Bite Marks

"Oh, this is sorcery," she whispered. I could still hear the amusement in her tone, and I knew better than to banter with her in my current position. So I squeezed her thighs, mostly to reassure her that I didn't mind being called a sorcerer, and kept my pace.

She was moving with me, slowly but with a rising intensity. Her hips rose and fell, driving her lips against mine as her needs grew more insistent. She reached down and ran her fingers through my hair. It began as a playful gesture, a sort of caress, but she didn't let go. She dug her fingers in, pulling my head closer and guiding my motions as best she could.

I wondered, as I heard her cursing under her breath, what her climax might look like. I'd heard some people say that you see a person's true nature in their moments of ecstasy, but I think you just see a facet you haven't seen before. Would Karka's amusement at the whole situation be there the whole time, or would pleasure sweep it away? Would she reveal a softer side if the climax brought her guard down? Would she crush me against my bedroll? I was pretty sure she wouldn't, but I could feel the thick muscles in her thighs moving as she rose and fell. Making her lose control was exciting and possibly foolish, and I desperately wanted to do it.

"Yes," she gasped, pressing against me. "Don't stop."

It was a request, and it wasn't. She was not helpless before her pleasure; she was running it down just like her other prey. She knew what she wanted, and she was going to get it, and I was going to do whatever it took to help her because the only alternative was getting in her way.

Her wetness coated my lips and my nose as I moved with her. My jaw ached, but it was worth it. I could feel her pleasure in her every motion, and hear it in her breathless growls of primal joy. I was causing that joy, and I was surrendering to it, and I wanted nothing else.

"Fuck," she said. She angled her hips and tightened the motions she made, pressing her pearl close against my tongue. I met her there, pressing my tongue against her, feeling her thighs tighten on either side of my head as she climbed.

"Yes," she gasped, her fingers digging into my hair and holding on tight enough to pull. "There. There!"

Her passion didn't have room for a softer side, I realized as she reached her peak. Her lust was a hunter just like she was, relentless and powerful, pouncing with all of her strength now that the time was right. She drove me back against my bedroll, her thighs shaking with tension that they could finally release. She roared a wordless cry of victory as I felt her pussy squeeze and release on my tongue, the movement just as strong as everything else she did. I held her close, guiding her over the peak, letting her crash into me as she came down the other side.

She staggered as the wave crested, leaning forward and catching herself only barely. "Fuck," she gasped. "Oh, fuck." I smiled, and even through her waning motions, I knew she could feel it.

She moved down, at first only far enough to see my face again. She smiled as she worked to catch her breath, her pointed teeth jutting out.

"I admit that you were telling the truth," she said. "I hope I didn't hurt you."

I smiled back, conscious of her wetness on my lips and of a scratch she'd left on my scalp. "You did," I said. "But I know what I'm willing to bleed for."

Her smile shifted, her predatory look rejoining her pleasure. "You're willing to bleed for my joy, are you?"

"Yes," I said.

"Does that mean I can bite you?"

My heart tried to leap in two directions. On the one hand, I was already bleeding along my scalp just from her grasping my hair too tightly, and I could see how big her teeth were as she caught her breath.

But on the other hand, she had moved down. I was acutely aware of how hard I was, and how close her wet pussy was to my cock. She was leaning close, her breasts hanging down, her eyes on me. I wanted her. I wanted her pleasure, as much of it as I could hold. I wanted to give her everything.

"Yes," I said.

For all of her strength, she was careful. She leaned down and rubbed her cheek and nose against my shoulder, then opened her mouth and leaned closer.

I cried out, when I felt her teeth pierce my skin, but it wasn't solely out of pain. She was holding me tightly, her lips on my skin, sharing something powerful with me. That knowledge made my blood sing, even if I was losing a little of it.

She drew back after a moment. I glanced at my shoulder, taking in the pattern of marks she'd left, then looked up at her as she licked the blood from her teeth.

"I have another question," she said. She reached behind her and set her hand on my cock, not moving it but holding it. "Do you want me?"

I tried to take a deep breath, and came close. I couldn't form the right words. The lust on her face made it clear that she meant it, and my body was desperate for me to agree.

"Are you sure?" I gasped. "You could get with child."

She smiled. "Then I would be able to bring something back to my clan," she said.

As she spoke, she moved her hand up and down my shaft, watching my blush spread across my chest. "If that should happen, perhaps they would be firetouched like you, and change colors when embarrassed."

"Is that what you want?" I asked.

She smiled, and ran the head of my cock along her cleft. "If you would give it," she said quietly.

I had questions, and worries, and all manner of practical thoughts. But she wanted me - she had made that abundantly clear. I couldn't have resisted her even if my body had wanted me to.

I put my hands on her hips, feeling the hardness of her pelvis, the softness of her skin, the sweat we'd made. Slowly, as she smiled at me, I guided her hips down.

