Digits wound their way into her hair and helped press them together as if the idea of any space between them would cause the world to fall apart. The Kelvic was fairly sure it might if the Eypharian suddenly decided to stop.

The fingers he pressed against his skin over his heart twitched at the pounding beneath them. Clear and powerful. Part of her wanted to pull her hand free—after all, she only had two to his six—but the stronger willed part of her refused. The bond fueled every emotion between them, but his heart was a physical line that remained steady beneath her fingertips no matter which way the rest of him moved. His grip could shift across her skin, and lips rove from one secret to another, but here was where he was most consistent. Every emotion pulsed through her almost as if in time with the beat. It both calmed her mind and made hers beat faster.

Of course, his free roaming hand—and hips—may have had something to do with that as well.

His determination to discover any sensitive part her body might be hiding was truly impressive. Claire found herself trying arching upwards, unsuccessfully given his banded arm kept her firmly in place against him or stuttering a laugh when his fingers found places that were sensitive outside of their current target. Either way, the raptor couldn't ignore how dedicated the Eypharian had become—perhaps he had always been, she just hadn’t noticed until now. He toyed with each new discovery as if he wanted to learn just how it worked until she couldn't help groaning broken parts of his name.

The Kelvic sole free hand did not remain stationary either. The multiple grips her brute maintained on her made it difficult to maneuver how she'd like, mostly forcing her arm to remain caught between where his upper and middle arm met, but it was enough for her to reach the large expanse of his back. Her mind noted that for future exploration she'd have to ensure the Eypharian didn't get the upper hand—at least not so soon—but it could wait for now. She’d take advantage of anything she could touch. Slick skin and strong muscles that bunched and stretched with each movement. The long line of his spine traced slowly and the curve of shoulder blades that rested on each side.

The lower his hand traveled, however, the worse ache spread through her. There was a moment when his fingers trailed just along her hip that caused her to groan outwardly and flex the grip her legs held around his waist. Rhodri must've picked up on the exchange—either through the bond or her physical reaction—because it seemed only heartbeats later that he suddenly shifted above her. He did not pull away so much as adjust his grip on her, and one limb no longer clung to his waist so much as rested along his arm. The movement pulled a shaky breath from her chest because he took no time to exploit the new position. Her free hand that had been busy trying to memorize the taunt muscles along his back flew to the top of his shoulder in a grip that, had she been more conscious of, she might have been afraid of hurting him. Instinctively the Kelvic sought out his mouth instead of letting him come to her, the desire pulsing through her to feel the connection that was first forged what felt like a lifetime ago.

Mildly in the back of her mind, the girl questioned if it was fair. Rhodri’s desires coursed through the bond, filling whatever empty spaces might have existed in her before. Unfortunately, despite the intensity, emotions and intent were not so easy to figure out. One could desire many things. Happiness may have come in levels, but the cause was not something translated so easily. It was clear Rhodri wanted to please her no matter the cause, but she did not need the bond to figure that out. From their first encounter, it was obvious he was a man who viewed the world mostly below him. He did not do things unless forced or desired to—two very distinct lines. And there was no question, no doubt, that she wanted such attention from him either. However, being on such an end was something that Claire was not used to.

She had devoted her life to others. Not only was it in her personality, but ingrained in her very race—her entire being. She wasn’t used to the idea of being doted upon as he seemed intent on doing. Allowing him to focus entirely on her—and not have enough attention span to return the favor—felt wildly out of balance of herself. It was only the trust she had chosen to put in him that kept the voice in the back of her head from projecting any objection to his devotion. It was a minor war with herself that was won out by the bond itself. Neither of them had fears to speak their minds, especially when pressed. She had to trust—and learn—that their partnership would not just revolve around her pleasing him but allowing him the same. The balance and control she projected around everyone else did not necessarily need to be upheld with someone she held so close.

The idea that she did not to maintain a sense of control was oddly gratifying. Whether the revelation would remain later, or become something she would have to work towards was unknown, but for the moment all that mattered was allowing her brute to show her how he felt—as if she didn’t feel it anyway. Claire let herself be greedy for once. She kissed him with her heart in her throat when her breath would allow, arching her back to encourage the hand pressed against her flesh. If her bondmate wanted to fulfill every passion that moved through her, then who was she to say no?

Common | Isur

[Rhodri]

Instinct met with instruction with fiery results. The bond allowed Rhodri to feel the confidence that Claire had bestowed upon him and that seemed to push him to further explore all of the things that his mind could conjure that she would enjoy. When she stole his head with a yank to his hair, he nearly protested but her lips covered his own and dissolved the argument before it ever began. He curled his spine around her as he maintained the tilted hold of her small frame. His one free hand, wandering on its own, found that the nearer his fingers pressed into her soft flesh the warmer she grew in his arms.

