#a lemon

Burn Without You 

Chapter 16

You woke up a few hours after sunrise and woke to find Lukher still asleep in his original position, the stone still a medium lilac in color, the last stage before a light, pastel lavender as you woke up and moved from you spot next to him to go relieve yourself, and brush your hair and your teeth. And while the indoor plumbing was wonderful and the sink itself was a gorgeous mosaic and everything was beautiful, you didn’t really care to take much note of any of it as you simply made sure one of your new many silk robes was wrapped around you modestly before you got back in bed and got back into the original position, with Lukher’s head resting on a small pillow in your lap as your legs folded in front of you so that your lower legs rested against the top of his shoulders before you used your fingers and hands to explore his face, head and neck as you blew out a breath of relief when his neck was next to normal, granted weaker than the left side, but the muscle bellies were now whole again and intact, he could strengthen his right side again.  

His right earlobe had regrown partially but you couldn’t know if the eardrum or any part of the inner eardrum had been healed. Your fingertips combed through his beard and traced his jaw line and blew out another breath of relief when it had felt whole and complete again. The muscles, once again were smaller and weaker on this side but again, that would be something that could be fixed overtime before you took a chance and gently opened his mouth and looked on the inside, the right side of his inner cheek looked normal, the gumbs had healed but he was still missing a few teeth on the lower part of the right side of his jaw and you knew that nothing could fix that, it wasn’t perfect but it was better than it was before and right now that’s all you cared about. 

You then just took several long moments to appreciate his features, as thin and gaunt as they were but you felt some confidence that with your help, he could regain some measure of health. 

With the stones, they usually worked from the inside- out, and from the beginning were usually focused on injuries that caused a person to immediately die, usually from the threat of bleeding out which was the quickest way to death, otherwise focused on infections or viruses. But with injuries such as his, you didn’t know if since he was no longer at risk of bleeding out and dying in the moment, if the stones themselves would give much thought or care to comfort than restoring as much functionality to limbs. 

But restoring senses? That was up for debate. The sense of hearing, especially for a non Dorierran orc, was nonessential because the stones were to guarantee peak performance and enhancement for Dorierran orcs and their offspring. If he had been a Dorierran orc, you were sure that these stones would have healed him completely but because he wasn’t, you knew you just had to find contentment in all it was able to do then came a knock at the door. 

“My Lady?” Seyda asked through the door. 

“Come in please.” You answered as she came in. 

“I have breakfast already waiting, it just came up and is still hot thanks to the wonderful elevators, can I have it brought in?” She questioned as she motioned to the door behind her. 

“Yes please.” You answered as you put your hands over the stone itself on Lukher’s forehead before the door was opened and you recognized that only others from your own household were carrying in trays of breakfast foods. Half of which you recognized from your own cuisine, the other half, foreign to you and what you were sure was Yekmenian. 

“Good morning My Lady.” They all greeted, as you made sure it was only them that came in before the door was closed behind them before you relaxed and let your hands rest at your sides so you didn’t have to hide his stoned state from them. 

“Good morning.” You greeted them with a relieved smile on your face. 

“Did you sleep well, My Lady?” They asked, clear and genuine concern in their eyes and in their tone. 

“Yes, I slept fine, I’m sure thanks to General Thobin.” You answered. 

“Was the stone able to help Lukher any?” Seyda asked hopefully. 

“Some, but not completely. He still has a long road of recovery ahead of him. But at least the road will be long instead of just a few steps to a cliff.” You answered honestly as you tiredly rubbed your face again as all of them gave you apologetic looks. 

“Thank you all so much for following me here and doing your best to adapt, I greatly appreciate all of your efforts and I will do my best to reward all of you for your unwavering loyalty.” You thanked them all. 

“To the end My Lady. To us, you are our Vienne, we have no better master to serve.” Seyda insisted as the others readily agreed with such sentiment which brought a grateful and appreciative smile to your face.

“Have any of the Yekmenian staff given you any trouble? Are any of you having issues with rooming or accomodations?” You asked them. 

“No, on the contrary, we are given very spacious and luxurious accomodations, granted not to this degree...” Seyda began as she gestured to the surroundings. 

“But everyone we meet- all of them are happy, relieved and grateful that we speak nadasi and can interact with everyone normally, so there is no miscommunication and no misunderstandings. We are all given great respect because we serve you and we are not impeded in any way, and are allowed access to all and every ingredient in the kitchen and tools and utensils and the kitchen staff has even given us a portion of the kitchen and is dedicated to just the foods to be preparedf for you and the others from Dorierra and many wish to learn our ways of cooking and are very interested in the spices and techniques we use. So you may find the lines between Sultanate Quarter Dorrierran cooking and Yekmenian cooking to start to blur from now on, because they have ingredients and spices that are new to us and we are equally interested in exploring them and utilizing them. And they are most grateful that we brought so many plants, vines, bushes and trees, to be planted in the gardens, there are several gardens here, there is a greenhouse section for the plants that need warm and hot temperatures to grow, there are protected gardens strictly for food production and then there are flower gardens galore. You yourself have your own private garden on the second floor’s courtyard since your suite of rooms covers two floors in this section of the fortress. Last night during festivities, we planted at least three of every kind of fruit tree, and bush in them so that they can easily polinate each other and you have them at your disposal, especially the figs, dates and the pomegranates, and we even made sure to plant the special fig wasps nest in a remote corner for the figs and we put a special bee hive on the other end where all the plants that need to be polinated by the nice bees, so that you won’t worry about being stung while in your own gardens and of course the bee keeper will make sure you have a good supply of honey as well.” Dilara, the Sultanate Quarter’s chef’s wife who was coincidentally also one of his suis chefs explained. 

