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Chuckling softly, Callan rose to his feet. What a sight this must be, the Black Dragon Emperor of the Diirlathe being led, blind, by the petite red-head who'd bashed his head into the floor of the Dryad the first time they'd met...who'd thrown a dagger at the House Jewels when she'd found his and Agaru's bondmark at the Emerald Rose. Honestly, at his point, she could merrily be leading him off the sunledge to plummet to his death and he'd still be grinning....
What was more amusing? The Emperor being led by An'Thaya...or the Emperor being completely besotted with the odd melange' that was An'Thayaru?
A sobering thought came to mind though, as he considered her words...Amin lava...
I yield...
"Thaya..." Callan spoke softly as he felt his knees brush against the side of the bed, "I do not ask that you yield to me...not now...not ever..."
In his eyes, what made her so remarkable, so intoxicating, was that fierce nature. Even without Agaru's influence, the fire was there, smoldering deep within her soul and whether she knew it or not, there was far more dragon in An'Thaya D'Riel than what Agaru lended her...and put the two of them together...
Callan pulled his hand free and buried it in the mass of silky, flame-coloured curls and felt the air change in the room. Dawn was breaking, and the breeze that stirred carried sounds of awakening life, daylight was creeping across the desert, illuminating the golden sands and falling across the wilderness of the mountains.
An'Thaya smiled, and it carried over across their bond. Jeweled eyes slid shut and she inhaled slowly, taking in the mix of scents the breeze teased her senses with. "I know," she murmured, "and it is because you would never ask it of me, that I do. In time … you will come to understand why."
Leaning into his hand she looked up at him; a delicate finger tracing the line of his mouth, taking in the cut of his features as the sunlight drenched them it its golden glow. Her heart constricted a little when her gaze fell on his sightless eyes, her hands dropping to his chest. Fingertips trailed over rippling muscle, a slow journey of memorization that ended when they caught at the waistband of wet Levi's.
"You know," she whispered in a husky, but slightly amused tone, "I may need my daggers to get you out of these." Turning him around she pushed Callan gently down onto the bed and leaned in to start on the buttons. Giving the circumstances, she didn't use her usual button removal method. Wet jean material would be terribly hard on the teeth.
Warm morning air wafted through the room, full of the scent of sun on ironwoods and evergreen, and beneath it all, the scent of the open desert, clean and dry. Golden beams of sunlight began creeping across the entrance from the sunledge, Callan had yet to have the doorframe repaired and the doors hung wide open to the Diirlathe.
Rough fingers helped An'Thaya remove the still-damp jeans, then the briefs beneath, yes, Callan wore underwear, and these happened to be of the bikini variety...and black, of course.
"An'Thaya..." Callan's body tensed at the feel of her slow caress over his body, then caught her hands and pulled him on top of him, moving her thighs around his.
A soft smile of his own crossed his face in response to her's. Indeed, he could not see her face, but he could feel her soul, and it seemed like sunlight on the forest.
"Your soul...An'Thaya...so full of darkness and light..."
The dragon's half-Elven hands lifted An'Thaya's fingers to his lips and kissed her hand, a gentle, chivalric thing at first, then slowly began tracing the lines of her palm with his tongue.
Once again, Callan was unable to satisfy his hunger for her touch, the taste of her on his tongue or the scent of her in his nostrils.
"And I am glad you choose to stay...M'tashnea Vran..."
"I think you knew I would, An'Thaya teased. She had the gentle suspicion that Callan read her more easily than anyone ever had before. He seemed to be able to anticipate her actions before she even thought to make them. Aside from when she was pushing him into pools.
Her free hand trailed up his abdomen, caressing the washboard cut of his body with almost timid fingers. Silly, considering, but all the same … Closing her eyes, she let herself fall into their bond, losing herself in the liquid black stars of his soul.