The Eypharian continued to rotate his hips and had created a current within the pool which made this almost an automatic motion. The shifting water drove his larger form to press into the Kelvic’s over and over again. Each new impact encouraged bolder kisses, wilder thoughts and fewer hesitations. Rhodri was used to getting his way and found that the curves where her legs attached to her body made excellent grips for keeping the small healer aloft. The surrender she released across the bond was something he didn’t expect. No longer feeling like he had to convince Claire of the beauty in this moment, the desert brat felt nothing but gratitude. His mind had shifted because of his soul and there was not even a tick’s breath that the man would waste on trying to explain it. While he deemed himself a gift to the world, Rhodri was now convinced that this woman was a gift for him to cherish.

One thousand tiny explosions went off from his head to his heart and all throughout his form. Rhodri felt as if he were made of pure energy and could no longer contain himself. His hands went into overdrive as they squeezed, pulled, tickled, teased and pushed against her body. Any sensitive areas were given extra attention and focus especially the hand he kept beneath the water. His fingers found the line that seemed to contain her seething lust. Being gentle, the man massaged and played with the area until he could feel the heat from inside of her body exceed that of the water which steamed around their intertwined bodies. After several chimes of kissing her lips and rubbing this delicate space, his mouth chased the droplets of sweat along her jaw back to her ear with small nibbles until he could take her lobe between his lips. As he sucked on the tab of cartilage, his finger slipped past her barrier-slick with her own moisture.

The change was instant and it created an anticipation that clung to the steam. Whispered thoughts of possession, devotion and insatiable appetites fell from his lips into her ear as he rolled his body against her creating an atmosphere that drove the gilded man’s exploration to new depths. Ripples of goosebumps ran along his flesh as the two became less of individuals and more of an inseparable apparition. Now immersed in a place of fire and flood, Rhodri’s finger rubbed slow circles against a rough patch of flesh while his thumb applied consistently slow and heavy pressure to a small pocket of her skin just below the surface of the water. This synchronized dance of his digits was driven by the waves of desire that threatened to drown him in the bond. The steam carried the scent of the woman in his arms up to the Eypharian’s nose. It mixed with his pheromones which poured from him like a waterfall in their own right.

Intoxicated and half-mad with yearnings, the exiled aristocrat twisted her body so that he could steal her lips for his own once more. Knowing that secret place and its intense connection to the spirit of his Kelvic, Rhodri slowly adjusted his grip on her by moving one arm at a time. He never allowed any space to come between them as slowly sank into the steam, his torso dragging against her own. His many limbs kept her pressed against his face as he trailed kisses , drug his lips against her skin and even bit some areas that were simply too delectable to ignore. Down his body went but the scruffy face paused to pay offerings of affection to her perfect curves and their sensitive places. Hands dug into her back, legs and round bottom to prevent her from backing away or trying to avoid his gifts. Several chimes passed by before the painfully slow descent of love’s physical manifestations resumed its parade into the water’s warmth. When Rhodri came across her naval, he twisted his tongue against it to remove the salty drops then dragged the tip of his nose along the angled line which ran from her hip under the water’s surface.

Rhodri squeezed all of his hands into her body; one on each side of her lower curve and one on the back of each thigh. The other two moved to the front where his hand had previously delved into the woman’s molten core. He chuckled and took a deep breath then disappeared into the steamy depths. Without warning, he hoisted the woman up just enough to slip her legs over his shoulders and used the four highest arms to steady and support her while he went to work. The same place where he had massaged and tickled her was now opened just enough so that he could feast upon the bounty of her body’s sweetest caress. Each motion with his lips, tongue or fingers was now a means of survival. Starving and dying of thirst, the man with golden skin pursued the delicious nectar of life buried within the Claire’s secret garden with a fervor he had not yet shown. Through the bond, he shared the insanity of his intense pleasure while he gladly suffocated to drive her beyond her known bounds.

[Claire Lexi'lya]

The idea of the bond—the urge to find the one person to share her soul with—had been a never-ending companion. Claire had seen first hand just what severing such a connection could do and feared it for herself. Splitting herself from this tether would not end her life, not in a literal sense. Her sanity could come to question from such a result, but then she could say the same for this version of herself. The bond had cemented itself firmly into the male wrapped around her, and it amazed the Kelvic just how little thought she had given to what it might actually be like to complete her bond—the after instead of the things that could go wrong before, or even foreshadowing something that may never come to pass. The shift of emotions between them found the girl focusing on feelings she never thought would become important. Like the fact if Rhodri did not stop his attentions she might very well die from the heat between them.

Or perhaps it was the opposite. She was having trouble deciding between the two.