“In fact, Shiah, who is the fortress’ mistress or head housekeeper, she chose these rooms specifically for you because not only are they well protected, but very beautiful, luxurious and have the best access to the water supply since this fortress is so tall it has a water sprouting skyland within it’s tower so that the water flows down instead of having to be drilled and brought up. The water itself is crystal clear and clean and tastes very good and we don’t have to worry about tainted water, they even have great plumbing structures thoughout the whole fortress and great water heaters so that hot water is easily available, all you have to do is turn on a “faucet” and clean, hot water comes pouring out. It’s a wonder of engineering, this whole fortress is. It has ammenities that Dorierra wishes it had. It has a service elevator for us to use to get to you very quickly and of course the other main elevators for you to use. And to our understanding from Shiah, is these suite of rooms are your sanctuary, for you and for Lukher, who’s room is only next door though that door and his room is basically just a bed and a closet and a bathroom, and that’s all he really needs when he’s not with yout. It’s you who has a spa for a bathroom, a sauna, a whole room that is dedicated to just your wardrobe, and rooms for every purpose you can think of and Shiah, as is everyone else’s assumption is that when Lukher and yourself are not “out in public” or touring the fortress and it’s lands, you can both find peace and solace and simply enjoy each other and each other’s company here. Also you may go anywhere and everywhere you wish within Yekmeni and it’s lands, with or without Lukher. All you need to do is say your name with your title in the market and every vendor will be bending over backwards so to speak to get you whatever you will want. Everyone is eager to gain your approval and we keep getting asked how to gain it.” Seltan reported who was Seyda’s assistant.

“Wow, that’s wonderful.” You smiled happily before there was another knock at the door. 

“Who’s there?” You asked. 

“It’s just me,” Thobin answered. 

“Please come in.” You answered before Thobin had to duck a little to get into the door before your servants got you a small plate of food and some freshly squeezed juice to drink for breakfast before they all saw themselves out as Thobin was carrying Arace who was wriggling in his hold to get out of it to come and greet you which he reluctantly put her down on the floor before she ran and  spung onto the bed and wanted to be held before you put the plate of food down to hold her and cuddle her and happy to be reunited with her. 

“That little girl wanted to go to bed with you last night, and spent the night outside your door, helping the guards guard the door. She is very attached to you.” Thobin reported. 

“Aww, poor baby, well tonight, you can sleep in my bed, because do my eyes decieve me? Is there some food in that dish next to that pet bed with your name on it?” You cooed to her as you pointed to the items in question as you noticed your attendants had also come with a dish of food for Arace and had put it and a bowl of water and a bowl of milk down for it before you kissed Arace all over and then urged her to eat her own breakfast before she left your side to do just that. 

“Seyda, please, make sure no other tries to enter the room until Thobin and I are done talking.” You urged Seyda before she left the room.  

“Of course.” She nodded as Thobin used his stones to relay that information instantly to the guards at the door before the ones stationed on your balcony outside your bedroom also left to give you privacy Thobin took the biggest and sturdiest chair and brought it close to the bed and sat down. 

“I would offer for you to eat, but I dare not risk the special diet.” You answered. 

“It’s ok, I awoke early this morning, before sunrise, and made sure everyone in the army took another movement and then ate more of the special diet. We are good for another month or two.” He answered. 

“Oh good.” You blew out a breath of relief. 

“So? What can you sense from the stone?” You asked him. 

“Well, aside from what you’ve already sensed and seen, his left eardrum has made a 75% recovery and his right has made a 55% recovery so he’s now only partially deaf. His jaw is now completely put together and in alignment. As his neck and his spine and all the other minor injuries to his body. So he’s as functional as he can be. He will have to strengthen his weaker sides but at least he is able to do that much.” Thobin reported as you blew out a breath of relief. 

“Thank the stones.” You breathed as you picked up your own tethering stone and picked it up and kissed it affectionately. 

“His pain is gone, however his ears will eventually start to ache and a ringing will eventually return and over time his hearing will deteriorate once again and the degree of deafness will rise once again until he’s completely deaf.” Thobin gravely reported. 

“I figured as much, with only a partial healing. Of course such things would be expected.” You nodded in understanding. 

“So I can sense that there is more to tell me but you do not wish to burden me. Surely we have more time before he wakes.” You entreated Thobin. 

“Lukher’s hiding from you, wasn’t his own thoughts or intentions. They were his mothers. She was so adamant of your abilities and would not hear of anything else, she’s the one that encouraged him to hide himself from you and threatened the Ambassador and the entire envoy with pugging if they told you the truth because she had told all of them and especially Lukher that the moment you would touch the steps of the fortress and would be able to magically sense that he was wounded, you would heal him in front of his whole country and prove to the whole clan that you were worth your price and investment and would repay it a hundred fold and would not hear any words of argument or anything of the contrary. Sunco was not given any opportunity to say anything otherwise because Auralu put herself as an obstacle between Sunco and everyone else here. Irelu’s mother, Rubati, she had told Irelu and her other sons and daughters to disobey the order that she would take the pugging herself because she knew this was wrong.” Thobin revealed.

“So I have Auralu, who is Clan Chieftess and her Clan Chief’s favorite wife to thank for this betrayal. Great.” You groused.  

“Yes.” Thobin answered. 

“Well, that’s just fan-fucking-tastic, so when everyone didn’t see me do such things, they probably all got suspicious and doubtful of me.” You realized. 

“Well, that’s why Clan Chief Wardeen phrased things the way he did after the ceremony. So that the stone’s work would be attributed to you. Which was kind of him to do. Auralu has his cock and balls in a ring I think, at least metaphorically speaking, to the point that he ignored Rubati and Davkee’s advice to come clean about the realities of the situation. And they all regret it and are sorry for it. None more so than Sunco and the rest of the envoy. Apparently Auralu has a history of pugging anyone she finds displeasure in and Wardeen didn’t stop her which for Clan Chief also gives me concern that he would not object to his Clan Chieftess threatening to pug his own children over something as trivial as this gives me pause and dread too. She is two faced but power hungry and corrupt. So you must be on guard against her.” Thobin said. 

“Fuck.” You sighed in defeat as you lost your appetite and put the plate to the side. 

