{"id":16347,"date":"2019-03-11T09:00:18","date_gmt":"2019-03-11T15:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/?p=16347"},"modified":"2019-02-18T15:59:35","modified_gmt":"2019-02-18T22:59:35","slug":"free-fiction-samhain-heartsong-7","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/2019\/03\/11\/free-fiction-samhain-heartsong-7\/","title":{"rendered":"Free Fiction: Samhain Heartsong (7)"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Doranna<\/em><\/p>\n

All Samhain Heartsong Posts, Collected<\/i><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

19.
\n\u201cMy use of the doorways.\u201d Jaice repositioned their hands so hers nested within his, giving her opportunity to trace the lines of his palm. He tipped his head back, eyes closed, and made a visible effort to continue. \u201cMy skills are unhoned…I was noticed.\u201d<\/p>\n

She recognized, by now, the moments when he worked around those things he was forbidden to discuss.<\/p>\n

More than forbidden. Controlled.<\/em><\/p>\n

The reminder that any single individual had the strength and ability to control a man as strong as this one, as vital\u2014<\/p>\n

It turned her serious, her hand stilling against his. \u201cBut you\u2019re here.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThese evenings are ours.\u201d He sifted his fingers down the length of her hair. \u201cThe thinnest days. She has her own concerns, and the doorways require little effort when you sing them through.\u201d<\/p>\n

She couldn\u2019t help but smile, and gestured up the slope. \u201cJust in case…for solstice, I\u2019ve been bringing a picnic basket. Nothing fancy\u2014summer sausage and cheese, some strawberries, a local wine.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cA picnic basket.\u201d He followed her gesture to the glimpse of a basket under her singing tree. \u201cProvisions?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cProvisions,\u201d she agreed. \u201cAnd a blanket to sit on.\u201d<\/p>\n

He directed his gaze down the wash where soft green grass grew in the shade of the tangled trees across the arroyo bottom. \u201cThen let us eat. And then, if you will…\u201d<\/p>\n

She raised her brow in a silent invitation to continue.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet me touch you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Arlie closed her eyes, bit her lip. Allowed herself the frisson of anticipation. \u201cAs long as it goes both ways.\u201d<\/p>\n

#<\/p>\n

They didn\u2019t eat much. And they didn\u2019t talk much. Although Arlie was still brimming with questions, she found herself disinclined to ask them.<\/p>\n

Instead she watched the play of muscle in his forearms when the flowing sleeves fell back as he brought food to his mouth; she watched the clean line of his neck and the bob of his Adam\u2019s apple as he swallowed. She watched, with a certain fascination, how he handled the food\u2014offering her morsels palm up, with the cheese or sausage sitting midway down his closed fingers\u2014a thing done with such reliability that she knew it meant something to him, if not what.<\/p>\n

But he smiled when she reciprocated.<\/p>\n

When she poured the wine, he gently pulled the second glass from her hand and put it aside, sharing the first with the same precise attention to detail\u2014how he set it down exactly between them, how he brought it to his lips exactly opposite the imprint her lip balm had made on the rim.<\/p>\n

It slowed time, that attention to detail. It stretched out the moments with a wonderfully torturous intent, making her aware of his every breath and his every movement, giving her far too much time to wonder if he would touch her with such care.<\/p>\n

20.
\nWhen Jaice eventually set the wine glass aside and held out his hand in invitation, Arlie knew without a doubt that he must be able to hear the pound of her heart, even to feel the thrum of her anticipation.<\/p>\n

This man would touch her. And she would touch him back.<\/p>\n

But when she accepted his offer, he guided her to sit against his chest, cradling her between his legs. She made a noise of protest. He laughed, and she knew that dry humor came at his own expense. \u201cLet me grow used to this, first.\u201d<\/p>\n

Maybe it would be overwhelming to experience touching and being touched at the same time, after all.<\/p>\n

He breathed in her hair and it sent shivers down her spine. He unbuttoned her blouse and she caught her breath, waiting for the brush of his hand against her breast and then shuddering with it.<\/p>\n

While she still had her wits about her, she discovered that his loose trousers were snugged at the ankle with a simple tie, and she worked one loose to caress the strong bone of his ankle, the dusting of crisp hair up his shin. That he had to stop and draw breath told her enough about just how long it had been since he\u2019d felt the pleasures of even the faintest touch.<\/p>\n

