Glimpses--Xena's Scroll
“Are you all right?”
“Ah, yeah, just a little stiff,” I answered, as I stood up. In reality I was confused, and frightened, and hungry, and lost,…and stiff.
I stood in the corner of the large room and looked around at the surroundings. I had no idea where we were, or how we had gotten there. In fact, I couldn’t remember anything that had happened more than ten minutes ago.
There was one thing I did remember for sure, and that was the beautiful blonde girl I had been sitting next to just a moment ago. I knew her name was Gabrielle, and although I couldn’t remember any details of our pasts, I was well aware she was someone I loved very much.
But where did I meet her? How long had I known her? What was the extent of my love for her? Did she love me back?
I saw that she was staring at me, and I felt captivated by her gaze. She was studying me, a slight smile on her lips. There was a questioning look on her face that I couldn’t quite figure out.
There were other people too, that I vaguely knew. Two men and a woman. The woman was named Amarice, but I’m not sure if I know that from my past, or if I had heard someone else say her name. The men were Joxer and Eli. I’m pretty sure I knew those names on my own.
Amarice seemed to go out of her way to be nice to me. She brought me a blanket and wrapped it around my shoulders. Then she brought me some sort of broken metallic object. She acted like I should know what it was. I looked at it, then the young brunette who seemed so eager to please me. I couldn’t sense much of a relationship with her, but at the same time, I seemed to feel she was a friend.
But Gabrielle…there had to be more to our relationship than just friendship. Somehow, I knew that.
She was still looking at me, obviously sore and exhausted, but none-the-less, enchantingly beautiful. “We’ll be together…” she whispered gently to me.
“Always,” I automatically answered. I didn’t even have to think about it. She continued to smile, looking pleased with that.
Joxer said something about going to get food, as well as finding a market for us to do some shopping for supplies. Gabrielle and I needed clothes too, for we seemed to be wearing some sort of gray shapeless cloth, that did little to protect us from the elements. I don’t know where it came from.
Joxer discreetly pulled Amarice away with him. That left Gabrielle and I alone. Too confused and full of questions to know where to begin, I instead looked at the object Amarice had given me. It was silver, and if pieced together, made a very heavy and well polished beautiful circle. Somehow, it felt comfortable in my hand although I had never seen it before. “I don’t know how we’re going to fix that, Xena,” Gabrielle said. “We can’t just take it to a blacksmith.”
She was referring to the object I was holding. I couldn’t stand it anymore. “What is it?” I asked Gabrielle.
Gabrielle just stared at me for long seconds, like I was crazy or something. Finally, she said, “You’re kidding me.” She painstakingly got up from the stone slab and approached me. “Xena…it’s your chakram. Don’t you remember it?”
“Should I?” I responded before I could stop myself.
She was staring at me again. I suddenly felt the need to tell her. “I’m a bit hazy on everything right now.” I could see she was feeling nearly as miserable as I did, though probably for different reasons. “Let’s just try and get warm right now,” I said, trying to change the subject.
We didn’t get the chance to talk alone for a while after that. Eli had found the nearest village, so we walked the short distance so we could buy the appropriate supplies.
Once we were at the market, everyone went his or her separate way to buy what they needed. Joxer was the only one with any dinars, and thankfully, he had enough to take care of all our purchases.
I found myself in one clothing store after another, trying to find something that appealed to me. Nothing was working. When I had hit the last store at the end of the street, I finally gave up and just started grabbing clothes off the rack.
I turned to the merchant, an old woman who seemed much amused by my actions. “Is there someplace I can put these on?”
“No, sorry,” she replied.
“No problem.” I slipped out of the ugly drab garment I was wearing and put on a red outfit that I thought was just as ugly, but would be a lot more practical. The lady looked around nervously as I was dressing.
“What are you gonna do if someone walks in here?” she asked.
I shrugged. “Move out of their way, I guess.”
I had to wait for Joxer and the money to arrive, so I found a few items to go along with the outfit. By the time Joxer was there, I was more than ready to go.
He paid the woman, after looking at my choice of clothes kind of funny. Just outside, Gabrielle and Amarice were looking at a weapon’s booth. Gabrielle approached me. “What do you think?” she asked.