“However, I can tell from the stone on Lukher and according to everyone else’s report that Lukher is nothing like his mother, thank all the gods. He is intimidated by the prospect of being Clan Chief and even the station of Warchief gives him pause. Before all of this, he was happy and content to just be The Griffin Master. He was in charge of the care, husbandry, socialization and training of every griffin here and thanks to him, every griffin is trained with love and care and understanding, like the kind horse masters are, back in Dorierra. He has the capacity for so much care and thoughtfulness and tenderness. Which I have no doubts he will show you. All he needs is to see his mother for what she is and encourage his father to get his manhood out of his wife’s hands and not walk in either of their footsteps.” Thobin concluded. 

“Oh thank the gods.” You practically melted in your spot before you got your appetite back and picked your plate back up to keep eating. 

“You would be wise to befriend Rubati and Davkee, they will be better mother in laws to you than Auralu could be. Although her lessons in intimidation and how to manipulate, could be useful, especially in negotiations with other nations.” Thobin offered. 

“So keep it strictly business with Auralu, keep it personal with the other two, got it.” You nodded in understanding and agreement. 

“Yes, very much so. But do not let Auralu try to manipulate you or intimidate you either or continue to do so to anyone else- her reign of terror should end but she will fight tooth and nail to keep as much power as she can.” Thobin cautioned. 

“Seyda and my other household just told me I am their Vienne, which is very high praise and has been my lifelong goal and I could not be more grateful for such high esteem and faithful loyalty from them, I only hope to earn the same from the new members of my household. And Vienne wasn’t afraid to show her teeth and claws and you and I both know my grandmothers have done their best to arm me with both. I will not fear using them, especially with Auralu, the bitch can bark all she wants, I think she’ll shut up when I bite.” You insisted confidently. 

“Good girl.” Thobin praised with a proud smile. 

“Now, I suggest, let Lukher tell you about his mother’s influence once he awakes, help him to see the error of his mother’s ways and her way of thinking and actions, which shouldn’t be too hard, especially for you. I can tell his heart, mind and soul belong solely to you, make sure you capture them completely so that no other could ever hope to court them away from you, not even his mother.” Thobin advised. 

“Aww, really? You can sense that?” You asked excitedly. 

“Oh yeah, last night I was too angry and upset to sense it, but after sleeping on it and letting my own anger cool and sense and reason return to me, it’s very clear his affection for you is bursting at the seams. He’ll want to, forgive the phrasing, but he wanted to practically fuck your brains out last night, it would be moments after he awakes and realize his health has been partially if not mostly restored before he tries again, so be prepared.” Thobin playfully revealed with a bashful smile and a blush, turning his light blue skin a dark navy blue which made you giggle. 

“Oh and the uh tea, that should help you conceive, I can tell by the smell.” Thobin realized as he sniffed over your food, inspecting it with his eyes and his nose. 

“Gimme gimme.” You reached out and gestured for it which got Thobin to start laughing as he handed you the pot and a teacup to drink it, using a very gentle touch to do so- so he would not smash either one by accident because they were delicate porcilin after all.  

“Thank you.” You thanked him as you poured yourself a cup and drank it, only grimacing slightly from the taste before Thobin handed you some honey. 

“I love it that you can read my mind.” You gleefully giggled as you took it and added a spoonful of honey to the tea. 

“Also you should know that last night I had to put out several fires, Ashurah is of course furious with the entire envoy and especially Irelu for not coming clean and she feels like she has failed you and everyone else as a translator.” Thobin informed you. 

“Has she learned of the threat of the pugging?” You asked. 

“He tried to tell her but she doesn’t believe him.” Thobin answered. 

“Well, once Lukher wakes and we come to an understanding and I’m sure Lukher will push his mother to come clean and confess her guilt and her actions and her threat, they will believe it and may be more willing to forgive, at some point today, probably this late afternoon, early evening which should be morning for Dorierra before tonight’s festivities, I want a conference with Lukher’s family, Sunco and the rest of the envoy and of course the High Councilors because I sincerely doubt the others kept what happened to us yesterday to themselves, all of Dorrierra has probably spent all night, or for them, all day rather, gossiping about it, it probably set all the rumor mills into a wild fire and burned their way through the country by now, which in turn won’t make things any easier on anyone, especially my family. They’ve already had to deal with so much grief over this business, I hate to cause them any more.” You ventured. 

 “Yeah…” Thobin took a deep breath as even he couldn’t keep his face from becoming a little defeated.  

“Oh no, what else?” You asked. 

“Maisarra has completely cut ties with Daon, and has officially answered yes to the Champion of Tahir’s offer to be his Sultana Supreme, because the way your family and the others and everyone in Dorierra saw this was that we were led into a figurative ambush. They all feel betrayed and are on the defensive and none of the others wish to leave their own suite of rooms and are only taking up association with themselves, no one else.” Thobin reported. 

“Shit. I was hoping that Daon would have been able to court her away from that. Because it was only be out of spite for Haydar that she said she had accepted it in the first place at his own expulsion from the country, but I thought Daon was able to pull her back, she was so happy yesterday before this whole sorry business started. Is there anything that can be done?” You asked Thobin who couldn’t hide his scheming grin from you for anything. 

“Well, I may or may not have called a messengerari at the banks where Rezan was turning in your sister’s benar she had cried yesterday after the reveal of the truth of what we all really walked into and I may have encouraged her to keep the letter to her person and encouraged her to make any excuse she could for not getting it to Langashi or any other High Councilor, because they are always in meetings after all aren’t they? Now whether she listened to me or was obedient to her Lady, I don’t know, but I think I was pretty convincing. Plus Daon and Irelu both spent a good portion of last night coming up with a solution, what that solution is, I can’t be sure, they’re still sleeping, but I’ll find out as soon as I leave here.” Thobin grinned smugly. 

“Oh good, thank you, I will call Rezan as soon as I can, in person to repeat your own words of wisdom. Of course, feel free to call her back and tell her that I encouraged you to encourage her to belay delivering Miasarra’s official answer because I wanted Maisarra to meet him face to face to really be sure and didn’t want Maisarra to make any rash decisions when her emotions were peaked and we all know that super strong emotions can cloud clear judgement.” You readily urged him. 