Dropping forward she let her body brush against Callan's, reclaiming her hand before her mouth met his. Crimson locks fell in a thick curtain around their faces and she gripped his shoulders for a moment, her world shifting off its axis. Her senses were filled with his scent, the warmth of his hard body beneath hers and the sound of her own racing pulse. The world hung suspended in a moment woven of purest pleasure, and sheer torture and Tay was afraid to move. Afraid to make that movement on her own that would either bring her into her happiness, or shatter it completely.
A soft sound that began as a sigh and ended in a groan welled up within Callan as An'Thaya drew his her hand away and slid her mouth over his, then ran her fingers down his body. A rush of heat flooded Callan, causing him to tense and push against her...then she was there...letting herself fall within his soul, and felt more exposed than he'd ever been before. Even Agaru had not delved this deeply within Callan Blackthorn. She had known, had seen, but An'Thaya...she was reaching not only into his memories, but all the emotions, sordid as they were, that accompanied them.
"You may look all you like, An'Thayaru...but there are some hateful, horrible places within my past..."
The multihued ribbon of his core essence shifted slightly, allowing her to know all, unglossed, unedited, unfiltered. He only prayed there was enough tenderness, enough love in his soul to make her want to stay there. He had been a heartless killer, committing acts of betrayal far worse than rape for his own amusement. He'd been his father's best assassin, and had loved his work. But he'd also been betrayed as well, by that same father he'd nearly worshipped, and had then turned on. The Diirlathe would have been his, one way or the other eventually, but things had changed.
The Fates were odd like that....
"But there is love there...and something deeper...if you can walk through the flames to get there..."
Gentle hands, full of strength and capable of so much pain, slipped beneath her shift as he felt her body and soul pause, sliding it upwards and over her shoulders. His fingers traced the curves of her body as he tugged it gently off and let it fall to the sheets.
"I am yours, An'Thaya, touch where you will, look where you like..." Callan muttered softly as he felt a sudden shyness in her fingertips.
Exploring hands and fingers callused from constant training and smithing ran down her back, across her buttocks, then pulled her thighs higher around him, leaving him pressed fully against her. Teasing, Callan rocked against her, then pulled her mouth back to his, parting her lips gently with his tongue.
Even the darkest shadows of Callan's soul held no fear for An'Thaya now, they were to deeply ingrained in her own spirit … it would have been fear of herself. With quiet awe she felt along the bond, wondering just what Mira had done … what they had become. There were places where they seemed to have completely merged, and she let herself fall deeper, touched but unburned by the flames. There was love, it surrounded and possessed her, feeding the aching need that had been eating at her soul for so long.
I have no fear of you Callan, she murmured, Not anymore… Arching slightly Tay let him pull the shift from her body, the soft fabric trailing over her skin. She felt like molten metal beneath those hands, ready to sing, to become something new … something stronger beneath his touch.
No longer hesitant, her fingertips trailed over his frame, responding to his kiss, to the pressure of his body against hers. A soft purr resonated in her throat and the Amazon pressed harder against the half-Elven form of the Dragon. Drawing her head back a little she closed her eyes, "Tay … call me Tay," she whispered breathlessly against his mouth, suddenly rolling and urging him to follow.
"Tay it is then..." Callan sighed softly in relief as An'Thaya explored his soul and their bond and did not shrink away. As she pulled him over, Callan's arms tightened around her slender waist and once he felt himself right-side up, rose to his knees, his palms flat on the linens, both wrists brushing her shoulders upper arms.
"But I can't help but remember what nearly happened the last time I called you that..."
Callan's head lowered, his lips seeking hers...and finding her forehead in his blindness. A soft laugh later, Callan corrected the error, and covered her mouth with his own, the kiss growing deeper with each breath, the fires burning hotter with each touch of her soul.
"Tay?" Callan ground out as he tore his mouth from her's and felt her soul brush against his, both bondmarks on his body flaring wildly at once "My gods..." he gasped as his vision turned inward and a new, never before felt pleasure swept through him...and found more and more of their souls were not just bonded in a whirling nebulous galaxy of glittering emerald and ruby lights and silvery black ribbons...but was actually becoming…fused... for lack of better words to describe what he was finding.
