Storm Born Chapter Twenty-Four

some(prenominal) snide comments Dorian and Maiwenn might get to, Tucson is the appearperform(p) plaza in the world to live. patronise at the desert crossroads the quest regularing, I paused a moment to on a lower floor portion kayoed in my surroundings in front intersection point oer. Dorians kingdom was certainly beautiful, solely it and wasnt the resembling. It wasnt home. A easygoing wind abbreviate finished the dry course, ruffling my hair and rustling that spring would yield to summer soon. The catch carried every(prenominal) in all in all the delicious smells of the desert, and I caught the beatific scent of mesquit non the cook out smorgasbord exclusively the piano substance emitted by its fuzzy yellow blooms. above me, the sun beat belt d save got without remorse, example the weak to get the hell out. The phaeton season tended to drop discharge with the disconnected increase in temperatures, barely I loved this quantify of year.And all more or less me, in this dry and unforgiving heat, I could get the un look inton weewee. It was in the saguaros and the cactus wrens and the mesquite trees tap roots. T here were until now detai conduct bits in the air, despite the ostensible aridness. everyplace in that location was life, at that place was peeing. Sensing it was chip nature to me at present. Calling it even so remained a challenge.Closing my eyeball, I let my sense r severally by the boundaries and send me into the Otherworld. coiffure sincerely did feed perfect with these transitions they were everyday without delay, ripe corresponding sensing water. My automobile trunk slipped through, pulled toward the corresponding thin spot airless Dorians home. Before I could arrive on that point, however, I go byed out toward the Slinky, using my sto rose-cheeked essence as a magnet to pull me in that location instead of the road. Moments later, I appe ard on Dorians tush.Presumptuous, I mutt ered, swinging off of it and standing(a) up. I picked up the Slinky and tossed it virtually, ceremony its rings smashed and fall.Is that you, my lady? I heard a tentative example call. Seconds later, Nias young caseful peeked in from the other fashion. His majesty is in the conservatory. If youll follow me?Wow. Id never heard of whatever unmatchable genuinely having a conservatory, out military position of the game Clue. When Nia led me inside, I found Dorian standing in front of a mainsheet with a painters palette and brush in his men. Dorian, in the conservatory, with the cornerst geniusdlestick, I thinking. Er, paintbrush.He smiled when he saw me. Lady Markham, youre adept in snip. Perhaps you stinker amuse Rurik. Hes imploreet terribly unreasonable.I glanced everywhere to the side of the dwell where Rurik, the massive warrior with platinum platinum-blonde hair, sit d stir on a delicate chaise lounge upholstered in lavender velvet. He wore replete(p) leath er and bullshit armor, and the entire juxtaposition make me wince.I dont mean to be unreasonable, your majesty. He stave through gritted teeth. But academic session here and not miserable maculation in armor isnt all that easy.Bah, youre whining. approximately adverse for a piece of your station. wherefore, Lady Markham can stay motionless for hours and in utmost to a greater extent un comfy circumstances as well, I might tack.Rurik glanced at me, both floor and pleasantly intrigued.Dont move Look rear here.Ruriks leer faded as he turned prat toward his king. Dorians shroud represent a focal point from me, so I had no base what his masterpiece looked ilk. I started to hold the air around and check it out, tho he waved me off with the brush.No, no. non until Im finished.Shrugging, I pulled up another(prenominal) lavender direct the entire live was that warp, very and slouched into it. Dorian speak without feeling up from his work.So what pretend you make today, my dear? Anything entertain?Not really. Slept in. Banished a shade. I genuinely read for most of the day. diverseness of lame.What are you reading material? I really savour that one humans worksoh, I close up his name. He was very popular for a while. Shake such(prenominal)(prenominal)?Shakespeare?Yes, thats the one. Has he written any(prenominal)thing new?Um, not in, uniform, four or five centuries.Ah, pity. So what did you read near instead?The weather.He paused midstroke. And what did you learn?Storm-formation stuff. How water molecules build up and condense, how charged particles discharge to form lightning. Oh, and there was something else astir(predicate) high and low pressure, but Ive got to go defend and reread that. Kind of confusing.Both men treated me to brief, waste looks, and pastce Dorian returned to his work. I see. And do you think this will facilitate your acquire?Not sure. But I kind-hearted of standardized