“Of course.” Thobin readily agreed before the stone finally turned a light lavender as you and Thobin both felt it then looked down before you poured yourself another cup of tea and chugged it quickly. 

“Ok, ready?” You asked Thobin as you wiped your mouth clean and put the tea cup aside and got ready. 

“Only if you are.” Thobin answered as he stood up from his chair and took a couple of steps to stand next to the bed. 

“In three…two...one.” Thobin said before he reached down and removed the stone, before turning it off as it turned a light green color and he put it back into its place in it’s special case at his waist as Lukher’s breathing pattern changed as he started to wake up as you leaned over him, your hair falling around him like a curtain of dark brown silk. 

“Good morning My Love.” You cooed happily to him, happy that your face was the last he saw before he fell asleep and the first he saw when he woke up. 

“Good morning.” He smiled, happy and ecstatic he could hear you before reached up and brought you down to kiss you, granted it was upside down but he needed that kiss more than air before you pulled away.

“Hey before that goes any further, while you can hear me, we need to talk but most importantly, you need to listen to my General about what the stones were able to do but also what they were not able to do ok?” You urged him before you sat up straighter before Lukher looked to the side to see Thobin sitting back down in his chair to appear less threatening as Lukher sat up before you scooted closer to hug Lukher’s back and wrap yourself around him and enjoy his warmth and his scent which he was happy to receive and instantly hugged your limbs to himself.  

“Could you make it quick?” Lukher asked hopefully which got Thobin to laugh. 

“Yes, you now have 75% of your hearing in your left ear, but only 55% in your right, your neck was able to fully heal, as was your jaw bone and the muscles are now whole, they’re weaker from lack of use. But your jaw and skull are aligned as is everything else. And any pain you were in should be gone for now. However, due to the nature of your eardrums not fully healing and thus not being able to hear the way they should, the ringing and the pain will eventually creep back into your life. And there is nothing I or these stones can do about that. I’m sorry.” Thobin offered. 

“General, I am most grateful for even this much. Thank you so much.” Lukher thanked him practically in tears that he wasn’t in pain and could move his jaw easily without pain and even though some of his teeth were still missing on the right side, he could still eat a bit on the right side, he felt so much better and could actually hear and talk so much better now.  

“You’re welcome, enjoy your breakfast, do you wish for me to take Arace with me?” Thobin offered with a small smile and nodded over to her as Arace had just finished her breakfast and had stretched out and was ready for her after breakfast nap on her super soft cushion.

“No she can stay, I don’t think she will be in the way.” You offered before you looked to Lukher who nodded in agreement before Thobin nodded and left and the moment the door was shut and you heard Thobin tell all those outside of it to not even approach unless summoned gave you the all clear to enjoy your privacy as you could feel Thobin detach himself mentally from you so that he wasn’t ‘eavesdropping’ on your thoughts, emotions or senses right now. Lukher turned in your hold and practically pinned you to the bed and kissed you like a man starved, both literally and figuratively as your body reacted in accord, your legs wrapping around him tightly, holding him to you possessively as you kissed him back with equal eagerness and hunger. 

“Finally.” Lukher rumbled you relished in what his voice should sound like as he was the first to test this mouth and jaw on your own as he gave you kisses that took your breath away, and his touch was like re-igniting that oh so wonderfully warm erotic fire on your soul as you responded in kind. 

It had been an agonizing three month separation and this felt just as glorious as you had envisioned to feel like as his mouth moved from yours to your neck then to your chest as the tethering necklace was moved out of the way so it wouldn’t be between the two of you as all you needed to do was tug at the tunic and Lukher practically ripped it off of himself as you readily and eagerly took off your robe and your little silk nightgown, since you had not bother to put on any underwear as neither did he, since the head of his cock was already impatiently prodding your entrance because of his own essence and yours was keeping the head from gaining any purchase to gain entrance as it slipped up your center repeatedly as the head of his cock suddenly slipped between the two of you which got you to giggle at his eagerness as you readily reached down and finally found your prize. 

And oh what a prize it was. Large, thick and girthy, strong and glorious and you wanted every millimeter of it as you helped align him and seat it so that the head at least was in your entrance. 

“Ready when you are My Love.” You purred and that was all Lukher needed to hike his hips up and seat himself to the hilt, surprised yet delighted when he was able to do so, only grimacing slightly when you gasped and whimpered at the feeling of your maidenhood breaking and the feeling of being so exquisitely stuffed for the first time was overwhelming you as your cheeks and chest flushed as you clung even tighter to him as you took a few quick and deep breaths to acclimate which Lukher sensed and didn’t move any more. 

“You ok?” He asked as concern began to overtake the lust that had been in his eyes only a moment before. 

“Yeah, just, it always hurts the first time, you’re very well endowed, let me adjust for a moment.” You answered. 

“Take all the time you need, I’m struggling too, it’s hard not to cum yet.” Lukher confessed. 

“After only one stroke?” You laughed breathlessly, in a light teasing tone as you tried to calm your breathing down as your body began to relax

“Are you kidding? One look and you can undo me, one stroke is an achievement for me, it’s my first stroke, I wasn’t prepared either.” Lukher answered which got you both to laugh as he kept your face on his left side and the laughter relaxed you both. 

“You’ve been saving yourself for me all this time?” You asked. 

“If you were going to save yourself for me, it’s only fair, I save myself for you.” He answered with a shrug and a crooked and utterly adorable smile and a shrug of his right shoulder, his grin growing when the motion was now much easier for him to do.  

“And what a wait it’s been,” you sighed rather dreamily as his look turned apologetic before he tried to say something before you silenced him by kissing him, his moustache tickling your upper lip a little.  

“Worth the wait though.” You reassured him before your body relaxed fully as did his. 