Eyes closed, breath held, body aching; soul singing … Tay trembled beneath his kiss and within his soul. Something monumental had shifted within the Amazon, changed irrevocably. Callan … part of him had been woven directly into the core of her, something never before achieved with a D'Riel soul. The storm maintained a slow orbit, yet around the edges something was altering. The silvery black stars of Callan's being were caught in its gravity, slowly assimilating themselves into the pulsing galaxy, and at the same time, emerald gems were drifting away, sending the Black's soul into a gentle spin of its own.
It was achingly slow, a gentle teasing invasion of one another on a spiritual level that promised much more than either could have imagined. Time would tell …
Impatient, Tay reached up to grasp Callan's shoulders, pulling his head down and kissing him hard. What was happening within was a waiting game, what was happening without; she had more control over.
Tay's rough pulling ignited more than just his soul, the agony he'd been living in since first taking her that night in the bathing chambers and then the knowledge...no...fear...that he would never know her again, swelled within him, even as the pleasures of this new joining of spirits spilled into his soul, causing his blood to rush and thoughts become muddied.
With indrawn breath and eyes closed, Callan lowered his body into her, shuddering and groaning softly as her velvety heat wrapped around him. There he paused, his forehead lowering to hers for a moment as he simply fought for control, gasping and shaking. A low draconic growl, closer to a purr rattled out of him as he pushed her chin back with his nose and teeth sought her throat, an instinct born need to feel her pulse within his jaws.
"I never thought we'd know this moment..."
And miserably slow, Callan withdrew slightly, and reached for her hands, pulling them over her head to stretch her body out beneath him.
Something akin to a scream tore from Tay and she clung to him in that moment of stillness, breath coming in short gasps as her body adjusted to the feel of him. The Amazon's head fell back, unresisting and she arched into his teeth, her pulse fluttering madly beneath the pressure of his jaws.
"I know … "
It was the only clear thought An'Thaya managed, every nerve protesting as Callan pulled back. A thrill wound slowly up her spine as she let him pin her down, trusting in the Black completely. Her thighs slid up over his hips, urging him forwards again as she twisted in token protest.
Dappled morning light filtered into the room, bathing them both in light...he could feel it, if not see it. The perfect breeze from the morning mountains drifted over their skin, caressing them both.
The feel of her pulse between his jaws sent his own to racing...and unnoticed by him, his own heartbeat slowly began matching hers. Her body writhing against his in false protest and feel of her against his chest was more than he could take. Thighs that pulled him forward left him shuddering as he returned within her...and felt something within him unlock.
Control was becoming something to think on at a later date as he sought to bury himself within her.
She was his...
Callan's breathing came in harsh breaths as he gave into the need to be lost in her.
She was a part of him...
Hands slid down her arms and sides then wrapped around her back, jerking her to him as he felt his control snap and felt the violent flames well up in them both, and felt the agonizingly slow rhythm he had started with change, felt the shallow plunges deepen...
A heated rush flared through An'Thaya's veins, her skin flushing and prickling with pleasure. If her screams had been in a slightly different tone, their watcher in the hall might have thought Callan was trying to kill her. As it was the mix of ecstasy and pain had sent the Amazon spinning in a whirlwind of sensation that had her clinging to the massive Black Dragon Emperor. It took the space of several heartbeats before she could move, hips shifting to match his rhythm, giving herself over completely.
Delicate fingers dug into his back, moving upwards with each movement, trailing over the blades where his wings were tucked away. Her bicep burned, the blackened petals of the rose slowly beginning to regenerate. Not that it registered on Tay's passion fevered mind, all thought had drifted away on the breeze that caressed their skin, and his name was a whisper in her breath.
There was simply … them … the almost tangible emotion between them, and the overwhelming joy that came with belonging to someone body, heart and soul.