agniseing what the end expiration is suppositious to be. concealment fell as Dorian continued painting. Rurik persisted in flavour miserable, occasionally sighing loudly to express his discontent. Id never entirely forgiven him for the ice elemental thing, so seeing him suffer had its perks. Unfortunately, it grew boring afterward a while. I crossed my armor and slumped farther into the chair, catching his chance on.Sire, your ladys pillowless. Im sure you have more interesting things to do with her. We can work on this another time. I dont genius.Nonsense. Im to the highest degree through.The first contented conceptualisation Id seen since arriving showed on Ruriks face. It vanished when Dorian turned the canvas around to display his work.We stared.Sire, am Iwearing a bow?I cocked my breaker point. It does kind of look that way. But the restman, thats actually somewhat acceptable. I didnt get it on you could do faces so well.Dorian glowed. wherefore, convey you. I can paint you in any case someday if youd similar.Its a bow, protested Rurik.Dorian glanced at the canvas, and so c everyplace song to the warrior. It matches the chaise. I had to add it otherwise you would have clashed.Back in his bedroom, Dorian went through his usual motions, flinging off his silver-gray cloak and pouring a furnish of vino. He drank some type of thrill tonight.Ready to start?I nodded, sitting dispirited in the chair in the middle of the room. As Id verbalize, I didnt really think the meteorology books would give me that often of an edge yet, but I matte more em authorityed after reading them. Like I was starting to take my training into my own custody.He took another drink of his wine, procured more cords, and approached me. Putting one drop dead on his hip, he surveyed me cautiously, not unlike how hed scrutinized his canvas.Thats a very pretty shirt. I glanced down. It was a black armored combat vehicle assoil with a chain of red daisies embroidered devout the go b y. Hmm. Lets try this.He broken-down the pastel-colored engages he held and replaced them with red and black ones. Placing my harness flat once morest the chairs weapons, he wrapped apiece of mine down with black first, devising X patterns. The style reminded me of the way a ballerinas slippers laced up. When that was finished, he went back all oer each arm with red.These are more like ribbons than your usual ones, I observed. Or maybe sashes. Do you own, like, every attainable form of constraint cognise to man? belovedly, he said. All right. Lets get started. The waters all everyplace there.He indicated a table near the window where my old friend the knoll sat, but Id already known it was there. remission as comfortably as I could in the chair, I stared at the heap and immediately let my mind tinge out to the water. It flared like a beam to me. Beyond it, I could sense all the other water in the room too. Me and Dorian, the wine, water vapor. I directed my vigilanc e to the slopeers water.I can feel you, now come about to me.But, as many practices had already demonstrated, call foring didnt make things happen. God, that pissed me off. I honestly didnt know how Dorian could stand waiting around through all of these sessions. It had to be boring as hell. I was bored, and I actually got to do something. demeanor out of.No, no. That was a bad attitude. sink the boredom. Focus on the task at hand.Hours passed over again. If Dorian was cool off awake which I doubted I knew hed close off the session soon. The knowledge irritated me, but I understood. I was already feeling tired, my eye bleary. I unplowed blinking a lot to regain focus and postponement them from drying. I think that make me notice what happened succeeding(prenominal).Dorian, look at the pitcher.He sat up right out-of-door and followed my gaze. A moment later, he walked over and stirred the pitcher, brushing his fingers along its side. Water lightly ran down the cerami c surface, pooling on the tables provide surface. A slow, delighted smile broadcast over his face.Youve seized it. Its listening to you. Now make it come farther all the way out of the jug.With tangible progress forward me, my excitement grew. I thought stark about what Id been doing, trying to repeat it. around a minute later, I could see water spilling down the sides of the jug, much hurrying and in greater amounts. The puddle on the table grew too full, dripping onto the floor.Im destroy your cover.Never mind the carpet. Bring it farther. I could hear the anticipation in his voice. almost logical part of me saw carpet as tough terrain to navigate, and the waters progress slowed. Soon, I decided, that was only in my head. The carpet had null to do with anything. Only my control of the water questioned.As soon as I made that leap, the water shot over the carpet in a trend rivulet, almost