“You have no idea.” He whispered before kissing you deeply and trying to touch everything, all at once, marveling at your silky soft and perfectly unblemished skin against his own. He was so happy he could hear every gasp, sigh, moan and keen of pleasured bliss as well as feel them too and the pure desire and lust burning in your eyes, proving that you honestly desired him and wanted him and loved him and adored him and cared for him. And that was so much more than he felt he deserved. Especially from such an ethereal woman like you as he worshipped your body with his and from the sheer friction of his hips rolling ever so deliciously into yours as you found your release only a moment before Lukher was able to withhold his own orgasm from you which was especially difficult for him because fighting back his own orgasm while giving every pleasure he could was infinitely harder than fighting any foe. 

But his own pride and honor forbade him from reaching his release before you did and his father thankfully had given him plenty of advice from his own experience with his three wives which for the last three months, had been rather embarrassing to listen to. But now? He was grateful for it because he had to use it and his father had been right. Sex and it’s movements and actions and reactions would come naturally to him, especially if his partner was mentally with him in the moment, emotionally ready to receive such pleasure and was genuinely returning it and the physical part would come really naturally if the first three factors were already present, which was true. 

For Lukher it was like the whole world fell away and shrunk down to only you. His senses were hyper focused on you, every blink, every breath, every sound, every movement, every action and reaction as his instincts told his body how to move, but his heart and mind were completely saturated with you. 

Meanwhile, any preparations and “education” for sex was paling in comparison to the real thing. This was so much better than any love scene in any romance novel you had read. You weren’t prepared for how intense this was, not just physically, but emotionally and psychologically too, it wasn’t just a physical act, it had real meaning. You weren’t prepared for how his personal scent would be all the aphrodisiac you needed to get your body ready to receive him, how his eyes held even more love and devotion and tenderness while also holding intense desire too. His taste was addictive, his mouth on you was like he was sucking your soul out of wherever he would place it- be it your own, or on your jaw, your ear lobes, your neck, your chest or even your breasts and everything in between. Your soul was burning with lust and desire and your own body didn’t need to be told what to do, or how to act or react. It moved by instinct, no thought needed and it was very clear from his actions and reactions to you, that he was trying to give you- your pleasure first, not chase his own, but pursuing yours, not necessarily aggressively but beckoning it to come from you which your body was all too willing to answer such a call as you felt the pleasure grow then completely overwhelm you and your senses. 

He often just made a questioning hum if whatever he was doing, if that was feeling good, and your answering keens or your own hands fisting in his hair or cupping his handsome face or even stroking down his body and your fingertips digging into the muscle that remained on his frame, while your legs wrapped around his waist like a vice, your heels locked behind him so that he could not escape you even if he tried while still allowing his hips to rock and stroke into yours and it was all the answer he needed to continue. 

For such a wonderful and blissful act as this, no words were needed because the thoughts and emotions and intent was definitely being communicated by every other means. It superseded any other and every other language. And was one that you only wanted to “speak” with Lukher and Lukher alone for the rest of your life. No wonder Wardeen’s wives bickered, if Wardeen was anything like Lukher in this respect, you would never, ever want to share him with anyone else either and you were now ever so grateful that Lukher had put the choice to ever extend the invitation of any more occupants of this marriage bed was entirely up to you and it was an invitation you were going to fight tooth and nail to never give out as long as you drew breath. 

And just as your body was starting to relax from riding out your own release did Lukher’s body tense as he emptied himself into you as you felt his manhood throb and then warmth from his seed flooded and then overflowed your womb and from the size of this particular load, it felt like he had been holding it back his whole life because with every throb- more and more and more came gushing out and if just his member was filling you before, you were absolutely stuffed now and you were sure that if your womb was connected to anything else, his seed would be oozing out of every other orifice you had right about now because you were at your absolute limits as you could feel the overabundance of seed break the seal between his flesh and yours before he all but collapsed over you but he did his best not to smother you but still covered your body with his ever so possessively.

However, because he had lost weight, you didn’t feel smothered or squished at all, if anything, his weight grounded you in the moment and helped you feel more connected on more than just a physical sense but a mental, emotional and psychological sense as well as you pulled him tighter to you so that you could rest and recover together and after that, then he completely relaxed and let his weight rest over you which brought a soft, and fond smile to his face as well as to yours as he continued to catch his breath from his exertions as you gently stroked your hands over the hills and valleys of muscle and bone in his back before your fingernails began to gently scratch which only earned you another pleasure moaned as he wrapped his arms around you, pillowing his hands and arms between your back and the mattress to hold you even tighter as he nuzzled his face next to yours. 

“Your beard tickles.” You giggled when the hair had tickled your skin and you squirmed slightly at the ticklish sensation on your oversensitive flesh. 

“I can shave it.” He offered. 

“Only if you want to. You don’t have to change anything you like about yourself just to suit my tastes.” You readily answered. 

“Mmm. Likewise.” He readily answered you. 

“Actually I grew the beard to cover the wounds, now that they’re healed, I don’t feel I need one, unless you just like the look of my beard.” Lukher offered. 

“Lukher it’s your hair and your body, you do- to it as you wish. I will love you and think you’re handsome even if you had no hair.” You reassured him as your fingers combed through his luscious locks. Such thick and naturally curly hair, coiled beautifully, naturally wrapping around your fingers, as if custom curled to do so. 

“Then it’s settled, the beard is coming off, come on, bathe with me.” Lukher insisted. 

“But what about breakfast?” You asked as you pointed to it. 

“It can’t be that hot by now, and it’s not gonna getting any warmer, and it can get reheated or remade, come on.” He urged as he got off of you and helped pull you to your feet and led you back to the bathroom before he started the bath as you were impressed at the fact that all he had to do was twist a knob and hot water instantly started pouring out of the spout as he put a plug in the drain in the tub to keep the water in it. 

“Pick any bath oils you like.” He invited you as he gestured to where a gigantic tray of them were as he went through your bathroom cabinet and found a pair of scissors and began to cut off hunks of his beard by the handful and throwing the hair away in the little trash can in there as the bathtub filled with hot water as you went through the very wide variety of bath oils as you settled on the first that struck your fancy before you poured some of that into the water before you felt the temperature of the water before you turned on the other faucet on to at least temper the very hot water so it wouldn’t burn or scald either of you before you looked back at him in the large mirrors and couldn’t help but laugh, his beard, now all hacked almost haphazardly as he tried to shear as much of it off as he could with just the scissors. 