For a second, I thought she meant her clothing. She had on the most incredible skirt and halter top, all made of leather. My height was perfect to look down at the cleavage she was displaying. I felt a surge of heat flash through my lower extremities as I stared at her creamy flesh. Then I realized she was holding something out for my approval. I cleared my head of any thoughts of how dazzling she was, and looked at what she was holding.
I didn’t even recognize what they were. “If that’s what you want, then you’d better ask Joxer. He’s the only one with any money.” I could tell by the way she was holding the sharp-looking items that they were weapons of some kind. “I’m kinds of surprised though.” Didn’t someone say she was a bard? “Don’t you need some scrolls or something?”
I heard the incredulous tone in Amarice’s voice. “They’re not for her…they’re for you.”
I looked at her puzzled. “Me? Why?” She might as well have been handing me a sword.
I felt as I learned a lot in that afternoon. Individually and collectively, my friends (and yes, they were my friends), told me I was a warrior with a bloody, violent past. I had killed countless people in my past, and was the most feared warlord in the world for quite some time. It sounded insane and ridiculous, yet when Gabrielle looked into my eyes and told me about some of the things I had done, I couldn’t doubt her. I couldn’t remember it, but I couldn’t doubt it either.
“I know this is upsetting,” Gabrielle told me. We were sitting on a fallen log, in the forest, not far from the village. Eli, Joxer and Amarice had left us a while ago. Eli had taken my hand and explained that Gabrielle was really the only one who could fully tell me about who I was. He had leaned over and whispered to me, “I know you can’t remember any of the hate. Do you remember any of the love?”
I thought hard. “I think so,” I answered.
“Gabrielle loves you more than anyone,” he whispered. “If you remember nothing else, make sure you remember that.”
I gave him a weak smile. “Okay,” I answered.
Gabrielle was smiling warmly at me now. She held out her hand and led me to this secluded place.
I listened to all she told me, incredible as it seemed. I had been filled with such bitterness, hatred, and anger. And lust…lust for all kinds of power, over individuals and entire nations.
“So why could I have such wonderful friends?” I asked her. “Eli and Joxer and Amarice, and most of all, you. Why would you have anything to do with me?’
I loved the way her eyes would sparkle when she smiled at me. It made me feel so comfortable and…other things.
“It’s the best part of the story,” she told me. “What I’ve been telling you about is the past…before you met Hercules…and before you met me…”
The story became more and more remarkable. Somehow, just seeing the glow in her eyes as Gabrielle told me the rest of my life history made me smile too. The stories of my doing good sounded so much better to me. I liked that idea very much and could easily see myself living like that, if it weren’t for all the fighting.
She stopped talking after a while, and sized me up. “Does absolutely any of this sound remotely familiar to you?” she asked me.
“Not really,” I had to admit. “Every once in a while, a flicker will start to form, but it never grows solid.”
She nodded. Then she narrowed her eyes, and I saw her leaning her head toward mine. It felt natural for me to close my eyes and press my lips to hers.
The kiss was excruciatingly tender, and I felt a lump in my throat and a void in my groin when she pulled her head back. I opened my eyes and looked at her.
“You’re smiling,” she said. “That’s a good sign.”
“That was a good kiss,” I answered.
Her smile never faltered. “Does it help you remember?”
I considered this, and I know my smile widened into a grin. “Maybe,” I lied. “why don’t we try it again?”
Once again, her expression changed to mirror my own. I felt my heart flutter when she did me one better by adding a nose wrinkle. “Well, okay,” she pretended to sigh, and she was leaning toward me again.
This time, I pulled her head to me, so our lips could touch more firmly. I heard her make a little noise in the back of her throat when I opened my mouth against hers. Once again, it seemed to be the thing to do.
Her fingers had come up and just began to weave their way through hair on the back of my neck, when I heard the sound of approaching figures. We separated, just in time.
“We’ll continue this later,” I heard Gabrielle whisper, and I gave her a nod, as the trio approached us again. It was time to figure out where we should be headed.