"Oh, fuck," I gasped as her lips parted and I began to slide inside. She didn't seem inclined to speak, or even to smirk at me; the sensation of my body filling her up seemed to demand all of her attention.

I gripped her hips tightly as she moved up and down, finding a rhythm between us. I could feel her strength in her every motion, even in the way her body gripped my cock. Even her softness was strength.

She didn't hesitate to take control of our direction, or our pace. Her eyes were closed, and she was following the guide of her own pleasure more than anything else. She pressed her hips close against mine, and I moaned as the motion drove me inside her.

For a long moment, we needed no words. I panted as she found a slow, rocking rhythm that kept me deep inside her. I let my hands roam, feeling the firmness of her spine, the curve of her backside, the movement of her thighs as she rose and fell. We could hear nothing but our rough breathing, the soft sounds of our bodies moving together, and the howl of the wind outside.

She opened her eyes and smiled at me, not the predatory grin I'd come to know, but a private smile, one that said we were sharing a secret.

"When I said that I would spite the gods with you, this wasn't what I meant," she said.

I smiled back. "I'm glad you changed your mind," I said. "Hopefully the gods will come around, too."

I rather doubted it - I am led to believe that several of the gods frown on sex outside of marriage - but I couldn't be bothered to worry about them. She had pulled the leather and bone from her hair, and as she moved it began to fall forward, surrounding me like a curtain. The outside world fell away, and there was nothing but the two of us, moving together in the firelight.

She reached one hand down to caress my chest, which I realized was flushed with exertion.

"Does this embarrass you?" she asked with a grin.

"It's not just embarrassment that makes me change colors," I said.

"I'm glad," she said. She lifted herself up so that we could both see everything - the sweat that coated our skin in spite of the storm outside, the muscles of her hips and thighs shifting as she moved, the tension in my abdomen as she drove me higher.

She leaned in closer, enough so that her breasts just brushed against my chest. I groaned, my hands reaching up for them without any conscious thought. I caressed each one, moving with her as she rose and fell.

"You are good at making me change colors," I said softly.

"I want to be good at more than that," she said.

"You are," I gasped. "Gods, you are wonderful."

"So you say," she said. "But I won't know for certain until you yield."

She glanced back down at where we joined. I could see lust in her expression, but I could also see patience and scrutiny. She was hunting now, and my pleasure was her quarry.

"I will," I said. She was adjusting her pace, and watching my expression for signs of what drove me higher. "But I want to enjoy this for as long as I can."

"We'll be here until the morning, at least," she said. She glanced at the cloth and leather covering the door. At first I thought she was gauging the storm's strength, until she pushed herself up to tuck her legs beneath her and sit on my hips.

"Do you not want to give me your seed?" she asked as she rose up. Before I could answer she lowered herself back down, driving my cock deep inside her, and words failed me for a moment.

"I do," I gasped, eventually. I felt like I was on the back foot, being driven slowly but inexorably where she wanted me to go. It was a hunt, and a dance; I was battling her and surrendering to her all at once.

She smiled slyly. "You should," she said. "You don't want to fight it. You want to let go. I'm strong enough to catch you."

I gasped again, sharply. I could see every inch of her - the muscles in her thighs and hips that moved as she rose and fell, the lines of the muscles in her abdomen at rest, the bouncing curves of her breasts, the dark triangle of hair that led to her wet lips. Enough scars for a hundred stories crossed her skin, marked the battles she'd fought and the choices she'd made. It occurred to me that she was inviting me to mark her, too - to let our meeting change her body forever.

"Will you tell your village this story?" she asked. "Tell them that you fucked an Orc, and shared your blood with her clan?"

"How could I keep this a secret?" I panted. I could feel myself tipping closer to release, but how else could her hunt end? "I bled for you. A part of me is yours forever."

"Yes," she said. She reached a hand up to caress my cheek, rough fingers moving gently across my skin. I was rising up to meet her, driving my hips against hers and burying my cock inside her each time she moved down. The pleasure was almost pain, but now that I knew her I couldn't imagine it going any other way.

I could feel myself drawing closer. I wanted to fight as long as I could, to draw out our pleasure, but she was inexorable. I couldn't deny her.

"Karka," I gasped. She could see something of my rising pleasure, and she let her hand slide down to my wounded shoulder, holding me tightly. A new layer of determination crept into her motions, and she lingered longer and longer at the bottom of our stroke.

"Yes," she said, in simple triumph. "Show me your joy."

My climax was primal, an elemental force rising up through me. I panted, trying to draw enough breath to feed the rising fire inside me. I grabbed the stone of the cave as I pushed up, burying myself as deep as I could. Everything that I'd been trying to hold back burst from its dam and rushed forth, a torrent that swept me away.