Callan's throaty growl grew slightly louder, becoming a raspy moan as nails clawed as his skin and black scales sliced through the flesh of his shoulders, dark wings slipping from his back, a haunting reflection of his mark from Agaru. His own fingers spasmed around Thaya's waist, his mouth finding hers and his teeth biting the flesh of her lip, perhaps a little to hard...he could taste her blood on his tongue, a sweet, salty taste that sent his senses reeling.
Driving deeper, Callan buried himself in her, and covered her mouth with his own, muffling her cries, his hips jerking hard against hers in savage need, her mark on his bicep bursting into heat and light. Glittering topaz flickered through the haze in his eyes, burning away the fog for a instant, allowing him a rare glimpse of Tay's crimson locks, her face enraptured, his name on her lips and felt his body and soul explode in a wave of searing heat and light.
Pain sent a jolt through Tay, her body tightening around Callan in instinctual response. The taste of her own blood brought a growl to her lips, the sound lost against his mouth. Pressing herself desperately up into the Black's hard grip she nearly lost consciousness for a moment, the world spinning beneath the shadow of his wings.
Dazed emerald met topaz, knowing he could see for that fleeting moment, and grateful for what ever accident of Fate allowed the brief glimpse into the windows of his soul. Caught in the intensity of his gaze Tay felt whatever control she had left slip away, the building tension in her core exploding in welcome release in response to his, her tattoo threatening to burst into flame with its searing heat. The pristine white rose glittered in life once again on the golden hilt of the dagger, and as she shuddered beneath Callan Blackthorn, a wreath of black thorns wound protectively around it.
The one glimpse he'd had of her had triggered it...his body shuddered within her, the feel of her coming undone in his arms with him made his head snap back as he forced his way into her once more. A strangled gasp of pleasure and release rolled out of him as she tightened convulsively around him, and it grew in intensity to a snarling roar as his body tensed one last time, then felt wave after waved crash through them both.
"Gods...Tay..." He murmured along their souls. Shaking and panting for breath, Callan's hips slumped against her, his forehead dropping to her chest, his arms struggling to hold the bulk of his weight off her fragile seeming body. The image of her face, the depth of her emerald eyes and the expression on her face was burned into his memory like a solar afterimage as his sight clouded again...but did not go dark.
Speech eluded her as much as breath for a few moments and An'Thaya wound her fingers into his short cropped hair, lifting her head to kiss the top of his. I love you Callan… the words were a whisper through their souls, echoing softly through to his core. She pulled him gently down to her, shifting slightly to support his weight.
"Don't let go," she murmured, "Please don't ever let go…" Lost in the moment; her Amazon pride failed her. Not that it mattered anyway, he could see her every weakness, her every fear. As much as An'Thaya loved Galain, he had torn her apart. Terror filled her at the thought of giving anyone else the power to do so. Yet, with complete faith, she had given Callan the very leverage she feared the most.
Softly exhaling, Callan lowered his weight on An'Thaya, nuzzling his nose into her hair, drinking in the scent of her and kissing her gently on the tip of her ear.
"Aminmela lle, Tay..."
Along their soul, he felt her pride falter, and brushed his fingers against her swollen lips, then trailed them down the line of her jaw.
"How could I tear you apart when you complete me...and I you?"
Belatedly, Callan realized he'd read her guarded thoughts with crystal clarity, something that while bonded to her, he should not have been able to do...then felt his heart strike the time as hers. Surely a coincidence...and then, he became aware of something else...
"You yield?" Suddenly he understood completely, "Why? Why give yourself to me?" A lazy whisper that was ended in a tender kiss, one that healed the bite marks slowly and carefully.
Soft words spoken in the morning sun drifted along his soul, "You have been so much to so many...and I have been too little to so few...
"It doesn't matter what you have been to anyone else," Tay said softly, "What matters, is what you are to me. As for me, you are wrong. I have been too little to those I claim to love. They deserve better than the disjointed half-lives I have given them. There was a time when Galain was more than enough, but the Fates decided otherwise. I have spent was seems like an eternity trying to fill the empty places he left in me when he took Ghetsuhm as a Wife. I've been unfair to him, to Jaiden, Mystical … and oh Gods … so unfair to Adarin."