We didn’t get far, and the rest of the day was a puzzling mess. After Amarice was endangered, I gave myself up to some tall guy named Kal to prevent Amarice from being killed. I don’t even know why he wanted me, I just knew I had to keep Amarice alive. While at his fortress, another even taller, incredibly handsome man showed up to serve as a distraction. I realized they were both gods as they fought each other, which increased my confusion. Why would gods be after me? What could I possibly offer them, when I couldn’t remember ever seeing them before? Thanks to the appearance of the second god, I was able to make my escape, and soon found my way back to Gabrielle and the others.
Amarice was feeling very guilty for putting me in the situation of being held hostage, and fawned over me that night, not leaving Gabrielle and I alone for a minute. We were both exhausted anyway, so we were all sound asleep soon after we had made camp out in the woods. Early the next morning, we went to the house of Caleb, Eli’s friend. Eli wanted to consult with his friend and do some intense studying in Caleb’s scrolls once we reached there, and although Caleb was no where to be found, Eli urged us to relax and enjoy the comforts of the house while he did some research.
Amarice wanted to talk with Gabrielle about something or other, and I was still feeling sore and dirty, so I went to take a bath while I waited.
I couldn’t even get a moment alone in the tub. First, Joxer walked into the bath. He hemhawed around, seemingly embarrassed although I’m sure he couldn’t see anything, but it didn’t take a genius to figure out what he was wanting. I could tell almost from the beginning that he had romantic feelings for Gabrielle. But how could I blame him for that?
But now, he was obviously wanting to ask me for love advice with Gabrielle. That told me if Gabrielle and I were as involved as I suspected we were, we were fairly private about it.
Finally, he did come right out and ask me, and I answered him as best as I could, telling him to make his love for Gabrielle unconditional. That’s what I would do. After a little encouragement, he seemed to accept that, and left me alone. It was then that I gave the clenching piece of advice. It had worked for me yesterday. “Or you could just kiss the girl” I mused aloud, and it brought a smile to my face. That was something I planned to do a lot more of.
My thoughts were interrupted by a sudden cold draft. Looking up, I saw the curtain that served as a door blowing aside, and a man standing just beyond it. “Interesting offer,” he purred, and as I saw him better, I realized he was the one who had distracted Kal yesterday, allowing me to escape.
I studied him for a moment. Now that I could look at him plainly, I realized that he looked very familiar to me. And for more than one reason, I suddenly suspected. I hadn’t noticed that yesterday.
The most telling sign was the fact that I felt a tightening between my legs that until now, I had only felt with Gabrielle. It wasn’t accompanied by a tug at my heart, as it was around her, but it was still a very physical response. As the man slowly approached me, I grew even more intrigued.
I don’t know how it happened, but I let him wash my hair. His fingers on my head felt wonderful, and I found myself arching into his massaging fingers. The whole time, his smooth voice was murmuring in my ear, telling me things that didn’t make a lot of sense to me. Things like a past he said we shared together. Unlike with Gabrielle, whom I felt a past kinship with, I didn’t feel it with this man. Yet, at the same time, I felt extremely comfortable, and yes, aroused, when he was with me, especially when he was touching me like this.
At one point, I stood and faced him. He stared at my naked chest with an open-mouthed stare. It was obvious he had never seen me this close up before, which explained why I didn’t feel as tied to him as I did with Gabrielle. Still, I know my hardened nipples were telling him I liked the feeling of his hands and his eyes on me.
He kept talking, and I found myself being entranced by his sensuous lips and deep brown eyes. I was beginning to lose concentration, wondering if he would kiss me with his eyes open or closed.
I decided I wanted to find out, so I leaned in toward him. He was slowly moving to meet me, and our lips had almost touched, when I heard Gabrielle say my name from behind us. I turned to see what she wanted, and found her glaring angrily at the man.
“Ares…” Well, at least now I knew who he was.
I was utterly confused at the animosity Gabrielle was showing Ares. I could read nothing but anger and hatred in her eyes. Didn’t she know that he was the one who saved me from that other man yesterday? I didn’t begin to understand until I caught her eyes taking in my naked body.
Maybe…just maybe…Gabrielle was feeling a little jealous.
She and Ares exchanged a few more words, and then Ares disappeared in a flash of light. I looked back at Gabrielle, desperately trying to figure out what had brought on this outburst.