And about just how much he felt now.<\/p>\n

She had little time to think about it. He opened her blouse and followed every inch of her torso, from the dip of her belly button to the curve of her ribs, just enough pressure to make her shiver. He hesitated at her front-clasp bra\u2014but only long enough to figure it out, after which he undid it with the same gentle precision he did everything else.<\/p>\n

Arlie said, \u201cAre you sure\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

He said, \u201cWait.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wait, indeed.<\/em> Wait while his fingers learned her, teased her, cupped her and stroked her, clever hands pausing for permission at each new threshold. Wait while he figured out the zipper on her jeans, and squirm as eased them down over her hips. Wait for the feel of his skin against hers as she gasped, as his fingers played her, ever more intimate.<\/p>\n

While at first she sought him, aware of his response to her purring groans, soon enough it was all she could do to brace herself on his thighs, fingers pressing tight as every part of her spiraled from early pleasure to hot intensity and beyond to ragged cries of completion.<\/p>\n

Right there in the sweet, long evening light of a desert solstice.<\/p>\n

And through the aftershocks, as she slowly recovered enough to hear his ragged breathing and feel the tension beneath her fingers, rock-hard muscle tight unto trembling. She\u2019d have been perfectly happy to lay in his arms until the clear cerulean sky darkened through indigo to moonlit infinity\u2014but she was even happier to turn in his arms, knowing she was mussed and blushed and heavy-lidded with satiation.<\/p>\n

\u201cTouching,\u201d she said, kneeling between his legs, \u201cGoes both ways.\u201d<\/p>\n

21.
\nArlie was surprised to see the true uncertainty flash over his features. They weren\u2019t quite familiar, those features\u2014not of any single culture on earth. Striking Asian cheek and jaw, almond eyes with lashes thick enough to look lined, a sensuously full lower lip with a quirky upper lip that perfectly matched his self-aware smile. His hair was drawn back low at the back of his head, unruly locks only marginally tamed.<\/p>\n

She could lose herself in the details of him just as easily as in his touch. But that\u2019s not what this moment was for\u2014not when his expression made it so clear how long it had been since he\u2019d felt his own pleasure.<\/p>\n

She reached for the sash, tugging it free of its flat, precision knot to open his robe. The shirt beneath was a deeper green than the mottled colors of his robe, a material finer than anything she had ever seen.<\/p>\n

He held his arms up for her and it slipped off over his head without any resistance at all.<\/p>\n

She should have expected the scars. On second thought, the only surprise was how neatly they\u2019d healed from obviously profound wounds\u2014from the still shiny skin over his ribs to older hurts scribed in thin white lines across his chest, his abdomen, across the line of his hip to disappear beneath the waistband of pants he should really no longer be wearing. His chest bore only a smattering of hair over the flat planes of his pectorals, the hint of a central trail arrowing down.<\/p>\n

She drew a finger down that line, finding the ties to his pants\u2014and stopped when his hand landed over hers\u2014already shaking with restraint, like the rest of him.<\/p>\n

\u201cYears,\u201d he said. \u201cIt has been years<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

She didn\u2019t want to know how many. She dropped her hand lower to find the hard evidence of both his restraint and his deprivation.<\/p>\n

His eyes closed and his head dropped back, the muscles of his neck corded tight.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow, then?\u201d Arlie suggested.<\/p>\n

She took his strangled noise for agreement.<\/p>\n

Introducing him to a condom was the work of moments\u2014and the work of an instant to see that the tightly stretched latex wasn\u2019t enough of a barrier to impede sensation.<\/p>\n