“You would like some help?” You offered. 

“Nah, I got it, all I need is some soap and a razor which should be in one of these drawers and it’ll all be off in a flash.” He reassured you before you decided to help him go through the many drawers which were nicely organized, a little stuffed full of goods, but you managed find what you needed among the different items as Lukher finished hacking off as much of his moustache and beard that he needed before the tub was full and you turned the water off before you had him sit down on the seat in front of a vanity that was in there as you happily sat in his lap to help shave his face cleanly as Lukher was happy to simply hold you and let you do as you wished to his face as you used the frothed up soap on what bit of hair remained and were happy when the blade itself was so sharp it layed all the hair off the moment it touched his skin. 

“You have a lot of experience shaving men?” He asked you in a rather teasing tone. 

“No, just a lot of experience shaving myself, in the Sultanate Quarter, when women are summoned to serve their Sultan in bed, it is expected to have no hair anywhere on their body except their head, their eyelashes and their eyebrows, all hair everywhere else is supposed to be shaved clean so that all skin everywhere else is as smooth as possible.” You answered as you focused on his neck. 

“Like an infant?” Lukher asked with a frown. 

“Basically, yes.” You confirmed. 

“Isn’t that... irritating though? Especially in your sex?” He asked. 

“Oh yes, especially when the hair tries to grow back and it feels like I’ve become a cactus all over and then purely for my own comfort and to keep from feeling that way, I was compelled to reshave everything just to enjoy the feeling of smooth, soft skin just on myself.” You hummed a soft laugh.  

“That’s why I’m grateful the Aki-Aya clan doesn’t believe in such practices, your aunt explained to me that it is only when all the adult hair comes in- in full, that that is the sign that it is appropriate for sexual relations to begin, because if the other individual is not mature enough in body to have grown adult hair fully, that that was also an indicator that the individual’s mind and maturity were not ready for sexual relations either, which I think is wonderful and a good rule of thumb to go by. And so for the last few months, I was encouraged to let the hair at least on my sex to grow back in full, otherwise you would not have relations with me based on that understanding, that you would think I was much younger than I am and that I wasn’t old enough or mature enough to have relations with you. So now it’s one less thing I have to worry about and now I’ve been spoiled getting used to it.” You smiled happily. 

“Well all you need to do is tell me how I can spoil you more and I’ll do all that I can to accommodate you.” Lukher offered. 

“Well you can start by talking to me, like really communicating with me. I wanted to talk to you so much on the way here, I wanted to show you my progress in learning nadasi and get to know you better instead of only talking through Daon and Huda and Sunco. If you had just told me what was going on, I would have been honest about everything and there wouldn’t have been such a big misunderstanding or false hopes or unrealistic expectations or disappointment or embarrassment for either of us especially when your entire clan was watching both of us so closely and expecting to see a miracle I had no way of giving or providing. Were you really that scared of my rejection? Or was there someone else pushing you to keep me at a distance?” You asked as you looked from shaving his jaw up into his eyes, your own look of sadness and concern in them especially palpable. 

“Honestly it was my mother, she was so convinced that you had powers and abilities and she was adamant that I needed to learn how to run the clan from my father as quickly as I could since my father had been teaching my half brother Kingu that- since he was a young boy and in both of their eyes, I had a lot of catching up to do.” Lukher answered. 

“And so because you believed her assumption, you never thought to do your own research and find out for yourself? To at least reach out to Sunco to double check? Sunco and the entire envoy saw with their own eyes that no one in my family had a collar or any healing abilities. We had sparring lessons, and got cuts and bruises and didn’t heal ourselves or each other, they saw how we could not transform or fly or anything like that. We didn’t even own pegasus’. Sunco told me she would be as truthful with me as I was with her and I was. But the closer we got to Yekmeni, the more anxious she became. Like she was afraid of coming home instead of being relieved that her home and her family were so close. Did your mother have something to do with that too?” You asked him. 

“Yes,” Lukher sighed in defeat as his shoulders sagged. 

“Did your mother threaten Sunco that if she didn’t deliver what your mother wanted, that she would be punished?” You asked, trying to seem rather casual in your probing but still clear and to the point. 

“Yes, my mother threatened to pug them, that’s when…” Lukher began as you gasped and purposefully opened your eyes wide in horror. 

“Oh no! Lukher, I’ve grown up side by side with orcs, I know exactly what a pugging is and I know exactly what kind of weight that carries and how vicious that can be. Why didn’t your mother let Sunco tell her, much less your father or anyone else the truth? Why did she put your own aunt, your own cousins and half siblings into a situation that was impossible to win and that was guaranteed to lose? Does your mother hate your aunt and your half siblings so greatly that she would pug them, just because she refused to be told a truth she didn’t want to hear and would have refused to listen to? Why didn’t your father stop her? Does he not love his own children by Rubati and Davkee just as much as he loves you and all of your mother’s other children?” You asked him, a concerned and worried frown deep onto your features which broke Lukher’s heart to see as he felt lik he was finally seeing the truth for the first time as he felt angry and betrayed by his own mother too as he realized you were absolutely right, about everything. His mother was wrong to even try to do such a thing.  And she purposefully lied to him and led him astray as he started to see his mother for what she was. 

“I don’t have good answers to those questions.” He answered. 

“Any answer that is the truth will always be good enough for me. I would rather be hurt by the truth than be led astray by a lie just because the lie tickled my ears better.” You leveled with him and could see that he agreed with you. 

“And that’s why you have earned all respect and honor. There has always been private contention between my mother and Rubati. Granted myself and all my half siblings, we all love each other and get along, even if our mothers do not. But my mother…she has not wielded her power over them or the clan in the best ways in the past and obviously, the present. She has always wanted to win, no matter the cost. I just had no idea that that cost would be your respect and trust, which is price much too high for her, let alone myself to pay.” Lukher confessed. 

“Is that what you fear I will be like? Like her?” You asked him. 