Her face was still flushed with anger, as she took a couple steps forward. Instinctively, I stepped backward, but I felt the tub against the back of my knees. I stopped retreating, and as I saw her hand come up, I cringed, and one of my own hands automatically came up to shield my face.
“What are you doing?” I could hear the horror in Gabrielle’s voice, as she froze.
“I…I uh…” I stared at my own hand, as if I had never seen it before.
Gabrielle’s hand dropped like a stone. “You thought I was going to hit you!” she exclaimed. I just stared back at her, somehow feeling guilty.
“Oh gods, Xena! I would never strike you!” I stared in amazement as the irritation left her eyes and was replaced by something that made me feel even more uncomfortable. She looked…shocked and hurt that I would even think such a thing.
“I know,” I said, closing the distance between us rapidly. “I wasn’t thinking. I guess Ares being here got me tense.”
Gabrielle’s eyes were on my nipples, just as Ares had been. I glanced down at them, wondering briefly if they had a “Look at me” sign posted on them or something, the way they seemed to be garnering attention.
“What’s the matter?” I asked her.
I saw her swallow hard as her eyes met mine again. “Xena, if I hadn’t walked in when I did, what would you have done with Ares?”
So she WAS jealous. I found myself forgetting all about Ares’ effect on me, now that she was in the same room as me. I couldn’t help but wince slightly, as I answered, “I don’t really know.”
“”I do,” she answered, crossing her arms over her chest. “Your nipples are hard enough to poke an eye out, and I could smell your juices the moment I walked in. You were not only going to kiss him, but you were going to have sex with him, weren’t you?”
What was she talking about? I was feeling so abandoned at that moment, I wanted to take off running. I didn’t answer her. Feeling too hurt and empty, instead, I turned to walk away.
“Where are you going?” I didn’t answer, and was almost to the other door. “Xena?”
Something in her tone made me turn back. I think I should have been embarrassed that there were tears in my eyes, but I wasn’t.
“Look, Xena…I’m sorry,” she said approaching me again. “Seeing you with Ares made me a little crazy.” She lifted her hands and then slowly, draped them over my shoulders. “And seeing you naked makes me a lot crazy.” She smiled at me for the first time since she had entered the room.
Her hands stroked slowly, knowingly, over my shoulders and down the length of my arms. Everywhere she touched, goosebumps popped up. Once again, it wasn’t directly familiar to me, yet at the same time, it felt very right. I shivered at her touch, and didn’t hide the moan that came from me. “Did Ares interrupt your bath?” I heard her ask me.
Not trusting my own voice just then, I just nodded, and stared down at her. Her mood swings made my head spin.
“Come on,” she said, taking my arm gently, and urging me back toward the tub. “Let me help you finish.”
I let her help me sit back down in the tub, grateful the water was still fairly hot. Somehow, displaying my nudity didn’t make me uncomfortable, but it seemed to be affecting her. One thing was for sure, she wasn’t reacting a if it were the first time she’d seen me like this.
She picked up a washcloth, and began to soap it up. Kneeling beside the tub, she started on one of my shoulders.
“Tell me about Ares,” I said, surprised at the pleading tone in my own voice. Why couldn’t I remember him?
She sighed deeply, as though she were afraid I would be asking that question. “Ares has been after you for a long time,” she said finally.
“After me? For what?”
She paused, her hand still on my shoulder. “What do you think?” she asked me.
I had to look away. “I dunno. He talked about a future with me, but somehow, it didn’t feel right.”
“A future?” Gabrielle shook her head. “Ares loves the past Xena…the Xena who was bent on conquest…he had you in his grasp for a while, and I suspect it was the most glorious time in his life. That’s what he wants again.”
I knew the past Xena she was referring to, although I still had a hard time believing it could have been me. And the very fact that Ares wanted me to return to that past told me a lot about him.
“He lied to me,” I said finally.
She raised her eyebrows. “He often does,” she responded. “He’s very manipulative, and with you…well…the way you are…I’m not surprised he got to you.”
That made me feel a tiny bit better. I moved my head so she could stroke along the area of my neck, thinking about what she had said. “Xena?” I heard her ask tentatively.
