Carnival

They stayed like that for what seemed like an eternity, with Phoenix breathing her in. Eventually, Phoenix put her arms over Jovanna's shoulders, hands out in front of her and formed a triangle with her fingers to frame a particular part of the sketch she had been working on.

"See right here? There is a subliminal sexuality linked to her femininity. She wants someone to own her; to take her - topossess her."

As she moved her head to next to Phoenix's, a soft gasp escaped Jovanna' s mouth, a result of the reality of the sketch in front of her combined with Phoenix's words.

Through the tousle of golden hair, Phoenix could see a sensual, smooth column of throat. She moved the silky blonde strands aside, and had to mentally restrain herself from claiming her lover. She could smell her blood, and it was maddening. The fire in her limbs leapt to full height as she pressed her lips to the pulse. Ecstasy... She kissed Jovanna's throat, and then her shoulders again and again.

After what seemed an eternity, she whispered into Jovanna's ear, "Look at her lips, at the way her throat is exposed. Can you see it?"

Phoenix's lips brushed Jovanna's ear. Jovanna moved her head back slowly and sensually as her cheek caressed Phoenix's. She wanted to whisper that yes, she saw it. But instead she groaned as their skin touched, and their lips hovered moments away from one another. Suspended in ecstasy and want, they paused in that moment, their breathing becoming labored, emphasizing their need.

"It's a sketch symbolizing possession..." Phoenix said, although it was hard for her to speak. "She wants to be bound to her lover forever."

Jovanna closed her eyes as Phoenix spoke into her mouth. Their lips were not touching, but barely so. Phoenix trailed a finger down Jovanna's cheekbone, down her chin, cupped it gently in her hand and then kissed her.

There was a familiarity for both of them in that kiss - recognition of taste, of essence, and of being. Jovanna returned the kiss urgently. It was hungry, yet gentle. When they finally broke away, Phoenix's mouth hovered over hers again, her hot breath stimulating and causing her to moan and become wet without touch. Jovanna's head tilted back as the caress of lips and tongue created a rush of pleasure again and again as they kissed.

The air was thick with the smell of intense desire, each of them anticipating the others next action. Their arousal increased with every touch and every movement. They were exactly aware of what they were doing to each other and how they aroused each other with the slightest touch and caress.

Jovanna whispered, "Please, let me touch you?"

Phoenix woke, as if from a dream. She smiled sweetly as she whispered back, "No, you asked me to paint you... Let's make art."

Phoenix smiled as she trailed her fingertips over Jovanna's soft ribs. She pushed Jovanna away, then smoothed her own hands over Jovanna's bare arms, pulled her hands behind her and joined them in a reverse prayer position.

"I want you to stay like this ... waiting for me."

Jovanna's nipples hardened in response. Her heart was pounding as she heard Phoenix moving elsewhere in the studio. Phoenix walked to the corner of her studio and pulled out a large canvas and rolled it out onto the floor next to Jovanna. She took four black candles, lit them, and placed them on the four corners of the canvas. She found her acrylic paints, some brushes, and glanced over to where her naked Goddess was standing, waiting for her. Her desire to own Jovanna became urgent again, and she licked her lips... "Soon," she whispered to herself, as she lit some myrrh incense. The smoky fragrance immediately filled the air, carried on the light breeze that blew through the studio.

The fragrance filled Jovanna's senses and she was carried away to another time and place... another apartment... another woman? Vaguely, as if looking through cobwebs, she remembered dark hair and a deft hand sweeping over a canvas.

The sound of footsteps brought her back to the moment and she opened her eyes. As Phoenix walked over to the canvas, she heard Jovanna say seductively, "How do you want me?"

"I want you the way you are right now."

"Would you like me to take my shoes off?" Jovanna swallowed hard as their eyes met.

Phoenix looked down at her high, feminine heels and felt that familiar wetness between her thighs as she struggled to say, "I'll take them off." She reached down to take off her shoes, and parted her legs, as if to brace herself.

"Pick a color."

"Black," Jovanna whispered, and Phoenix dipped a brush into the black paint, and drew lines along the contours of Jovanna's body, circles around her breasts, bands around her arms and stripes down her legs.