“No, I look in your eyes and I see no such cruelty or spite. I see you, I see your love and your honor and your courage and your loyalty, to the point that you were ready to abandon your home and your family- just to embrace me because you looked into my eyes and saw my soul just as much as I can see yours and you took such a great leap of faith and I will do all I can to catch you and never let you fall. I am not worthy of the wonder that you are.” Lukher confessed as he looked deeply into your eyes and held your face reverently in his hands, marveling at the sheer beauty in them.  

“So why didn’t your father stop her from threatening his own children, his own sister and his own nieces and nephews?” You asked him. 

“Because she did it behind his back and he only had a small window of time to overturn her and by the time he found out, it was too late and my mother blocked him and myself from everyone else and he and I are both very angry and upset with her for doing that. She is a very jealous woman and I honestly fear what she may try to do to you when she finds out that you have a power and hold over me stronger than she’s ever had or ever will again.” Lukher confessed. 

“So she rules your family with an iron fist so to speak, and I need to be careful around her, if she had the whole clan convinced of my abilities, once they learned the truth that I had none, would she have had the whole clan turn on me too?” You asked as Lukher realized that that had been his mother’s point. She didn’t need to lift a finger if you did not live up to her own expectations, the whole clan would reject you if you didn’t. She had turned the clan against you before you ever had a chance to win them. She was sabatoging everything and everyone. 

“I would never let that happen, but sadly, yes, please be careful around her, but I will protect you from all harm, even if it is from her, especially if it’s from her, no other would dare come against you.” Lukher advised you. 

“When can she step down? From being Clan Chieftess? When can her reign of terror come to an end?” You asked. 

“Once we have at least one son,” Lukher answered. 

“So, a couple of years then at least.” You realized as you just shook your head softly as you focused on your task at hand to finish shaving his face cleanly.

“Living in fear is no way to live Lukher, it’s only a way to survive. I need you to teach me how to communicate with you best, especially with this sign language, since I don’t know how long it will be before you can no longer hear my voice. I need you to teach me how to not be like her too. And how to reassure your family and the clan that I will not be like her and that they have nothing to fear from me. I want your clan to not just survive but thrive and become stronger than it’s ever been before, and for each and every single person in the clan to know peace and prosperity and when they see me, to not be afraid but be happy to see me, and look to me as a friend and an ally who knows them and will fight for them and never against them and to not be the bully your mother is.” You requested. 

“You’re already doing it though. Especially once everyone sees me without this beard and sees how I have healed, they don’t need to know exactly how, all they will see is that I went to bed with you broken and incomplete, and came out of bed healed and whole again. That will be more than enough. No one else needs to know the details, they just need to believe their own eyes and ears.” He insisted. 

“But your mother also put a wedge between everyone and divided us all and everyone needs to learn about what you’ve just told me, everyone deserves to know the truth and needs to know where to put the blame. Sunco is not to blame for any of this. She was put into an impossible situation and was put under a threat that no one could have saved her and her family from. Family should stick together in unity. Not fear for their lives from within itself.” You insisted. 

“I agree completely, I will do all I can to help bring the truth out, everyone is owed an explanation and an apology.” Lukher nodded in agreement as you could see he was determined to do so. 

“Especially from your mother.” You insisted. 

“Yes, especially from her. I’m so sorry I let her put a wedge between us, I want it removed and I never want anything to come between us ever again.” Lukher insisted. 

“I only want that too. Please, from now on, don’t hide what you’re thinking or feeling from me. How can I help you if I don’t know what’s wrong? How can we fix problems together if we don’t both understand what they are and where they are? I didn’t come to put a wedge between you and your family but I will always do everything I can to be faithful to you, to be honest and forthcoming with you in all things, even if I have to reveal the ugly truth in others and especially myself to do it.” You vowed just as you finished and wiped the rest of the soap from his face to make sure you didn’t miss a spot and smiled when he was even handsomer without the beard. 

“But there is no ugliness in you, you are beautiful from the inside out.” Lukher insisted. 

“You don’t know all of me yet.” You gave him an apologetic smile before you appraised him again as the smile turned much more fond when you realized what an exquisitely good looking man you married. 

“Well then so far, what I have seen and what I have heard,  I can see no fault in it. But I will do my best to get to know you as well as I can and I openly invite you to do the same to me.” Lukher offered. 

“Deal, I will be honest, you look even more handsome without the beard, even as mighty and impressive as it was.” You readily praised which got him to turn bashful. 

“Nothing compared to your own beauty I’m sure.” Lukher cooed. 

“Every person has beauty, some more on the outside than the inside and vice versa and I try to simply keep a balance between the two. I can only work with what I have and what I’m given. There is a saying that ‘strength and charm may be false and prettiness may be vain and fleeting, but it is who the gods see on the inside that counts’ and I would like to add, it’s what your mate finds on the inside too that counts and I want you to be just as happy with who and what I am as a person as you are with my face and my looks, if not more so- because the day will come when my looks will fade, as will yours, even as exquisite as it is, but hopefully our love never will. If anything I want it to grow to dwarf even what we feel right now.” You insisted and the words had barely left your mouth before Lukher pulled your face to his and kissed you deeply and passionately again before he picked you up with much more ease than he was able to do the day before and got you both into the tub before you maneuvered him to lay back. 

“You got to ride me already, now I get to ride you.” You salaciously insisted as you seated yourself onto him, the still hot water relaxing you and your body as you now welcomed the sensation of him filling you so perfectly before your body and instincts took control once again as your senses were ignoring everything outside of Lukher and all that mattered was giving back all the pleasure he was giving to you as you really relished the feeling of his smooth face against yours and his beard and mustache no longer tickling you as his hands eagerly explored your body once again, his touch conveying his desire and his devotion and care as you were grateful this bathtub was more than big enough for both of you. It was wide enough that your knees could plant themselves on either side of his lower waist while your hips rolled and grinded onto him before he reached down and gently started to stroke your sensitive nub, the way you had been doing so for yourself as soon as you became sexually hungry. 