“Yes?”
“What would have happened if I hadn’t walked in when I did?”
It was the same question she had asked me before, and this time I couldn’t run from her. I felt the prickle of hot tears again as I tried to sort out my thoughts. I didn’t want to lie to her.
“I don’t know, Gabrielle,” I answered finally. “I honestly don’t. Is it wrong for me to say I felt something when he looked at me?”
Her hand began stroking my other shoulder. “I suppose not,” she replied after a beat. “He is very attractive, and he knows how to appeal to you. I guess it’s just…”
“What?” I sloshed water over the side and her, as I turned in the tub so I could face her.
She gave me a wry smile. “I guess I’m wondering what you feel for me.”
She was so beautiful. I reached out a hand, mindless of the fact that it was dripping wet, and caressed the side of her face. “I feel something very different with you,” I said finally. “I feel comfortable, and protected, and loved. I felt it yesterday and I feel it right now. We are in love, aren’t we? I mean, we don’t just love each other like two friends…it is more than that, isn’t it?”
“Much more than that, and thank the gods you remember it!” Our lips met in a wonderfully sweet kiss, a kiss of gratitude on both our parts.
When we pulled our heads apart, her eyes were sparkling at me. “I wish I could remember what makes you so happy,” I told her. She was soaked from the bath water, and I know she had to be getting cold.
“You will, Xena,” she told me. “One way or the other, you will. And besides, it gives us a chance to build some new memories.”
New memories. I liked the sound of that a lot. “Why don’t you climb in here with me?” I asked, eager to get started. “There’s plenty of room.”
She seemed to think about it. “This room isn’t very private,” she said finally. “Why don’t you finish your bath, and I’ll meet you in one of the bedrooms.”
With an impulsive grin, I held up one finger for her to give me a second, and then dove under the bath water to rinse. “I was already done,” I told her, when I came up dripping. “I just wanted to keep you with me.”
She laughed, and the delighted sound tickled my senses. She stood and held out a towel toward me. “Come on,” she said.
She quickly dried most of the water off me, then wrapped a dry towel around my body, and took my hand. We had already explored Caleb’s place enough to know there were three bedrooms, and she led me down the hall toward the one farthest from the main room of the house.
Amarice was just coming out of one of the rooms as we passed by it. I saw her look down at me, what I was wearing, and her eyes lingered on my hand, firmly entwined with Gabrielle’s. Gabrielle gave my hand a slight squeeze, and a glance at her told me she was holding her breath.
“I’ll make your excuses,” Amarice said finally, and a smile split her features. She turned and walked in the direction of the main room, humming a little tune.
Gabrielle and I turned to watch her leave. “She knows about us, huh?” I asked. “I wasn’t sure…”
“She knows now if she didn’t already,” Gabrielle answered lightly. “She loves you too, but in a different way. She admires your fighting skills and your wisdom in combat. She wants to be like you.”
Gabrielle pulled open the door of the bedroom as I mulled over that in my mind. Why would anyone want to be like me? I felt helpless, having to rely on what people told me to be the truth. And now, I was finding out I couldn’t believe half of what was being told to me.
Once inside the room, Gabrielle turned, and took both my hands in hers. “Sit down on the bed,” she told me.
I did as she had said, and looked up at her expectantly. My stomach was flittering with anticipation of…something.
For a moment, we just looked at each other. Her cheeks were pinkened and I could see that her own breasts seemed to have swelled beneath the material of her shirt, a remarkable feat considering how wet the leather had become. She suddenly seemed almost shy.
I wasn’t feeling shy, only hungry. I pulled the towel from my body, and then reached for the leather ties at the back of her shirt. “You’re going to freeze in those wet clothes,” I told her. “Why don’t you let me help you out of them.”
“Not yet,” she surprised me by saying. She knelt on the bed beside me, and urged me to lay back with my head on the pillow. “I want to make love to you, Xena. I want to touch you and feel you, and see if I can’t help you remember some of what we had.”