Reaching up she caressed the line of his jaw and pressed the tips of her fingers to his lips. "Don't you understand? You've given me everything I desire. To simply… belong to someone; to be loved exclusively, to walk within the flames yet never burn. I thought I had found that once before … no, I hoped … I put my faith in a love that burned, truly burned. I will never stop loving Galain, but I think I am quite finished with being a martyr. I cannot … no, will not, ever ask him to give up Ghet. He is in his happiness, as he should be. And I … I am finally in mine."
Her gaze drifted to the open doors, to the sundrenched Diirlathe. "I regret hurting Adarin … but I think Galain knows … has known for awhile, that I would go … someday, for some reason. I told him once a long time ago, that it had to be just the two of us. He thought that it could be … he lied."
Callan pressed the palm of her hand to his cheek as he slid to the sheets, lying at her side, then gathered her in his arms and listened. Once she'd fallen silent, the dragon tucked her head beneath his chin.
"Then we go from here then." He muttered, his blurred vision turning to the light, then the ceiling. "Both of us being less and more at the same time. Gods, Tay...our timing sucks. Why? Why couldn't I have met you before all this?"
Callan stopped abruptly as the glimmering of the memory Chezlar had unlocked a few days ago flickered through his thoughts, his face growing warm as he realized she could see what he was seeing.
"That wasn't you...it couldn't have been. But...gods, I can't remember. I know I was there, its RIGHT there in my mind. But it doesn't make sense."
In disbelief, the emperor shook his head slightly, one hand releasing Thaya and scrubbing his scalp. "But it doesn't matter now does it? I was blessed with first Lorelei, then Task. And have two children by them and another by a Shai'ay woman I never saw again." Callan sighed and tilted his face to her hair and draped one heavy thigh across An'Thaya, his thoughts going sober quickly.
"Tay...I don't want you to stay here...not now." Fingers traced the line of her collar bone and throat tenderly, "I don't know when war will come, but Nargus knows we're weaker than we've ever been. I've recalled several of my best captains; they should be here later today. My sire will come again, and I don't want you here when all hell breaks loose..."
Tay snuggled into Callan's warmth, listening to the soothing beat of his heart as much as the rumble of his voice. "Because the Fates have their own agenda," she started to say, her train of thought interrupted by his memories. A gentle laugh shook the redhead and she kissed his chest, "You must have crossed dimensions. Simple enough, though why you cannot remember is a fascinating question. Then again, that puts us back to the will of the Fates. If Chezlar was involved, you can count on their interference. He has been one step behind me most of my life, a celestial guardian, so to speak."
Shifting slightly the Amazon rose up on one elbow and glared at him, "You are not sending me away Callan Blackthorn," she growled, "I fled from Alcarinque like a coward, I'll not run away from Nargus Blackthorn. He has nothing to blackmail me with anymore." Leaning in she kissed him hard, "I am an Amazon Queen and Agaru is your Empress, neither of us will leave, especially when you can't see your own hand in front of your face. Don't insult either of us with some misguided sense of chivalry."
"Mis?" Callan tore his mouth away from hers, his heart rate leaping as she touched him. "guided?" Chuckling, he pulled her to him again, finishing the kiss he'd interrupted with his outburst, then trailed his mouth down her neck and throat, "And Agaru is not the only one who is Empress here now..." An single finger traced the blade of the dagger on her arm with unerring aim, then the black thorns, following the heat of the mark.
"And I can too see the hand in front of my face, thank you...I just can't tell if its mine or yours or Akavian's at this point..."
Tay's eyes slid shut, completely disarmed by his touch, though her anger failed to dim. "Yes, misguided," the tone was hard, but betrayed by a breathless quality beneath, " and that had better not be Akav's hand, he'd look pretty funny without it." The bondmark flared beneath Callan's finger and the Amazon purred low in her throat. "I'm not leaving you, deal with it. Well, maybe just for a few hours, to speak with Ro. You'll need your allies, the Amazon's are yours, and I'm positive the S'Hean Rangers are as well."