like a snake. It reached my feet, and I could feel it waiting for some advertize i nstruction. Only, I didnt know what to sound out it. I simply sine qua noned it to come to me.Id nevertheless given form to that thought when the water sprang up earlierhand me and hovered in the air. My let the cat out of the bag dropping, I watched it splinter into hundreds of drops. They hung there, suspended like strings of crystal beads. I gaped, fascinated, but had no idea what to do next. My clasp on them slipped remote, and the drops disintegrated further into a fine fog. Seconds later, the cloud dispersed al unneurotic, evaporating into the rest of the air. As they faded, so did the tingly, euphoric feeling hie through my blood.Neither Dorian nor I did anything right away. accordingly, I started laughing. And I couldnt stop. It was too wonderful. I cute to do it again and again but had no more water. The wine would be too messy.An idea occurred to me. Sensing the moisture in the air, I sent my power out to the air right in front of me. Suddenly, critical fleck s of water condensed on my skin, like Id been sprayed by a light mist. I laughed again.Dorian, smiling as broadly as me, walked over and ran his fingers over each of my cheeks. Touching his fingers together, he rubbed the water into his skin, almost as if test it was real.I did it.You did do it.His eyes shone with classical delight. You might have thought hed been the one to do this. Funny that he should take such joy in this, I thought, when it was a paltry thing compared to his magic. He un tied me and clasped my workforce to help me rise.I think a celebration is in order. He poured another glass of wine and handed it over. We clinked our glasses together. To clever pupils.With good teachers.He took a imbibe. Hardly. I actually slept most of tonight.I laughed as I drank. Do youwhen you use your magic, do you feel somethingI dont know, something good burning in you? Like pleasure or hullabalooand not notwithstanding from, like, mental expiation eitherI couldnt put it into words, but his face told me I didnt have to. Yes. I know exactly what you mean. Wonderful, isnt it?I drank more of the wine. Yes. Yes, it is. Just wait. Youve honourable had a sip of it. Once you come into your full power, you wont know how you did without.I grinned at him. I matte so thoroughly pleased with myself and life, I could toilsomely stand it. When had I been this quick? Aside from world with Kiyo? And if I had this kind of reaction now, what would happen when I really locomote into the big leagues? Dorian spoke of it like an addiction, but it sure deared like a good one.Looking up, I saw his eyes all over me. He set his glass down and spoke in a soft voice, almost wonderingly. You shinedid you know that? reason suits you.He made me as happy as everything else in the world unspoilt then. Warmth built in my federal agency and radiated out through the rest of my trunk. I dont know how that feeling expressed itself on my face, but it must have conveyed something b ecause he leaned over and kissed me.I could perceptiveness wine in that soft kiss, wine and heat. single of his hands pulled me against him while the other guardedly re move my glass. Still pressing us together, he eased me onto the bed. I comeed his sweet, cod kisses with hard, demanding ones. It didnt take him long to adjust to this transport in style. He rolled me to my back and lay down on top of me, twining one hand in my hair to hold my head in place as an eager learn all at once modify his kisses. He consumed my mouth with them while his other hand slid unabashedly amidst my thighs, rubbing me through my jeans.My corpse arched up against his, and I mat up an comprehend cry rise up in my throat, only to be lost in the pressure of his mouth on mine. I knew then it would finally happen. The risk of infectionous invite of thisthe exoticness of sleeping with someone who was still such an unknown quantityit all enflamed me that much more. We would do this. We would c ome together, and I would give myself to him.Give myself to him.A parsimoniousness seized my chest, conflicting sharply with the burning pleasure in the rest of my body. His touch made me crave more, almost made me beg for it, and yet that angry part in the back of my mind was screaming again. It told me if I made this choice, if I deliberately chose to do this with him, then I was giving in to the confrontation. I didnt really know who that enemy was exactly, but it didnt matter. The instinct pulsed through me, defensive and afraid. It warred against the rest of me, against my bodys needs and even against my own conscious wishes. I knew and liked Dorian. Why couldnt I overpower that base panic? In some ways, the fear was titillating. I had a feeling if I could just get over that first crownwork of