That sounded pretty good to me. Especially when she straddled me with her body, and lowered her head to mine. I had already discovered that her lips against mine was by far the most pleasant thing I had discovered since I became aware, and now she was kissing me deeper, letting her teeth nibble gently against my lower lip until I parted my lips and let her tongue probe inside. She tickled my gums and tongue, and I only vaguely became aware of her hands on my shoulders again.
Eventually, she moved her mouth from mine, and began to kiss over my jawbone and chin, then down to my neck. I felt her sucking gently at the flesh there, and my own hands came up to stroke over the firm, satiny flesh of her back. I could feel her muscles ripple beneath my fingers, and it excited me. She groaned against me when I wrapped my legs around her own, pulling her down tighter to me.
“You’re gonna get cold,” I groaned as she nipped at my collarbone. “Please take off your clothes.”
She pulled her head up long enough to look me in the eye. “On one condition,” she told me.
“What?”
She sat up between my legs. “That you don’t touch me,” she answered. “I want to make love to you.”
I grinned at her, sensing my powers of seduction must be pretty substantial to warrant that kind of promise being demanded from me. “I’ll do my best,” I told her. I wanted so badly to see her the way she could see me.
She smiled down at me. “I guess that’ll have to do,” she replied, and then she reached behind her back to undo the straps of her shirt.
I found my fingers grasping at the bedcovers as she slowly pulled the garment from her body. I realized I should already know what her breasts looked like, but when she revealed them in their firm perfection, and especially her wrinkled areolas and rosy pink nipples, I gasped. Exquisite, gorgeous, magnificent…no other word could do her justice. She was…perfect.
“Ah ah ah…” she admonished, wiggling a finger at me when I automatically reached out to touch her. “No touching, remember.”
“I remember,” I whispered back, finding my own voice very thick. My mouth was literally watering! “But gods, I want you.”
“Later, My Love,” came the reply. She pushed me back flat on the bed. From her smile, I could tell she was pleased by my response. She pressed herself full length along my body again, and I could feel the cold flesh of her nipples digging into my breasts. I laughed a little at the sensation, but she was rubbing herself so sensuously over me, I soon lost all traces of mirth.
“You feel wonderful,” I whispered, seeking out her mouth for another kiss. She allowed it for a few seconds, and then began working her way downward again, until her mouth was buried in my cleavage. Her gently siphoning mouth caused my wetness to flow in abundance down lower.
“Mm…so do you.” She was wiggling her lower half, I would assume to assuage her own excitement. I couldn’t figure out her movements, and then suddenly, she was dangling her skirt above my head.
“Let me see you,” I managed to say.
“Not until after I’ve made you mine,” she replied, pressing her body more closely to mine. Looking down, I could see the wonderfully toned globes of her butt, but she was carefully keeping me from seeing her naked front.
“I’m already yours,” I moaned, as I felt her mouth inch toward my left nipple. It was standing at attention, feeling as if it were reaching for her mouth. What I had said was true, somehow, above all else, I knew I was hers.
She smiled tenderly at me, and then her mouth enticing little pink tongue came out to lick over the top of my breast, toward that hardened bud which was screaming for her. She pulled her tongue in just as she reached the darkened skin of my areola.
“No…” I whimpered, when she repeated the action on my other breast. My eyes had gradually shut, but I opened them to see her watching me closely.
“Do you want me, Xena?” she asked me.
“Yes, I want you,” I answered. “I need you.” She sucked in my right nipple, and my eyes fluttered shut again.
Gods, what that girl could do with her mouth! She took my nipple between her teeth, holding it there gently and batted her tongue back and forth over the tip of it, until I thought it would explode from pleasure. Her hand was working on the other breast, kneading and rubbing and tweaking the nipple, and when she reversed positions, the rapture started in from a heightened peak. Her abdomens rested against my mound, and I found myself tilting my hips, trying to gain more contact there.
“Please…please…” Was that my own voice sounding so desperate?
She released the nipple with an audible pop, and looked up at me. “What, Xena?,” she asked me, her voice low and breathless, before she surrounded the first nipple with her lips again. “What do you want?”
I didn’t know how to voice what I wanted. But my entire center was crying out for the same treatment she was bestowing on my breasts. I bucked my hips up toward her, feeling a fresh gush of liquids coat her stomach. My fingers dug into her biceps. “I need your mouth on me here,” I told her, not sure what else to say. “I need to feel you inside me.”
