Storms and Sun Rays: Love on the Run pt. 3
We enter a forest and the sounds of birds and animals scurrying about fill the air. Before long, I start recognizing landmarks, though they take me by surprise. The old school building, now only a pile of bricks. The main road, overgrown by weeds. Wixx’s farmhouse, the front door swinging open in the wind.
I look around, sighing, “I don’t know why I expected everything to look the same. But I suppose twenty-five years of being away will do a lot to a place.”
“Does anyone still live here?”
“I’m not sure. I figured there would be people, but it doesn’t seem like it. I wonder where everyone went.”
“Let’s take a look around,” Cal slides off of Asta and takes the reins of Tethys, leading the horse. I join her on the ground, hand near the sword on my waist.
We go down every alleyway and to every far off corner of the town, seeing only a handful of fae and the occasional light coming from behind shuttered windows. Finally, we stumble across the house I grew up in, though it is mainly just the foundation. The roof caved in and the walls crumbling. I touch the wall, remembering all the hardships and Cal grabs my hand, interlacing our fingers, “Is this where you lived?”
I nod and she eases closer.
“Everyday.” I shake away those thoughts, “Come on, let’s go see if we can find somewhere to sleep.”
“Here are some extra bandages. You’ll want to change these every chance you get. Just like I showed you, alright?” Calantha speaks in her healing voice, stern, but always soft.
“Yeah, ‘course missus.” The youngling glances at me with cautious eyes, then the sword at my side, “Are you a warrior?”
“Just here to scare off thieves, young one.”
Her eyes travel to my neck and the pale skin peeking above the collar, “But then how did you get that scar?”
I stiffen. Flashes of faces with unseeing eyes, blood covering my hands, pain everywhere.
Cal says something to the youngling and she scurries off, cradling her wounded arm and the extra bandages. Cal rests a hand on my shoulder and sound returns to my ears, “My storm. You are safe. Stay with me.”
The flashes come one after another, taking my breath. All I can see is everyone who died that day. Arion, Haldir, Lia, Kaela. All of them, gone.
Pale yellow eyes shine in the center of the pain. Calantha. She has her hands on either side of my head, forehead touching my own. She whispers for me to breathe, over and over. Finally, her words sink in, finally I feel myself take a deep breath.
I meet her eyes, “I’m here.”
She pulls back and begins packing up her surgeon’s bag, “Come on, love. Let’s go find somewhere quiet.”
I help her collect her things and untie the horses from the tree nearby. We make our way back to the abandoned barn near Wixx’s farmhouse or I suppose what once was Wixx’s farmhouse. I let the horses roam inside and close the door as much as possible. Calantha grabs the bedrolls and lays them out on the loft.
She peeks her head over the edge, “Come up here, you’re too far away.”
I smile and climb the ladder. When I reach the top, she is laying amid the blankets, one arm propping up her head, the other beckoning. I oblige, unhooking my sword belt and laying down next to her as she wraps herself around me, head on my chest.
“You are one of the strongest fae I know. I just wish you didn’t need to be all the time.” Calantha runs a finger along my jaw. “I know–”
I put my finger to her lips, quieting her. “Let’s not talk. I just want to be with you tonight. It could be our last night and I want to be with you for every moment of it.”
“It will not be our last night. You taught me to fight, I could help you.”
“Sun ray, you are a healer not a killer. It would weigh on you too much and I can’t ask that of you. Besides, I taught you that so you could defend yourself if you ever needed to. But you don’t because I am here to protect you and if it ever comes to a fight, I ask that you run and hide, please. It would make me feel better knowing you were out of harm's way.” I stroke her hair as I speak.
She looks up at me with those golden eyes, “I suppose you are probably right, but I don’t know if I could leave you in harm’s way. Can’t we run together?”
“If the chance arises, I must end things. If only to give you a safe future.”
“Don’t kill her. I don’t want you to have that on your conscience. Not for my sake. How do we know it will even end things?”
“I don’t know my love, but I can’t sit back and do nothing, not if she comes for us. Let’s not talk of this any longer. I want to be with you. Just you and me.”
“But I’m rudely attached to you and would rather never stop talking to you.”
“I’m rudely attached to you too, my sun ray.” I caress her face, “You know what else I like?”
A quick smile, elongated canines flashing, “No idea. What could you possibly like?”
I kiss her softly, “This.” Kiss. “Us.” Kiss. “Everything about you.” Kiss.
“Shhhh… No more talking. Just us. You know the rules.”
Her eyes sparkle, understanding. She tugs off my jacket and tunic, eager.
I remove her clothing a piece at a time, “Now, I don’t want a sound out of you. Not a word or a moan, nothing.”
She nods, laying bare before me. My hands move of their own accord, one down from her face to her breast. I circle her nipple, grabbing her in my hand. My other hand pulls her head to mine as I kiss her deeply, losing myself in her luscious lips. I pull away, looking down at my beautiful wife. Thinking of the best way to make her moan, I run my hand down her body, stopping just above her apex. Then I inch my way down. She squirms and lifts her hips, eager, but makes no noise. I find her entrance and slide my fingers in, she lets out a small squeak and I halt my movements. When she is quiet again, I start pumping in her, circling and hitting that spot that makes her groan. Surprisingly, she keeps quiet. Her eyes are closed and she is straining to keep her mouth shut, hands bunching the blankets.
I kiss her stomach, whispering onto her skin, “Someone is being good…”
I still my hand, “Looks like I spoke too soon.”
I count down from ten, making her wait for it. When I reach zero, I resume moving within her. Slowly.
She tries to move against me to increase the friction and I oblige her, speeding up. Her breath hitches. Her body arcing. My mouth finds her neck and I kiss, sucking gently, canines nipping. I pump harder, feeling her on the edge. She climaxes and I bite down. She cries out, but instead of stopping, I reach a hand up and cover her mouth, “Quiet, my sun ray or someone may hear us.”
She pants onto my hand as I continue to move in her, prolonging her pleasure. Eventually, she stops me, resting a hand on mine. I remove my hand and pull her close to me, lying back. I kiss her forehead, finding it damp, and smirk to myself.
Cal peers up at me, “What?”
“Because you are mine. And I am yours. Nothing else matters.”
She holds me tight, “I am lucky too. I’m glad to have met you, Erevaughn. No matter where life takes us, I will be yours and you will be mine. I wouldn’t change our life together for anything.”
“I love you, Cal. Thank you for saying that. I will always be yours.”
“I love you too, my storm.”