difficulty, the problems would go away.But damn it, that was a high peak to get over.And like last time, Dorian could feel my reluctance. He broke our embrace, almost jerking away from me. Before he turned his face from mine, I saw emotions Id never seen onward. Frustration. Unhappiness.Dorian I said. DorianIm so inexorableHe rubbed his face with both hands and exhaled. His voice was flat when he spoke. Its late, Eugenie. also late for you to leave. He stood up and stretched, and when he finally turned around, hed once more cleared his face of its dark prospect. His happy countenance was also missing he simply looked tired. Ill take the sofa in the parlor you stay on the bed.No, I He gestured me off as he walked into the other room without a feebleminded glance, saying only, Take it. Itll be the best night of sleep youve ever had. expand French doors connected the two rooms. He closed them, leaving me to my own misery.I sat on his massive bed, endeavouring to sort out a tangle of competitive emotions. What was wrong with me? Why couldnt I make this work? Id slept with guys I liked a lot less than Dorian. Why couldnt I cross this last line? Why keep fi ghting it?I blew out all the candles and torches in the room before taking off my jeans and sliding under the covers. Dorian was right. This had to be the most agreeable bed Id ever been in. Unfortunately, there was no way I could sleep. I unplowed thinking about my magical elation, allege desire, and subsequent breakdown. My body compulsioned him. My mind did too. Only my instincts still fought it.The worlds most comfortable bed must have matte insulted over all the tossing and act that followed. At least its size gave me all the fidgeting room I could wishing. My eyes grew accustomed to the nighttime very rapidly, and I could discern the shapes of furniture and corners in the partial moonlight. Outside the giant star window, stars glittered thousands more than Id seen the night with the astronomers. Wed lost the stars in the human world, despite our success in reaching them. Humans and gentry were almost like two sides of a coin, each supplying what the other lacked.Th e answer to my problems with Dorian was a long time in coming, but come it did. It was still pitch black when I finally got up and padded into the adjoining room. The doors opened silently, and I paused upon reaching him. He couldnt quite learn on the sofa, so his legs dangled off the end. He still wore the same frock and had pulled a flimsy throw blanket over his body. He faced the direction I stood, eyes closed. One hand clothed above him, and his hair spilled onto his cheek, its fiery color indiscernible in the poor lighting.He was a king, with thousands of people who answered to him, yet he lay crammed onto this couch because of me. I had wound someone I didnt think could be hurt. I stood there thinking about this in the still, dark room before finally kneeling down beside him.I tentatively reached out a hand, but his eyes opened before I made contact. Whats the matter? he asked. He sounded alert, concerned.I couldnt talk right away. Silence pooled as thick as the inkiness ar ound us. He neither spoke nor travel as I deliberated he simply watched and waited.I want you to tie me up.That was the great thing about Dorian. Most people would have hesitated or asked questions. Not him. He followed me out to the other room and promptly retrieved the same sashes hed used former in the chair.I settled on the bed, unsure where to position my body, but he gently adjusted me. He started to get across my arms up over my head but then stopped. Moving his hands down to my stomach, he caught the edges of my shirt and gave me a questioning look. I nodded, and he cautiously pulled it off and over my head. Returning to my arms, he raised them above me toward the headboard and tied my wrists together, still incapable of rushing his careful bindings. With the next sash, he bound my wrists to the intricate scalloping of the headboard and then used another to reinforce the binding. When he finished, my arms lay somewhat relaxed on the pillows above me, but my hands and wrist s were tightly secured. Weirdly, something inside of me eased upon realizing I was trapped.The distance of the tying process surprised me. I would have thought he would want to expedite things, but his patience seemed undaunted. He settled back on his knees and analyse me, just as he always did after completing one of his tie-ups. Near darkness or no, I snarl exposed in just my underwear and wondered if it was my naked skin or the silk sashes that so captivated him. Probably the combination of both.He slid off the bed and stood up so he could take his own clothes off. As they fell to the ground, more and more of his body was revealed. The moonlight caught his white skin, and it often gleamed. He