She smiled patiently at me, and placed a sucking kiss on each nipple, letting me know she was still in charge, before I felt her tongue start at the top of the valley between my breasts, and lick its way down to my stomach. The warmth and hardness of her body was gradually leaving my lower half, but I knew where she was headed, and I drew in a ragged breath, as she stroked over my own stomach with her tongue. Her fingers reached up to pull my hands from hers, and she moved them to my own breasts. “You can take over here,” she said.
I gave each nipple a pinch, but was far more interested in what she was doing to me. My fingers continued to linger on my breasts, as I concentrated on her movements. Her hands slid down over my sides, and then were slipping down below my ass cheeks, so she could lift me slightly. “Xena, look at me.”
She had said something. When her words had sunk in to my addled brain, I opened my eyes, and was caught up in the look of passion and desire she was giving me. “I love you, Xena,” she whispered. She kissed the crease of my left thigh, just where it met my body. “I love you and I love doing this to you.” She kissed the opposite juncture, and made sure she had my complete attention. “Now you will know one of the reasons you’re mine.”
The first touch of her lips against my enflamed clitoris caused me to arch from the bed, and pinch my own nipples hard in response. Gods, I almost climaxed from that one brief touch! She kept her eyes locked into mine, as she licked up the length of my womanhood, ending on my clitoris again, and I caught a shudder in her shoulders. I was hers, and it was obvious, that she was mine as well.
Her mouth drew forth incredible responses from my body, most of them without my volition. I watched in amazement as she rode out each convulsion of my body, never once losing her mouth’s grip on me. I felt her fingertips playing with my entrance, stroking across and just inside it, and began to plead again, not even trying to stop myself. “Please, oh please…”
My head dropped down to the bed, when I felt two of her fingers slide inside me, and she began to thrust in time with her tongue’s movements over my clit. I felt great surges of heat begin to radiate towards my center, and my whole body froze, my hips hovering in mid air. “Yes, Xena, come for me, My Love,” I heard her command, before she placed her lips at the tip of my clit, and sucked me in with an audible slurp that drove me over the edge.
“Gods, yes!” I screamed before I could stop myself, and my backside thudded back to the bed, as though trying to escape her onslaught. She followed right along, continuing to thrust her fingers and nursed on my clit for all she was worth. Finally, I felt the sensations begin to subside, but not before I felt like I had been given a tour of the heavens. For the first time in days, I felt like I belonged.
I laid on my back, fighting for breath for some time, and became aware that Gabrielle hadn’t changed positions, that her fingers were still softly stroking me, and she was peering up at me over my mound. I smiled at her, and she lifted her head enough for me to see she was smiling as well. “Are you ready for more?” she asked, and I felt a fingertip lightly brush my tightened clitoris.
I considered the condition of my body, my still pounding heart, my dry throat, my pulsating nipples. I might just not make it this time around.
But I was willing to find out.
“Come up here…”
I was so comfortable where I was, my head pillowed on her thigh, my fingers still idly touching the glistening flesh just below my chin. I had been having such a hard time trying to figure out which sensation was the best, the sight of her, the taste of her, the feel of her, the sound of her, or the smell of her, and I wanted some more time to conduct some tests. But she had her hands wrapped in my hair now, and was gently urging me to move my body up hers.
I finally acquiesced, but kept my body astraddle hers as I kissed her. I know her juices were glistening on my lips and chin, and groaned in my throat when I felt her tongue lick over me, gathering them up. I pulled my right hand from her center, and moved it to her lips, smearing her lubrication there, so I could share in the taste of her. I licked her moisture from her mouth, and then we kissed another of those toe curling kisses that I was beginning to feel were as necessary as breathing.
“How do you feel?” she asked me, when our lips separated.
“Loved,” I answered, without thought. “I feel loved.”
She nodded, as if she had reached her goal. “We really should go see if Eli has learned anything,” she said then, her voice and face full of regret. .
“So soon?” I asked. I wiggled my hips, pressing my heated core against her thigh. “I feel like we’ve just begun to get to know each other.”
