“You seem reluctant,” he murmured, pressing me so close to the hair of his broad chest that I could taste him. Strong was the taste of Ceralt, full and hard as the manhood which thrust against my thigh. I moved in his arms to escape the embrace, yet his strength was, as ever, too great to overcome.
“I do not desire you,” I whispered, my hands upon his deeply muscled arms. “Release me at once so that I may complete Mida’s work.”
He laughed softly and stroked my side from breast to buttocks. “You have already completed all that you shall ever do for your Mida,” said he. “You are now in my service, and shall remain there till I release you. And I shall not release you.” His hand then darted to my tightly clenched thighs, forced its way between them, and found the moisture I had wished to keep hidden. He laughed at my moan of misery, and touched me deep as he had so often done before. My body writhed well at his touch, and I felt the slickness of sweat on all of my face as the flames rose to roaring within me.
“For one who does not desire me,” he murmured, “you seem well prepared for my arrival. Is it possible that you would dare to lie to me?”
I raised tortured eyes to his face, and saw the faint grin upon it, the dark, unruly lock of hair upon his brow, the deep hunger in his light eyes. Again I shuddered to the questing of his touch, and dug my fingers deep within his arms.
“Perhaps you do not lie,” he continued, lowering his lips to my shoulder. “Perhaps you are merely unknowing of your desire, and need only be shown.”
And then his lips took mine, hungrily crushing the breath from me as he sought my soul. What little resistance had been left to me was then gone, taken by his strength, leaving naught save the weakness which his presence brought. Deeply was I lost to his embrace, my lips responding to his, my thighs clenched about his hand, my breasts pressed into his chest. I felt his nearness with all of my body, the heat within me crying out to be quenched by him, demanding it, begging it. I moved wildly in his arms, no longer in possession of my will, and he, with a laugh, thrust me to my back upon the fur. I opened my thighs wide, welcoming his presence, and when he thrust within me, I cried out in ecstasy, closing my eyes so that I might feel his strength with every part of me. As from a distance, I felt his hands about my wrists, forcing my arms above my head, and then his lips were upon my breast, bringing screams to my throat with the nipping of his teeth. In madness, I threw my hips against his thrusts, seeking to bury him deeper within me, and knew not that one of his hands had left my wrists till that hand held to my hips, stilling my movement. I screamed in fury, trying to wrench loose, and then his manhood withdrew from me, poised at the entrance to my inner being, no more than a finger’s width within. My fury turned instantly to deep fear, and I whimpered and trembled, unwilling to face the possibility that he might leave me so, aflame in every fiber of my being, my need rising up to choke the breath from me. My eyes opened to the sight of his shadowy form above me, he crouched unmoving as he gazed down upon me, my wrists yet held by one of his hands, his other hand firmly at my hip. Again I whimpered and moved in his grip, and his light eyes, catching the flicker of the fire, glowed strangely in the darkness of his face.
“Jalav,” he whispered, leaning forward slightly, “tell me now whether or not you desire my use. I would hear the words from you.”
My mouth no longer had spittle to wet it, yet I could not have held back the words to save my soul. “I desire your use, Ceralt,” I whimpered, looking up at him entreatingly. “I ask your use. I beg it!”
He laughed softly, and moved against me enough to set me moaning. “Poor Jalav,” he whispered, leaning down farther to blow upon the spears my breasts had become. “Again does Ceralt force her to beg her use, as though she were no more than a wench beneath a man. Tell me what you are, Jalav.”
I attempted to swallow dryness as my body shook to his breath upon it, knowing what answer he sought. Within me a scream of rage began, yet I blurted out, “I am a wench beneath a—a man, Ceralt! Do not leave me unused!”
“Calm yourself, Jalav,” he chuckled, attempting to sound soothing. “You have now learned what your place in this world is, but you do not yet believe it. Should I continue to use you, the end of your use will again bring you to your former state. Perhaps it would be best if I made no use of you at all.”
“No!” I screamed as he withdrew even farther from me. My limbs trembled uncontrollably, my head flew from side to side, and my need was a crippling, demanding thing, impossible to refuse. “Ceralt, do not leave me so!” I begged, tears coming to my eyes. “The agony is unbearable! I will be anything you wish!”
“You will be no more than a wench beneath me?” he demanded, his hand tightening about my wrists.
“Yes!” I wept, throwing myself about. “I will be that to you,”
“You will be a full woman to me?” he demanded, presenting himself again to my desire and thrusting a short way within.
“Yes!” I screamed, the ache in my thighs too great to think upon. I babbled then, caring naught for what I said so long as he returned to ease me.
“You will obey my every command’?” he demanded, withdrawing again. “Swear that you will obey me!”
“I swear!” I screamed, demented beyond knowing ought save my need. “By Mida do I so swear!” I wept. “Return to me, Ceralt! Do not leave me so!”
“You shall not be left so!” his laughter boomed out, pleasure and triumph strong in its sound. “My own hunger need no longer be contained, and now that I have what I wish from you, I shall also have your body. I, too, swear, Jalav, that you shall always recall the use you so ardently begged for.”
And then he thrust deeply within me, so deep that I screamed again to the feel of it. Never before had he used me so fiercely as he did that darkness, and as I was swept away before his hunger, I knew I would truly never forget it.
9
The sharing of falum—and a place is found
The dwelling was chilled and dark in the gray of the new light, and I found that I had no desire to move from the warmth of the place I had been given in Ceralt’s arms. No fire leapt in the hearth to send forth its warmth, and briefly I thought upon the fact that a fire had ever before greeted me upon awakening in that village. Then I recalled that none could have entered to build such a fire, for Ceralt had seen to our solitude the darkness before. I lay wrapped in his arms, my cheek against the coarse hairs of his chest, my body pressed to his, the slow rhythm of his breathing attempting to force itself upon my own. I did not move where I lay, for an unaccustomed soreness was upon me, a result of the fierceness of Ceralt’s use. Over and again had he used me through the darkness, at times upon my back, his lips to my throat, at times upon my belly, my hips raised to the fury of his thrusts. At no time had his manhood flagged, a thing most astonishing, and not till the new light lay no more than a few hind away did he allow me rest from the pummeling. I had then been taken by an exhausted sleep, knowing no more till my eyes had opened a scant few reckid earlier. I sighed softly and moved my tongue to the dark hairs that lay beside my cheek, licking at them lightly so as not to awaken Ceralt. Never before had a male used me so, giving such pleasure through uncompromising demands. Solely at his bidding had I been allowed to move, no actions of my own devising being permitted. At first I had raged and attempted to defy him, yet his presence within me had brooked no defiance. He made his demands and saw them obeyed, and I had wept and cried out with the depth of my pleasure. Such thoughts of his doings awakened my body, the moisture again beginning to flow, soothing the soreness his actions had caused. I little regretted the soreness, deeming it a small inconvenience for the glories of the darkness, and found that my belly rubbed against Ceralt’s without my volition. I stilled my hips, thinking it possible that I might be clad and away before his awakening, yet such proved impossible. Ceralt’s hand moved upon my back as his breathing altered, and I then knew him to be awake. His other hand came to my face and raised it, and his lips met mine with a softness which had not been present during the darkness. I drank in the softness with a different sort of pleasure, one that contained neither heat nor excitement, merely a soothing pleasure stemming from I knew not what. His lips remained upon mine some few reckid, and then his head raised so that he might look upon me.