"Pick a symbol."

Jovanna smiled as the sensation of the cold paint touched her "I'm thinking a circle and a cube?"

"Nice. Now pick another color"

"Purple."

Phoenix picked up another brush, dipped it into the purple paint and drew a circle on her right thigh and a cube on your left thigh.

"Pick a word."

"Desire," she said as she felt the erotic sensation of the gentle brush strokes against her skin.

Phoenix smiled "Good choice, Love" She took the red paint and a new brush and started writing "desire" backwards just below her navel in big letters.

"Pick another color."

"I think blue?" Johanna said as she remembered intense blue eyes staring into hers. The blue paint went on her nipples. Jovanna arched her back, and smiled.

"Spread your legs," Phoenix kneeled in front of her and painted carefully between Jovanna's legs, using slow, deliberate strokes, as Jovanna groaned softly.

"Give me your hands and pick another color."

"White," Jovanna ignored the request, and cupped Phoenix's face with both her hands as she coaxed her into a standing position. She brushed her lips against Phoenix's forehead, still cupping her face. Phoenix kissed her lips this time and once again, time became irrelevant, as desire manifested.

Phoenix broke away, smiling, the sweet taste of her Goddess on her lips. She picked up the white paint and a new brush, turned Jovanna's hands, palms towards her and painted her hands, her hips and her shoulders and then a band across the top of her chest.

"Pick another color."

"A lighter blue? But put down the brush first and take off your clothes..."

"Hush... this is my creation. Something darker? Green?"

"No green."

"Orange then." Phoenix took the orange paint and a thinner brush as she felt the back of Jovanna's hands brushing consciously over her breasts, making her stall for a moment. She had waited decades for this moment. Jovanna's body was begging to be taken. Her soul yearned to be owned. She could feel her need and her desire in every part of her own being. "Not yet," she whispered to herself.

Jovanna heard her words, and looked her straight in the eyes. Intense lust met the same, as their souls mirrored each other. Phoenix took her wrists, "Models should keep their poses." She bent in enough to kiss her without smearing the paint. "You're going to like this. I want you to close your eyes."

"Only if I get another kiss..."

"Thank you, you get another kiss." Their lips met. Phoenix was about to abandon all creative expression and give in to her need to satisfy her Goddess. Yet, she took the orange paint and painted words over all the white spaces.

"What are you writing?"

"You'll see... keep your eyes closed, Love." She turned Jovanna around to face the canvas. Standing behind her, she ran her hands down Vanna's shoulders, over her back and down her sides, kissing along her spine and licking along her lower back. She started removing her own clothes as her tongue moved over the top of Jovanna's thighs and she trailed long lingering kisses down her legs.

Naked, Phoenix stood behind her Goddess and pressed her body into Jovanna's, taking her hair into her hands, and pulling it onto of her head as she licked the nape of her neck.

"Oh God..." Jovanna whispered as she felt blood rush through her veins.

Phoenix ground her hips against Jovanna's. "We're making... art," she whispered underneath Jovanna's ear as she kissed and licked and sucked the soft skin. She put her hands under Jovanna's arms, and guided her a few steps forward toward the canvas.

"I want you to kneel. The way I lay you is the way you have to stay."

"Yes Phoenix."

"Good girl." Phoenix watched intently as Jovanna kneeled with her back turned. She helped her lean onto the canvas and spread her arms out above her head, and then molded her own body to Jovanna's, as they moved as one. Jovanna lay flat on the canvas, with Phoenix on top of her, kissing her left cheek.

"Move only with me, Love, I don't want to smear this," Phoenix rocked against her, so the paint adhered to the canvas. She pushed her lips against Jovanna's neck, as their bodies moved together.

"Oh, God this is... I feel..." Jovanna's breath was labored and forced as Phoenix moved with her. Their harmony was passionate, yet gentle, as sighs and moans followed.

Erotic pleasure turned into urgent need and Phoenix moved her body enough to slide her hand between Jovanna's legs.

Jovanna gasped as she felt fingers opening her up and dipping into wetness, gently rubbing her sex. She lifted her hips instinctively.