reminded me of some ancient Greek or Roman statue, all stain and smooth lines.He crawled back onto the bed, looking down on me, and my heart started travel again. Shadows bathed him now that he was away from the windows full light, and he seemed larger and more tidy compared to me. I had no means of acquire out of this unless I wanted to attempt some crazy kicking maneuvers.The time and tension stretched out between us. It made me anxious yet stimulated as well. Why the delay? Why wouldnt he touch me? Why did he just keep looking at me like that?Finally, he knelt by my feet and kissed my toes. Such a small touch, but it made my body shudder after all that waiting. He alternated between both feet, his lips caressing toes and ankles before steadily moving up my legs. Kiyo had done a similar physical trial during our first night together. I wondered if there was some sort of psychological or personality analysis you could make base on whether a guy started at the top or the bottom.Up, up. Dorians mouth moved on. My pelvic muscles tightened in anticipation, and I felt wetness growing between my thighs. But then, he simply skipped past my underwear, continuing with my stomach. He ran his hands along the smooth skin, still taking his time, cautious around the be tter fachan cut. When he finished there, he moved to my neck, bypassing my breasts. My neck was pretty sensitive too, and his mouths intensiveness had increased. The sensation forced my breathing into anxious, harass gasps, but a frustrated bang slipped out nonetheless.Why are you skipping all the good parts?He paused, just barely lifting his lips from my skin. Do you want me to go back?I bit my lip. He was trying to make me dictate the footing here, but that wasnt what I wanted. For once, I didnt want the power here. That was wherefore Id asked to be tied up. I wanted the choice interpreted away from me. I stayed quiet.He returned to my neck, moving his mouth along my collarbone and shoulder, then up to my cheek and ears. Our lips soon came together again, and I tried to channel my extravagance and passion into that kiss, as I had done earlier. But now he kept himself just out of reach, just comely to tease but not fulfill. I shifted my body upward, touching as much of his as I could. That, too, he held about away. It was frustrating, and in my need, I forgot about who was supposed to be in control.Okay go back.He complied as efficiently and quickly as he had to my initial thraldom request. His hands and their delicate fingers cradled my breasts, holding them in place for his mouth. I closed my eyes and tilted my neck back, lost in those burning twirls of his tongue as he woke the nerves in my flesh and delicately sucked the nipples. When he finally broke away, I made a soft sound of protest until I advanced where he went next.Looping his fingers through the sides of my panties, he pulled them down, stopping abruptly when they reached midthigh. For a moment, I thought it was more of his frustrate until I all at once grasped the situation.Its, um, called a Brazilian wax, I explained, voice still breathy.Oh. His own voice held wonder. Oh my.His fingers ran over that delicate area, both for sensuality and his own curious exploration. With a happy sigh, he removed the underwear altogether and carefully spread my thighs apart. Then, his mouth was upon me, his tongue travel rapidly along that most sensitive of vagabond in one smooth motion.It was like a spark to a pulverise keg. My whole body bucked up as heat exploded throughout me, and I made some sound mistily like a whimper. Both of his hands slid up and held me firmly in place, reminding me again that Id given up the power here. That same conflicting mix of fear and need flared up inside of me, scared that he could do anything he wanted to me and half-hoping he would.When he grew convinced I wouldnt defeat anymore, he let one hand slide back to my thighs. His mouth had never stopped in its fervent feeding, and now his fingers moved in, push into me with smooth motions quantify to work with his mouth. I moaned against his touch, my head thrown and twisted back and upper body arched. He had an uncanny knack for pulling back each time orgasm was about to occur. So, whe n he finally allowed me that release, it almost caught me by surprise.My flesh ignited, electric and glorious. I shivered as my muscles contracted, as that scorching ecstasy poured through my body. Even when that tide broke, he kept his mouth down there drub and probing until I begged him to stop, too overcome by the flood of sensation. He took his time in obeying the request, finally moving away and laying his body on top of mine.Every part of him pressed against me, hard and wonderful, and I writhed under him, eager for more. He moved his hands back up to my arms, again firmly trap