Every emotion that flowed through their bond felt heady. Wading through them wasn’t terribly difficult—avoiding the sense to let them overcome her, however, was a little tricky. Her allowance and encouragement spurred her brute forward, but it was one emotion that swept through her that tilted her senses. It was the gratitude that stood out for a just a tick—bright and glaring through their connection. It wasn’t an emotion she expected in their given situation. The raptor could guess a number of reasons why, but none of them really mattered. Regardless of the motivation the Kelvic simply admired the feeling as it washed through her. She had the feeling that Rhodri was going to be a man that would constantly surprise her—bond or not. As quickly as the gratitude moved through her it was gone, or more simply pressed beneath the needs growing between them.

The Eypharian’s dexterity between his multiple arms kept the Kelvic firmly confined within his grasp. Claire found it difficult to twitch or move a muscle that wasn’t either clasped between long fingers or pressed against hard muscle. She might have voiced he was keeping her from her own exploration, had he not been so insistent on finding every spot that made her nerves sing and stroke the fire that made the springs nearly unbearably hot. Wayward thoughts floated through her mind, like attempting to try and take control from him so that she might have her chance, but they always ended up muted beneath the press of his fingers or caress of his tongue. Not a moment was forced, but the Kelvic was finding it hard to simply lie still and accept the treatment he deemed fit for her. It was easy to blame eagerness on the curiosity that plagued her. Surrendering had its consequences.

Whatever impatience over her own lack of attention slipped with a simple twist of his fingers. Rhodri found the place where the ache settled strongest within her small frame. It stole her breath and caused her mind to reel nearly out of control. The only thing that kept her grounded was the breath stealing across her skin—words endlessly flowing from the Eypharian’s lips. Promises and delightful threats that sent shivers across her skin as his entire being made sure to hold true to every word—at least the words she could hang on to. Every bit of her concentration was pulled in separate directions with one goal in mind. The fire in her blood pulsed like a never-ending force that she chased for his attentions.

His body stirred once again to cover his lips against hers and the Kelvic easily accepted the gift despite the fact she was having trouble keeping air in her lungs. Every breath felt removed from her body as some whimper of his name or approval to edge him further. She only became mindful of his arms moving as her center of gravity shifted. Each arm slipped further to her lower body, though never an ounce of space was spared. She was keenly aware however his hips were no longer pressing against hers in the continuous shift she had become accustomed to. The line of scuff against her skin pricked, though not unpleasantly. There was something desirable about the opposite soften of his lips trailing afterward, almost as if to sooth the already flushed skin.

A wave of confusion found her as Rhodri drifted away from her lips and down further along her curves. Her eyes shot open—unaware of when they had drawn closed—to watch his golden skin descend away from her. The simple movements made little sense to her, why ever would he draw away when he was the one with the goal to drive her forward. It didn’t seem to bother him, or perhaps he was too focused to notice her confusion. With it came a new wave of impatience, different in aim as she selfishly wanted to pull him back up to her. The ache resting between her legs did not wane with his steady, if not slow, drift south. Each caress of his lips made the muscles beneath tense, though she was certain it wasn’t difficult to draw out of her in the first place. Everything felt enhanced—even the featherlight touches made her arch towards him.

It was only when her bondmate reached the edge of her hip, resting just above the water, that she dared to open her mouth. There was no hesitation from him however as he slipped beneath the surface and Claire found any words she had been planning to ask choke in the back of her throat. Her brute deftly lifted her legs to rest on his shoulders with little effort and brought the two of them together in an entirely new position. For all her knowledge between males and females—which was now clearly lacking—the Kelvic most certainly wouldn’t have considered this. It was incredibly intimate, perhaps more so than their previous positions, almost nerve wracking. The bond only magnified their positions as he reconnected himself to the place his hands had visited only chimes before. Her own instinctively sought both the wall behind her, and the back of his neck simultaneously as if to anchor herself from falling despite the fact his grip obviously told her otherwise.

If time held any meaning before, it certainly did no longer. The bond flared with his desires, his passion. The determination that robbed her mind of everything but his touch. Caught between his grip and beliefs the Kelvic found the long building ache overflow. As if she was coming apart and spinning wildly out of control. Every part of her burned, tingled—divided from everything except the feeling ricocheting throughout her and the tightly bound tether between herself and the man beneath her. It lasted forever or it ended in a tick—the Kelvic couldn’t be sure. A flood of secondary emotions filled the space once overflowing with endless tension. Warmth, appreciation, gratitude, tenderness, a sense of calm… though want and desire still rolled heavily across the bond making the girl very aware that things were once again largely lopsided. Another emotion tugged deep in her chest, one she didn’t have a name for… but it was entirely centered to Eypharian.

Perhaps it was better off without a name. Rhodri would feel it regardless and the Kelvic instead focused, mildly, on running her fingers through his wet hair. It was soothing, probably more for herself than him as she tried to regain control of her shaking body.

Common | Isur