Phoenix could feel heat, and the coolness of the paint mixed with wetness. She slid two fingers up, and then inside Jovanna's sex. It did not seem like a part of her body that was entering this woman. It felt like an extension of her soul, merging their essence of being woman. "I want you to think about your nipples pressing into the canvas and your sex painting with my fingers inside of you." Using her other hand, she pressed down against the small of Jovanna's back, so she could not move. She ran her tongue over Vanna's thighs and kissed her skin.

Jovanna had four fingers fully inside of her within moments. They paused together, and breathed each other in. Jovanna's physical need was overwhelming. She clenched tightly around Phoenix's fingers, and tried to raise her hips. Phoenix wanted much more than the ecstasy of the moment. She wanted Jovanna to give herself completely, not only her body, but also her mind, and soul and spirit.

Jovanna tried so hard to move with Phoenix's fingers - she needed to. But Phoenix was not letting her.

"Relax, Love... relax. I know what you want, and I will give it to you. But right now, just relax," Phoenix breathed into Jovanna's ear as she moved her fingers out, and then in again. Jovanna tensed again, needing release.

"No, Baby, let it go. Let me do this with you and it will be heavenly. Be open, and let me fuck you."

"God, yes," Jovanna moaned, as they found a sensual rhythm. She was wet and accepting, eager and pleading for more. And all the while their bodies moved together towards release.

"I want you... to fully feel me," Phoenix moaned, as her other hand found Jovanna's clit, and she stroked it with her thumb, while still moving inside with her fingers. Jovanna felt herself going impossibly wetter.

"You are so wet ... you're going to come for me, aren't you?" Jovanna nodded, feeling sensations of fingers deep inside of her, stroking her slowly, yet hard and intense.

"Come for me Baby," Phoenix slid another finger inside. Jovanna was right there, begging for release, and as Phoenix moved five fingers inside of her, she felt Jovanna clasping her tightly, and heard her name moaned over and over again. Her slippery hand kept stroking, bringing her lover down from the cusp of pleasure and lust. She slowed her touch, her fingers remaining deep inside of her lover.

"I... please... Phoenix..." Jovanna was incoherent with need.

Phoenix twisted her fingers inside her, as she began to push deeper with each thrust. . "You need more... You want my hand, don't you? Phoenix entered her with the next thrust, until her hand was completely inside Jovanna, filling her. She explored every inch of Jovanna, and it felt wonderful. Her hand was soaked to the wrist.

Jovanna felt fuller than ever. Phoenix's hand on her back, held her in place, making her muscles tighten even more around the hand, unable to move more than her hips. She was clinging to the edge of the canvas and groaning, "Yes," to every stroke. The sensations were a complete mix of opposites; she felt wonderfully full, yet empty and wanting; open, yet tight and almost sealed. She wanted to laugh with abandonment and cry out in fear, plead for Phoenix to stop, and beg for her to take more. Between gasps and heavy breathing she muttered, "Oh God, please don't stop."

"I'm not going to stop. I will take care of you."

Jovanna needed to be taken care of more than she had been letting herself feel and accept. Absolute power radiated from her new Lover, and she was grateful for the level of intense control that Phoenix had over her. But she also realized that she would not have been able to submit to anyone but this strong, sexy woman. She could take it and she wanted it, because it was Her. Pleasure succeeded pleasure as Phoenix's hand moved inside of her. She let herself be open, acceptant, and owned, and stayed in that moment, with her lover, holding off release for a long, long time.

As the moment heated their skin, she felt sharp teeth biting the nape of her neck. Tears ran down her face as she whispered, "Phoenix..." and lightning surged through their veins as hard contractions rippled through them, as they reached orgasm, together, as one.

Jovanna became aware of a profound sense of loss. She recalled the sharp teeth in the nape of her neck, and she vaguely recalled a time long ago, years ago, dimensions away, where she had felt that same sensation, and then, this same sense of absolute loss. She had fled, then, acutely aware of her fear and need and not being able to give of herself fully.I'm scared, she thought, I'm scared to death. And I don't understand any of this, but I want it. I want her to own me. I want to be bound to her forever.

