Acolyte of the Pleasure Goddess Ch. 04

"She did not... You weren't... I do worry about that fighter talking you into things that..." Vael struggled.

Delyssa put a gentle hand on his arm and squeezed. "I laid with the fighter because I like her. No other reason."

"I did not know that you two had become so... close."

"Believe me, Vael. You don't need to be close to someone to lay with them. Sometimes -- often -- it's just something you do with your bodies."

Vael squinted at the opposite wall. Further up the path, Brynwa was continuing to search fruitlessly for her belt as Cenhera came back into view, walking her pony, with the fighter's horse and Dereac trailing behind. "That is not very romantic," the paladin finally said.

This time, Delyssa shrugged. "Shevlana is also the goddess of love. Love does not have to be hard to find. It does not have to be kept safe, away from all other emotions. I've known Brynwa a short time, but I love her. Why shouldn't I? I love my friends back at the Temple, I love the Priestesses. I love them all in different ways. Sometimes with my body, but not always. Love is a sister to lust, but they are not the same."

"How do you know if what you feel is love or lust?"

The question surprised Delyssa and she paused. "You just know. Lust comes from bodies, from your own and from others'. It doesn't need direction. It can be spontaneous. Something needs to kindle love. Words, deeds. A look. Lust comes as simply as breathing."

Vael sighed.

Delyssa began to unbuckle the straps around his gauntlet, and the paladin made no effort to stop her. "When someone visits the Temple for the first time, they imagine it to be candle-lit orgies, naked dances and nothing else. And it's true that we enjoy ourselves more than most other religions," she admitted. "But really our sanctuary is a place of peace and love, in whatever form that takes. There are those that need comfort, not in any bodily form, but something deeper. Our priestesses know how to love as a mother." She pulled his gauntlet off, the sweaty leather peeling away from his skin. She intertwined her fingers among his and held his hand between them.

When she saw him fight the manticore, Vael had moved with surety and poise, each action economical and committed. Next to her now, he seemed far less at ease. She could feel his pulse quickening once more.

"Sister Teraen -- the priestess in charge of our healing ward -- loves everyone who comes to the Temple for aid. You can see it in her eyes. The sick and injured see it, and it comforts them. It doesn't matter to her who they are. She just knows how to heal and how to love, because for they are the same. It's what makes her a master.

"I don't believe she has ever lain with anyone in her life. She has beauty -- who doesn't? -- but she simply has other passions than lust. She's very respected."

"When Brynwa picked you up in the river this morning, I saw... well..."

Delyssa laughed. "I'm not ashamed about my body, paladin."

"It is not that. Your expression... you were so much happier to be carried off by her." Vael's jaw was tense, shifting as if trying to chew over the words to soften them before he spoke. "I am sorry that my company is far less pleasurable."

"I find your company to be very pleasurable indeed, paladin," she gently said.

A shadow fell over them, and Delyssa jolted back before realizing that it was from Brynwa standing in front of them. Her trousers were slung low around her hips, showing the "v" of muscle leading down to her groin. The fighter held a rope between her teeth and her hand, cutting away at the length with her knife.

"Whff g'n 'n?" she asked as she severed the rope and sheathed the knife. Vael unclasped his hand from Delyssa's and stood.

"We should ready the horses and depart with haste. We have already lingered here too long," he said and stalked off, not looking at Brynwa.

"What was that about?" the fighter said, hitching up her pants and threading the rope through her belt loops.

Delyssa stood and brushed the sand and gravel off her legs. "Just exploring some hidden depths," she said.

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