I looked Karka in the eye as she took her victory. I grabbed her hips and held on, pulling myself as close as I could. She caught me as I fell, holding me in turn, keeping my gaze as I tried to keep my head above water. She drove her hips against mine, pushing me down. She held me tightly as I gave her everything I had. I cried out as I pulsed inside her, and she growled with me.

It shouldn't have been possible for us to share such a moment. In so much of the world, or in so many other moments, we could have been foes. And yet, the storm had given us a glimpse of the truth - even if we lived differently, it was us against the world. I held her, secreted away in that cave, and weathered the storm.

"There you are," she said softly as I tried to catch my breath. I smiled at her, squeezing her hip as I felt the last of my seed flow into her.

"Thank you," I panted.

She leaned in close, resting her body on mine. "The pleasure was shared," she said.

A thought struck me, and I couldn't set it aside. "Could I bite you?"

She gave me a hesitant look. "I don't know if you have the teeth for it."

"I'll do my best," I said.

She watched me for a moment, then leaned close, putting her shoulder in front of me. I pulled her closer. I hoped this moment would never leave me - Karka wrapped in my arms, her body on mine, our warmth pushing back the cold. I pressed my lips against her shoulder and bit.

It wasn't as effortless as her bite had been. I had to twist to bring my canines to bear, and I knew they weren't as long or sharp as hers. But I bit until I heard her moan, and tasted her blood on my tongue.

"Yes," she said softly. I pulled back to look. It didn't look much like the other scars on her shoulders, but it would stay. It would be hers.

I don't know how long we rested there, our bodies tangled together, listening to each other's breath and sharing our warmth. There was no light and no stars to mark the time. But she wanted to hold me as much as I wanted to hold her, and so we stayed, defying the storm and the gods alike. It wasn't until the fire began to die down that we stirred so that we could build it back up.

I watched her add wood to the fire. She hadn't put any clothing on, and I couldn't help but notice the way her muscles moved as she adjusted the logs. I wondered how her clan would respond if she came back from her hunting trip with a half-human child in her womb.

"You needn't worry," she said. "For whatever worries you."

"I didn't realize I was worrying that loudly," I said. "But...will you be alright? No matter what happens?"

"I have a place in my clan," she said. "And if I should have a child, they would have a place there too. None go uncared for."

I nodded. "If...that should change, you would both have a place with me, too." I wondered what my younger sisters would think of that, and decided to leave that worry for later.

She nodded. "The same is true for you, Grant of Westhaven. My clan roams from the Dragon's tooth up to the sea of ice, but if you find us, there is a place for you."

I nodded, and took her hand. "Even if I can't stay forever, I will come. I will help you. And if you do have a child, I will get to know them."

"Perhaps I shall, too," she said. "I could learn more of your ways, so that we may not be enemies."

I smiled. "Incredible that this storm has brought us so close."

She smiled back, a bit of her predatory grin returning. "We did that," she said. "But the storm is not yet done."

She wrapped her arms around me. Then, with a chuckle, she picked me up and carried me back to the bedroll.

--

When the storm had passed, we went home. I watched her trek off to the west, and I brought the remaining venison back to my sisters, and I tried not to be consumed by all that I didn't know.

Each time I went hunting, I went west hoping to find her clan's campsite, but each time I found nothing but abandoned places and the odd arrowhead. From what she'd said, they could be days away to the north, and I didnt want to leave my sisters alone for that long. So I waited and watched the seasons change.

I didn't know that I was going to see her on that spring day. I was in the yard, helping my sister Cara mend the fence, when I saw a figure walking along the track that led off to the north and west. They wore a cloak, but I could tell that they were at least as tall as anyone in the village. I shouldn't have been able to tell who it was, half a mile off, but I instantly did.

I walked down to meet her, where the path led up to our small house. Karka wore a pack with a bedroll and a bow strapped to it, and she had a knife on her hip. She leaned against a nearby pine, and I guessed that she'd been traveling for some time - days, perhaps.

"I'm glad you're the first to meet me here," she said. "I wasn't sure how the others in your village would respond."

"We'll worry about that later," I said. "Are you hungry? You look like you've been traveling."

She nodded. "My clan travels north," she said, "in search of caribou. But I wanted to journey here while travel was still possible."

"What do you-"

The question died in my throat as she pushed her cloak back. She wore the same cloth band around her bosom that she'd been wearing the night we first met, but beneath it her growing belly was bare.

She ran a hand along it, caressing her side, then glanced at me.

"You're going to give me more scars," she said, nodding at a dark stretch mark along her side.

"As long as you choose them," I said.

"I do," she said.

I didn't know how we were going to make any of this work - how the little house would have room for us all, or how long she'd stay here, or what the villagers would say. But those were all details, and we would figure it out.

"Well, come inside, then," I said, and held out my hand.

She grinned, and took my hand, and we walked up the path towards home.

--

I want to thank Shadysweet and CTCalamity for their editorial help.