Phoenix was ready. She moved slowly, to keep the spell of intense togetherness. It had been so long since she felt this alive. She ran her fingers over Jovanna's neck, and moved her chin back gently. Lost in her own instinctive desires, she murmured small noises of pleasure as she explored Jovanna's soft, inviting throat with her lips, tongue and mouth, wanting more, wanting to take more. Her teeth trailed over skin, ready for that one profound moment of immaculacy. She tasted need, desire and fear, and reveled in it, thirsting for more, as she felt Jovanna shiver. Phoenix needed her consent. She gazed at her face, trying to read her expression. Jovanna's lips trembled. Phoenix froze.

"I'm sorry," she gasped. "I didn't mean to frighten you."

"I'm so confused! Who are you?"

"No, no," Phoenix pleaded, "Don't! It's just me. Just let us be... together. I won't hurt you."

Jovanna wanted so much to believe her. "Every breath I take makes me more aware of who you are and who I am, and that you were meant to find me. If this is so, then why do I fear you?"

The silence was shattering. Jovanna broke their embrace and started to move away from Phoenix. Realizing how naked she was, she searched for clothes.This is crazy, she thought.

Phoenix could not breathe. Then she realized Jovanna was leaving. Leaving her. She had found her after lifetimes of searching. And now the other part of her soul was leaving.

"You're going away," she whispered helplessly.What am I going to do? she thought desperately,I cannot ask her to stay. But I cannot let her leave. She can't leave. She can't!

As if reading her mind, she heard Jovanna's whisper through the darkness, "I don't want to go"

One Year Later

Jovanna peered through the bedroom drapes to the street below. A gentle rain beat against the large window. She let her fingertips trail down, chasing a little drop as it ran down the pane.

She sensed her lover's presence before she felt the arms circling her waist. She turned around and placing arms around her neck, kissed Phoenix deeply.

"Thank you for finding me."

"Always..."

"Has it truly been a year?"

"You say that as if it was so long ago. It's like a millisecond, compared to the time that had passed before I found you again."

As Phoenix held her in an embrace, she looked over to the painting that hung above their bed. The art they had created that night one year ago, filling the space between the bed posts. She saw the imprint of her body pressed onto the canvas by Phoenix as she lay atop her making love. She read the words that were carefully lettered by her artist lover: Desire, Eternal, Want, Need, Goddess and Love, along with their names, Phoenix and Jovanna.

The blood droplets at the edge of the canvas sent a slight shiver through her body as she remembered intense emotions. Being taken, being owned, being safe, and being in the absence of fear. Phoenix held her tighter as they reminisced:

"Will it be painful?"

"It will be a harmony of extreme pain and pleasure. But I need you to come to me, Love, willingly. It has to be your wish."

Jovanna answered by pulling Phoenix to her and kissed her deeply. Every bit of fear she felt, melted away and she felt only a longing and desire. Phoenix lowered herself onto Jovanna, molding their bodies together. She began to kiss the corners of her mouth, and then trailed down her chin to her throat.

"It is my wish... forever."

Phoenix licked her way up to Jovanna's ear and whispered, "Forever, my Love."

Jovanna wrapped her legs around her lover's waist as they moved together in rhythm. Sharp teeth cut into Jovanna's lip and the warm taste of her own blood fueled her desires. The small epiphany was enough to give Phoenix reason to expose her fangs. She licked and kissed the spot on Jovanna's neck before her teeth broke the surface of her skin. She drank deeply.

Jovanna's cries of pain came in gasps, the mix of agony and pleasure taking over as her lover's thrusts brought her to orgasm. The raw, primal smell of blood and sex filled the room as her mortal life drained away, the elixir of immortality flowing through her veins and finding its way to her soul.

As they stood in an embrace, then as new lovers, and now in that moment, Phoenix whispered to her, once again, her vows:

"In Andaluvian carvings that grace the walls of hidden temples, I swore my oath to you. I have lain prostrate in supplication before your altar, denying all other deities. I have echoed your name in the mountains and sought your glance in forbidden cities. I have sent messages across ancient oceans on the backs of birds to find you and bargained my soul to be in your presence. I have walked through the fires of Hell and endured the bitter cold of barren desert nights. I have prayed, bled, wept, and touched upon madness to find the love that is you. I am bound to you forever."

*****