“Mmm, just a little firmer.” You pleaded as your hands were on the crux of his neck and shoulders for balance as you ground down onto him and his touch while he was using his heels on the bottom of the tub to drive up into you, meeting each thrust and working your body and watching and reacting to how your body reacted to him before you reached back and put your hands behind you, on his lower thighs so that it would give his hand more room to work your clit better than you had ever done so yourself as Lukher was absolutely mesmerized by how your lower belly bulged ever so slightly from his cock spearing your core which only sparked his imagination of how your body would look, heavy with child and he wanted to instantly cum to make that a reality as quickly as possible. But he also knew you weren’t at orgasm yet and so he held off, focusing on his movements, rubbing your clit to the best of his ability, trying to find the right pressure, speed and movement before he did and your whole body tensed as you gasped. 

“Right there, right there, right there, you got it, don’t stop, don’t stop, don’t stop!” You pleaded, saying the first half of that sentence in marinai before forcing yourself to switch back to nadasi but Lukher grinned victoriously to see you revert back to your mother tongue when he did manage to find the right touch, which was, granted, just a little different than what he thought it would be. 

It was harder in touch than he had prepared himself for but slower than he thought it would be too but the tight circles because you were smaller than him and therefore your pussy was proportionately smaller too, but somehow able to take him. Which he thought was absolutely a wonder before your orgasm finally snapped and flooded your body again as you leaned farther back and let out the most glorious keening cry of pleasured bliss as Lukher watched in awe as he could practically see his cock pump his seed into you as your womb expanded once again which was even more mesmerizing and a primal part of Lukher wanted every drop of his seed to take root, over and over again before he pulled you back to kiss you once more and hold you in his arms as you both seemed to bask in the afterglow together. 

Sunco had repeated to him that moura women were practically built to suit just about anyone and anything from the smaller species like gnome and goblin to anyone thier own size and up to anything like a minotaur, “normal” orcs up to goliaths. And only their own native orcs and larger, were too large for them. She told him that she was assured and reassured that mouras were supposed to be naturally gifted with very “stretchy” canals and very large and very strong and stout and super sturdy wombs that could safely carry any species of child from anywhere from 6 to 14 months depending on what the species of baby needed and a moura mother’s body always seemed to instinctively know and give whatever was needed and even had extra muscles and bones to help expand the pelvis and support the canal to stretch as large as it needed to deliver any baby of any size- within reason that is. 

Since mouras were originally shapeshifters, that meant that their genetics were incredibly elastic and could easily take to any other with the same body alignment and structure of head, shoulders, arms, torso, pelvis, legs, feet in that order. Over the years, mouras had been practically “engineered” to be successful birthing machines. And a name both affectionate, yet derogatory depending on who was using it- was ‘walking uterus’.

But Lukher would be damned if such a term were used for you. You were so much more than just an organ. You were amazing, you were wonderful. You were kind and understanding and sympathetic even when you had no good reason to be. 

Once you both recovered, you happily and carefully washed and cleaned each other before both of you got out of the water as Lukher let the tub drain as he put special robes around both fo you, the material that of a soft bath towel to help dry you off that much faster before you went back to the spread of food that was on the table next to the bed, finding contentment to eat lukewarm food if it meant that your privacy was not invaded as you happily sat across Lukher’s lap as he told you about the other dishes you weren’t familiar with as you told him about the other half of the foods there, explaining that this was customary for your own breakfast as you both sampled each other cuisines and both of you found that you liked each other’s food and were happy that some of the dishes were in fact quite similar.

Different flavor profiles because of the different spices used but the main components besides the spices were essentially the same, meat of some kind, prepared and spiced in a variety of ways, eggs, potatoes or other root vegetables, onion, garlic and spices and of course the variety of breads and cakes as well, even sweet confections which were quite good and the wide variety of fruits too as Lukher was especially happy when all the foreign fruits he got to try came from trees and bushes and you brought to add to the fortress’ gardens so he could continue to enjoy them for the rest of his life and especially happy when his favorites had already been planted in your gardens. 

You had barely had your physical appetites sated before Lukher used his advantage of having you in his lap to feast upon you once more, his sexual appetite for you nearly insatiable before there was a knock on the door. 

“Who’s there?” You asked as you and Lukher hastily hid your naked bodies under the covers to conceal your immodesty. 

“It’s just me My Lady, I have lunch if you’re hungry for it.” Seyda answered before you looked back to Lukher who nodded yes to your questioning look. 

“Yes please Sayda.” You answered before she came in, with the same staff as this morning as they quickly kept their gazes down but even they couldn’t hide their blushing cheeks and scheming smiles as they quickly replaced what was left of breakfast before seeing themselves out as quickly as they could. 

“Now, this time, let’s have a hot meal.” You insisted to Lukher once the door was shut and locked once more before Lukher and yourself got some lunch as you took up your now comfortable place across his lap once more, happy that Lukher got to show off his own cuisine as you got to do the same as once again you both got to explore and experience each other’s cuisine and liking it before chatting the afternoon away, completely forgetting the outside world existed for a few glorious hours before came the inevitable, an interruption that preparations needed to become underway for that evening’s festivities. 

“Do you have to leave me to get ready?” You asked Lukher sadly. 

“No, my room is actually on the other side of that door there all I will need from you is to know what color you want to wear so I can match.” Lukher answered. 

“Oh, good.” You beamed before you both got “dressed” in robes to receive your other attendants before Lukher introduced members of his own ‘household’ who were ecstatic that he had healed and could hear them much easier so that they didn’t have to rely on sign language to talk to him as Lukher walked with you into your closet that wasn’t really a closet at all, all along one of the walls were drawers full of undergarments of all kinds as the other three walls were lined garment racks with complete outfits on hangers, hanging stately on them and even more rows of clothes all on more garment racks on wheels through the room as you were once again delightfully overwhelmed with the sheer magnitude of what to pick as your other wedding suits were still on their original hangers and on their same rolling garment racks as you recognized that they had simply been wheeled into the room from last night as you picked out your second choice that had been one of your original three to choose from the day before.