I had just declared myself too exhausted to move a while later, when we heard a timid knock on the door. “Xena? Gabrielle?” It was Amarice’s voice. “Eli may have found something.”
“Be there in a minute,” Gabrielle answered, She lifted her head from my shoulder, and looked into my heavy eyelids. “We need to get up now,” she told me.
With a sigh, I nodded. It was the last thing I really wanted to do.
I did a lot of things that day that I didn’t really want to do. Eli figured out that both Ares and Kal were after me because I had some sort of innocence that would allow me to obtain a new weapon, one that they could use to kill each other and any other god. Only I would be able to retrieve the weapon, another chakram, and Eli was urging me to do just that.
One of the things I hated most about my condition, was my indecisiveness, and that’s what was giving me fits now. Somehow, I knew I had to decide on my own whether or not I should do as Eli instructed, and I snuck away to the balcony of Caleb’s house so I could make up my mind.
I couldn’t even do that on my own, and so I started looking to the heavens, hoping I could divine the answers to my troubled questions. Above all else, I asked for a sign that I was doing the right thing. I don’t know what I expected, maybe a loud crash of thunder or a sudden beam of light, but I didn’t get my sign.
Still, I was grateful when Gabrielle approached me on the balcony. I knew she could make me feel better about the whole situation.
As I had told Ares, I was back with a vengeance. The moment the light and dark chakrams had come together, I had felt my mind do the same. I remembered who I was, what I had been, and what I was striving to be. More importantly, I remembered what my relationship was with every single person in the room. It was with great joy that I let my presence be known by thrashing Kal and all his men, and threatening to do the same with Ares. He made it clear he didn’t think he was defeated before he left, but we both knew I had won this particular battle.
Later that night, I sat up by the campfire, thinking about all that had happened. We had parted ways with Eli, but Joxer and Amarice were going back to Greece with Gabrielle and me. They were sleeping on one side of the campfire, and Gabrielle was on the other. My bedroll was laid out next to hers, but I wasn’t sleepy.
Gabrielle rolled over in her sleep, and reached an arm out toward my bedroll, out of habit. When we had company, we refrained from being too explicit with our touching, but it wasn’t uncommon for us to hold hands or slip an arm around each other while we slept. I smiled, pleased that I could remember that fact on my own.
“Whatcha smilin’ at?” I heard Gabrielle ask, shaking me from my musings. She had rolled over on her stomach and rested her chin on her folded hands, as she beamed up at me.
I focused my eyes on hers. “You,” I answered. “I can’t help but think how patient and gentle you were the last couple of days, and it makes me love you even more.”
“You would have done the same for me,” she said, as if I should have known. “I’m just glad you’re back.”
“So am I. I have always told myself I wish I could forget my horrible past, but I realized something during all this.”
“What’s that?”
“I realized that I may not have met you without my violent past…I might never have been passing by Potodeia on my way home that day when I first set eyes on you, if I hadn’t been so bent on changing. I don’t think I ever realized that before.”
She nodded slowly, as she took in my words. I watched her sit up on her bedroll, and hold her arms out toward me. “Come to bed, Xena. I want to feel your body next to mine.”
I reached out a hand toward hers, and she took it, trying to pull me toward her. I pulled harder though, and lifted her to her feet. “Xena…” she giggled, when I pulled her to stand between my thighs.
“I want to feel your body next to mine too,” I growled, before pressing my face into the crease of her neck. “And I don’t want to have to worry about getting caught.”
She shivered, and I heard her breath catch before she whispered, “So what do you propose?”
I took one more look at Joxer and Amarice, who were both sleeping soundly. “Get your bedroll and come on,” I told her. “We’ll be back long before they wake up.”
She suddenly lifted one of my hands that she had been holding up to her lips. “Speaking of being back, did I mention that I am so glad that you are?”
I couldn’t resist stealing a kiss before I led the way to a clearing a little way from our campsite. “I think so,” I answered. “And so am I, My Love…So am I.”
COMING NEXT WEEK: Delirious from a fever, Xena hallucinates erotic suffering at Gabrielle's mercy.
Gabrielle's Scroll
The Xena and Gabrielle XXX Scrolls Page 2
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