50 Mine Is a Hand To Hold (2/2)
She nodded, accepting his apology. She paid for me to be educated, Isilla explained.
”She sounds like a wonderful mother,” he said.
She nodded, smiling sadly.
”Can you dance?” he asked suddenly, pulling her back from her sadness.
Surprised she nodded.
”When you are feeling better, I would like to see that,” he said, his voice low.
I'm fine, she signed.
”That one I know, Haribit taught me and said if you said that, you were lying,” he smiled.
She frowned and slipped off the heavy nightgown revealing a thin shift underneath.
”Isilla! It's too cold!” Arren said standing, ”You've been out of bed too long as it is!”
She stopped him with a hand to his chest and swept the bangles up, sliding them over one wrist. She hummed to herself as she moved, following the steps her mother had taught her, moving her body to the drums that played in her mind. Ilun perked up at her steps, watching her dance to the song that only he could hear.
She moved her arm so the thin metal bands caught the light, her hips and legs making the meager skirt of the shift move and lift about her. Tired after only a few minutes, she stopped, confident that she had proven her point, although what point that was, she was unsure.
She looked back at Arren who leaned against the bed, his lips parted, eyes wide. She smiled sheepishly at him, looking down at the floor where his shadows spilled, thicker and darker than they had been, swirling around her ankles .
”Hmm?” she hummed, looking up again as Arren moved, crossing the distance between them. He wrapped her in his arms and pressed his lips against hers, bringing her body to meet his. She wrapped her arms around his neck, steadying herself against him.
Her heart beat quickly in her chest, his own warm and hard through his shirt. He kissed her deeply, his mouth hungry and possessive against hers. His hands cradled her back, hot through the thin fabric
He pulled away just as suddenly as he had embraced her. ”I have to stop,” his voice husky with want, need. ”I should go, I can barely control myself and you are still recuperating. You should not be out of bed.”
Then take me to bed, she thought as she stood on her toes, kissing him, pulling his body back to hers. What if I want him to take me tonight, she thought as she felt him respond,kissing her back, his hands traced a line down her spine while his shadows twisted below, reaching for her.
He pulled away again but before she could complain, he lifted her, carrying her to the the bed and laying her on the pillows. He slipped out of his shirt, revealing his chest. She touched his warm skin, the soft hair. Familiar but this was the first time she had ever done so.
”Isilla, are you sure? I don't know what will happen to you or anyone but I,” his words trailed off, his face at once stricken and full of desire.
She reached for him, pulling him down into her embrace, kissing away his doubts and fears, assuring him without words that yes, she was sure, yes, she wanted this. He moved his lips to her neck, sucking at the skin gently before pushing down the shift and revealing her body to him.
He ran his hands over her skin, his shadows followed, their touch easy against her. He bent, his bare chest against hers, making her shiver with desire, his mouth tracing the same lines his hands had followed.
His hand covered her eyes, ”Don't look my love, it is too much.”
She pushed his hand away and looked at his eyes, smiling softly. The strange light and movement that had scared her before did not do so now. She understood it better and as she gazed it shifted, overtaken with darkness as the room around them filled with this shadows. Uncontrolled they spilled over everything, snatching the light.
If there was danger, Ilun would move, the thought, weak and distracted, came to her before she wrapped her arms around Arren, pulling him back to her.
”Let me,” he said breathlessly moving away from her lips, his hands and fingers touching her as they had in the dream. On some level she was aware that he had shed the rest of his clothing and laid beside her nude as he touched her.
She felt no fear as he explored the body he had held in his dreams until she was soft and ready under him, her own pleasure having crashed like waves over her.
”Stop me, if it is too much. I will go slow,” he said and she nodded as he made his entrance. Gentle and slow, as he promised. He kissed her as he moved, keeping his body close, keeping her wrapped in his warmth until his body tensed and released.
He looked down at her, his eyes pitch black, wisps of black mist falling from down his cheeks. The air, filled with his shadows, glowed with its strange not-light, in its purest form, unrestrained, it reminded her of her sky in Veil.
Her body felt heavy and her skin tingled. She lifted her fingers and the shadows twisted around them. She smiled, pleased.
”You are alright, my love?” he asked touching her face.
She nodded, moving her cheek to push against his hand, the small movement proving that she was well.
”All of you?” he asked running the hand down her body.
She shivered and nodded again, this time reaching for him, his kiss.
He pulled away slowly. ”I must be sure,” he said softly.
The shadows that surrounded them thinned his eyes cleared as he used the waiting energy for his own ends.
The six sense that resided in Isilla reared up, hungry, starving for the taste of what it had just felt. The sudden need of it painful, as ifit would burst from her chest to catch that power. Gritting her teeth she tried to push it back.
”Stop,” Arren said above her.
He pulled them into a sitting position, holding her so that her legs wrapped around his waist, as he had done in Veil. ”Let it do what it needs,” he said, his eyes clear.
She shook her head. I don't know what it will do or its purpose, she thought but she couldn't communicate her fears to him.
He kissed her, ”It's alright, my love.”
She nodded and relaxed, letting it run its course. She could feel it reaching from her, to him, latching onto his darkness, pulling it back to her. She gasped, the feeling of it spreading, sweet and soft, through her veins until it had been taken into every inch of her.
Arren leaned his head against hers, breathing deeply as she held her hand over her chest, the space where she had felt his darkness enter. Tentatively he touched her, waiting for her to show she was alright.
She touched his chest and he covered her hand, sensing her question. ”It feels, comfortable, as if I'm holding something? I cannot explain it. It doesn't matter how I feel. I am concerned about you. Are you alright?”
She nodded, her body feeling better than it had in ages. Right now, everything is fine, she thought.
He kissed again, slow and deep. ”I need to sleep, badly, and so do you. There is much to do over next few days. If you are safe, we can take our time to figure all of this out.”
She nodded, agreeing, her body exhausted from her long illness and recent activity. She let him settle her into the bed, wrapping his body around her back, his heat keeping her warm. A moment later, Ilun pulled himself onto the mattress, sprawling across the foot of the bed. Arren growled but let him stay.
”Goodnight, my dearest,” he said as she closed her eyes feeling, for the first time since her arrival in the strange land, at ease.