"Gods...allies..." Callan snorted softly, "I can think of one group that I doubt will help...I wouldn't be surprised to find a band of Elen Rangers scaling the walls with Nargus..." Silence fell across the room once more, only to be broken by of soft knock at the door.
"Walter..." Callan glanced in the direction of the door.
"Are you up to eating? Or do we need to work on your appetite a bit more, maybe bathe, then eat?"
Tay's eyes flickered open and she gently smacked Callan's arm, "Do not misjudge Adarin," she admonished him. "Galain is temperamental, his Daro is not … which is why he still holds the throne and Galain is still running around like a loon. Adarin is a good King, and a man of his word. He will not let personal issues cloud his judgment."
The Amazon's gaze shifted to the door, "Actually, I'm starving. I haven't eaten much in the past three days. Well, six for you. I'll never get use to the time differences, you know."
"Aye..." Callan grinned as she smacked him and caught her hand, biting at her fingers, then glanced at where he knew her face to be, "and Adarin doesn't yet know about us. This would not be first alliance in the multiverse shattered by one man's love for another's wife." Callan paused, and once again, heard knocking.
"Then food it is." Callan's eyes jerked from the sound of the knocking, to Thaya, "Six days your time? Dear gods, Tay...what were you trying to do?"
More knocking, and Callan sighed softly.
"Let's just hope they brought the usual meal. There should be plenty for both of us if they did."
Barefeet dropped to the floor and for a moment, Callan's head spun.
"Tay? Either you're going to have to let him in... or at least find my robe, it should be hanging on the bedpost...I can get to the door, but I think I'd rather be wearing something."
And meanwhile, outside...
Walter and Tonikha had appeared at the end of the corridor, and had noticed a pacing, highly agitated Akavian.
"M'Lord Akavian? Can I help you with something? You seem...out of sorts?" Walter nudged the cart to the side, and knocked once again while he waited for the prince to answer.
"Three days my time, six days yours," Tay chuckled, "Whispin has forty eight hour days, remember." Sitting up she gently batted one of his onyx wings out of her way and placed a kiss on his shoulder. "I'll get the door." It took a moment, but she managed to find her shift and pull it over her head, then ran her fingers through her tangle of fiery locks. "I wasn't trying to do anything, which was likely the problem. Agaru took care of me though, as usual."
The Crimson rumbled slightly from within, seeming content with the world at the moment, and quite agreeing that food was a grand idea. Slipping off the bed Tay tossed a sheet across Callan's lap and grinned to herself before making her way to the doors.
"I hate to tell you this..." Callan chuckled as he reworked the sheet, trying to make things look as innocent as possible and finally gave it up as a loss.
"But we have 36 hour days on Aerdon..."
The sound of the door opening greeted his ears, and a surprised crash of Walter dropping something...he hoped not the main breakfast tray,
"M'Lord...I...We...No one told us you were entertaining...I mean, well. Prince Akavian didn't mention..."
Silver and teal eyes lit with laughter and the Orsha Une, undeterred, seized control of the cart and wheeled it in.
"Walter needs a bit of time off, I think, M'Emperor. He's a bit...addled today. All the stress and such.
A thick blonde braid was tossed over her shoulder as Tonikha eyed An'Thaya.
"Forgive us for our intrusion, M'Lady. Should either of you have need of anything, fresh clothes, a good carpenter, or a healer, let me know..."
Turning smartly on her heal, the Orsha Une left the room, Walter in tow, and on the way out, snatched Akavian by the arm and dragged the both through a shimmering portal. Lilting laughter and a snippet of their conversation drifted into the chambers of the Emperor and his Empress.
"I know of a certain female that would not be impressed with your skulking, my Prince. Let their hearts heal before worrying about the Keep, aye?"
M'tashnea Vran...precious treasure....
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