Not that she had to ask. His expression said enough. And still he stopped her. \u201cIn my culture,\u201d he said, his voice strained, \u201cthis is an acceptable thing for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Arlie looked down at herself\u2014shirt hanging off her shoulders, bra open at the front, pants and panties somewhere else altogether. \u201cIn this world\u2014this place, this time\u2014I choose.\u201d She corrected herself. \u201cI have chosen.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThen if you would\u2014\u201d He drew a ragged breath, closing his eyes with fierce need. \u201cTouch me.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

~~~
\n~~~<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Doranna All Samhain Heartsong Posts, Collected   19. \u201cMy use of the doorways.\u201d Jaice repositioned their hands so hers nested within his, giving her opportunity to trace the lines of his palm. He tipped his head back, eyes closed, … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[168,170,155],"tags":[169],"class_list":["post-16347","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fiction-treats","category-samhain-heartsong","category-writing","tag-samhain-heartsong"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pb2lc3-4fF","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":16341,"url":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/2019\/02\/27\/free-fiction-samhain-heartsong-4\/","url_meta":{"origin":16347,"position":0},"title":"Free Fiction: Samhain Heartsong (4)","author":"Doranna","date":"1902.27","format":false,"excerpt":"by Doranna All Samhain Heartsong Posts, Collected \u00a0 10. He didn\u2019t grasp her shoulders, though they were close enough that she tingled with the potential. He held himself in that deliberate stillness. \u201cThere are some things I cannot say.\u201d She\u2019d already seen it. \u201cYou don\u2019t mean can\u2019t as in it\u2019s\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Fiction Treats"","block_context":{"text":"Fiction Treats","link":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/category\/writing\/fiction-treats\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":16349,"url":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/2019\/03\/14\/free-fiction-samhain-heartsong-8\/","url_meta":{"origin":16347,"position":1},"title":"Free Fiction: Samhain Heartsong (8)","author":"Doranna","date":"1903.14","format":false,"excerpt":"by Doranna All Samhain Heartsong Posts, Collected \u00a0 22. Arlie touched him, all right. She touched him with her lips, with her hands, with the flutter of her lashes. She ran her tongue along his jaw, the seam of his mouth, the curve of his ear. She rolled with him\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Fiction Treats"","block_context":{"text":"Fiction Treats","link":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/category\/writing\/fiction-treats\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":16353,"url":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/2019\/03\/20\/free-fiction-samhain-heartsong-10\/","url_meta":{"origin":16347,"position":2},"title":"Free Fiction: Samhain Heartsong (10)","author":"Doranna","date":"1903.20","format":false,"excerpt":"by Doranna All Samhain Heartsong Posts, Collected \u00a0 28. Arlie asked Jaice\u2019s mistress, \u201cCan I see him?\u201d As if she was magnanimous, the woman responded with a languid series of taps. The dome enlarged, giving the woman room to glide away. The three remaining attendants repositioned themselves to block Arlie.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Fiction Treats"","block_context":{"text":"Fiction Treats","link":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/category\/writing\/fiction-treats\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":16345,"url":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/2019\/03\/06\/free-fiction-samhain-heartsong-6\/","url_meta":{"origin":16347,"position":3},"title":"Free Fiction: Samhain Heartsong (6)","author":"Doranna","date":"1903.06","format":false,"excerpt":"by Doranna All Samhain Heartsong Posts, Collected \u00a0 16. But Jaice\u2019s hand remained, an inexorable request, and his gaze held steady on hers. He presented his hand again, a little gesture of insistence. Arlie accepted the invitation, letting his fingers envelope hers. He must have steeled himself. He stiffened with\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Fiction Treats"","block_context":{"text":"Fiction Treats","link":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/category\/writing\/fiction-treats\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":16351,"url":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/2019\/03\/18\/free-fiction-samhain-heartsong-9\/","url_meta":{"origin":16347,"position":4},"title":"Free Fiction: Samhain Heartsong (9)","author":"Doranna","date":"1903.18","format":false,"excerpt":"by Doranna All Samhain Heartsong Posts, Collected \u00a0 25. One foot in the arroyo, one foot on the crushed grasses of an unfamiliar landscape. Arlie withdrew, making sure of the doorway. She stepped again\u2014going further, leaving only a lingering toe. Trying to maintain the strength of the song, lest it\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Fiction Treats"","block_context":{"text":"Fiction Treats","link":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/category\/writing\/fiction-treats\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":16329,"url":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/2019\/02\/20\/free-fiction-samhain-heartsong-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":16347,"position":5},"title":"Free Fiction: Samhain Heartsong (2)","author":"Doranna","date":"1902.20","format":false,"excerpt":"by Doranna All Samhain Heartsong Posts, Collected 4. The cold air stirred around Arlie and the wounded man, bringing the flutter of juncos in the trees. Arlie spoke without thinking\u2014too much time alone in this spot, talking to the birds and the sky and the trees. \u201cAt least you\u2019re wearing\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Fiction Treats"","block_context":{"text":"Fiction Treats","link":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/category\/writing\/fiction-treats\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16347","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16347"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16347\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16399,"href":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16347\/revisions\/16399"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16347"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16347"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16347"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}