me in place. His mouth crushed mine, forcing me to taste myself on his lips. Struggling did no good.When he released me from the kiss at last, his face moved only a fraction of an progress away from mine.I know why youre doing this, he said. Why you wanted to be bound. Its because you want the determination taken out of your hands. You knew once you were here, thered be no turning back. You wouldnt have to be burdened with the decision of willfully coming together with me. You would have no choice in the matter and hence relieve yourself of any delinquency or anticipation.He kissed my cheek and then lingered on my ear a little. In a moment, I swear I can ravage and take you as much as you want, if thats what makes it easier. But your choices arent foregone yet. We can stop if you want. Or I can untie you. You can tell me you want this and join with me not in submission, but as an equal.The words were on my lips. Yes, untie me. Make love to me. fundament me. I want to be with you. I could have said any government issue of things to change the balance of power. I could have gained both control and freedom again. Yet, I said or did nothing. Maybe it was because it was the only way I could go through with this. Or maybe I just wanted it this way. Maybe I even enjoyed it. Regardless, I stayed quiet, and he read the answer in that.He rose up, looming over me. He was a conqueror, coming to collect, and I was a prize, open flesh waiting to be seized. That fear lurched up in me, and I thrived on it. It was delicious. Thrilling. I gave up my power. I gave myself to him.Almost on his knees, he spread my legs apart and pushed in. I screamed, almost more from mental than physical sensation, my arms straining uselessly against the ties. He filled me, punctuating each powerful movement into me with a soft grunt in his throat I thought even he wasnt aware of.I wanted to reach up and wrap my arms around him, pull him against me. But all I could do was lay there, lay there and let him push into me over and over, the enemy Id somehow come to crave.He shifted his body so that he was completely on top of me, still moving urgently and possessively, save that now I had even less mobility than before. He held me down, grip tight. And me? I was all aching and burning flesh, allow him take whatever he wanted from me. I floated in a warm, swimming place. It was like cosmos wrapped in golden silk, molten bliss cattle farm over my body.I told you, he said through his labored breathing. I told you youd come to me. And nownow I realize I could have simply taken you the instant Id tied you up. You didnt need any of the rest. Youve had this desire and never even known itthis desire to simply be had in any way your lover wanted. He paused a moment, swallowing and catching his breath. Im right, arent I? I could move you into any position I wanted, make love to you in any place I wanted, and youd love every moment of it.I couldnt really contest any coherent answers, and most of my noises had lapse into primal, unintelligible cries. All I wanted to focus on was us being together, the way it felt to have him pushing and rubbing, the way it must feel for him to be inside of me. Id slid up on the bed my head was practically in danger of hitting the headboard soon.Suddenly, he pulled out abruptly and hovered back over me. His eyes, dark in this light, watched me , and I sensed that laconic, playful expression on his face. Both of us panted. I waited for him to return, feeling irate at this interruption. Id been on the verge of coming again. Somehow I suspected hed known that.What are you doing? postponement. Waiting for you to tell me to keep going.He wasnt being cruel or mean. He was teasing me, toying with me the way he so enjoyed among the people around here.You fucking bastard, I said. Somehow the profanity carried mild affection.He laughed. Should I take that to mean you want me to continue?You know I do.Then say it outright. Unless youre going to get up and take me yourself.Did I mention youre a bastard?Tell me you dont want me to stop. rap me. Beg me, and well do this for the rest of the night.It was and a game, another dimension of this power play and his dominance over me. And, much to my chagrin, it was a turn-on. disport, I whispered.Please what?Pleasedont stop. I wantI want you to keepKeep what?I sighed. I want you to keep fuc king me.He was back in me almost before the words had left my lips. I utter out again as moments later, the delay orgasm exploded in me. I shook and burned as that glisten sensation crackled through me. All the while, our bodies kept moving together. His face was near mine, watching with pleasure as I panted and struggled against a joy that was almost too intense.I hate you, I gasped out.He laughed and rained kisses down on my face. No, you dont.He was right.