Part 55 (1/2)

She lifted her eyes.

”I... I am sorry,” she said. ”For what I did.”

Once more that punished animal look was on her face. I found words, and my legs, stepped forward, and took her hands.

”Maran,” I said. ”You did nothing wrong. Not when I was gone, not now, not ever.

”I love you.”

I saw tears well in her eyes.

”Here,” she whispered. ”Give me your coat.”

I unb.u.t.toned it, and let it slide to the ground. She came close, ran her fingers over my bandaged forearm and grimaced. Then she kissed my nipples through my s.h.i.+rt.

”I forgot how sweet you smell when you sweat,” she said, and lifted her head to me.

I smelled flowers as we kissed, and blood began to hammer against my temples. I put my arms around her, feeling her warmth through the thin gown. After a time I pulled back slightly.

”Mar&i, grant me a favor. I don't want you to be thinking I'm some sort of magistrate, judging what you do or don't do. I'm your partner, not your lord. I'm going to do things wrong... h.e.l.ls, I know I already have. I'm but human, and expect mercy and forgiveness, so I guess I'd better grant you the same right, hadn't I? Please stop being so hard on yourself.”

She stared at me, then buried her head against my shoulder. I felt her tears through my s.h.i.+rt.

”What is the matter?”

”Nothing,” she said. ”Nothing at all. I just... I guess I just never thought I had any right to be happy. I was, for a while. Then our baby died, and I felt like I was being punished.”

”For being happy?'

She nodded.

”Did anybody ever tell you you're silly sometimes?”

She nodded once more. ”I know I am.”

”And did anyone ever tell you aren't supposed to be crying when your husband comes home from the wars?”

”I'm sor-” and I cut off her words with another kiss. I slid my hand down her side, til I reached the slit, moved inside it, and stroked the satin of her b.u.t.tocks. She didn't move her lips from mine, but her hands crept up and unb.u.t.toned my s.h.i.+rt, and I let her loose long enough to slip out of it. I could feel her nipples firm against my chest.

”I said I wanted something in one of my letters,” she said, ”and I mean to have it.”

She unb.u.t.toned the fastenings of my trousers, and slipped them down over my boots. She gasped, seeing my still-bandaged thigh.

”Oh, my love, they hurt you.”

”I'm healing. It hardly bothers me now.”

”I shall be your nurse,” she said. ”And take care of your every need.” She knelt, and touched my rising c.o.c.k with a finger. ”I've missed you,” she murmured, and took its head in her mouth. She worried me gently with her teeth, then ran her tongue across its very tip.

”Now, Damastes, if you are as needful as I am, let me taste you,” and she took me in her mouth, moving her lips down along my c.o.c.k's shaft, her tongue coiling, caressing, and I had my hands around her head, pulling her hair around me, and gasped as my long-held s.e.m.e.n gushed.

She kept moving her head and the joyful agony grew, and then subsided. She rose to her feet, her mouth wet with me, and swallowed.

”That was to make sure we would have our full share of pleasure.”

I stood, and embraced her once more. As we kissed, I slid the robe down from her shoulders, then pulled at the knots holding her gown up, and it fell about her waist.

Pregnancy had made her b.r.e.a.s.t.s grow, and now they curved like beautiful persimmons. She curled a leg around me, and rubbed my calf with her heel. My c.o.c.k stiffened against her stomach, and she caressed my b.a.l.l.s gently.

I carried her to my small camp cot and laid her down on it. I stood over her, bestriding the cot She lay with her head back, then opened her eyes and looked up at me, and smiled, dreamily. She pulled her gown up until it pooled in her lap. She brought one leg up, then the other, and let her thighs fall apart.

”Did you dream about me, my husband?”

”Every night.”

”I dreamed about you, and tried to find a bit of pleasure in my own ways. But they were nothing compared to you.”

Still smiling, she began stroking her s.e.x, and put one finger, then the other, inside herself, moving them in and out gently.

”I am wet, Damastes,” she moaned. ”I am ready for you. Come love me, come f.u.c.k me now.”

I knelt on the coach, and as I touched her wetness with my c.o.c.k she jerked. I entered her, but only until the head was buried, then moved it slightly in and out.

”All the way, put it in all the way,” she said, but I continued the slight motions. ”Oh, love, please, please, it's been so long, oh, split me, tear me, oh, f.u.c.k me!”

I withdrew slightly and she suddenly hooked her heels under the cot's sideboards, and levered herself up until I was buried in her. She cried out, and I fell across her, pounding as her hips drove against me, her hands pulling at my back, her mouth open, gasping, our wet lips sliding across each other, and we were one again.

”Soldiers of Numantia,” Tenedos's amplified voice boomed across the vast formation. ”You have served your country, and me, as well.

”I promised you rewards for your sacrifices, and you believed me, and have been most patient. In Polycittara I gave you a taste of what I promised. There shall be more, much more, in the days to come.

K”I shall begin with six of my best soldiers.

”All of them are generals, and richly deserve the rank. They are heroes as well.

'This day, I am creating a new rank, the rank of tribune. Here is its symbol of office.” He held up an onyx rod, about two feet long, with silver bands around either end.

The six of us standing at attention before Tenedos were amazed. There'd been no clues as to why he called this army-wide formation, nor why he'd called us up from the heads of our own units.

”My tribunes will hold the highest commands, and will be answerable only to me.

”Now I shall name them. You know them by name and reputation, but I shall have a few words to say about each.

”My first tribune shall be Damastes a Cimabue. He was the first to follow me, and has been the bravest of the brave, from Kiat to the final destruction of Chardin Sher, serving in every conceivable way.

Tribune d Cimabue, I honor you for your service.”

He walked forward, and handed me the first staff. I heard the army roar approval behind me. I was incapable of speech, never having dreamed of such an honor. Tenedos must have known what I was thinking, because he smiled, and said softly, ”You see what happens when you listen to a madman in a mountain pa.s.s?” I managed to salute, and he stepped back. The others would come to him.