The Azure Rider Ch. 08

"So, what brings you here?" Orion enquired, folding his arms squarely across his chest and staring at her.

"Nothing, I should probably go," she mumbled, "you seem busy." Without waiting for his response she turned around and made her way towards the door, but she had barely grasped the brass eagle-headed doorknob when Orion laid a hand on hers. Her small hand disappeared under his larger one. He lowered his face so that his lips nearly touched her ear, and repeated: "what do you want, Agatha?"

Agatha turned around and found herself caged against the wall by his large form. Orion trapped both of her hands in his, held them against the wall and repeated his question. Agatha raised her eyes at him and paused for a while, trying to read his inscrutable face. When she spoke, she sounded braver than she felt.

"I want you."

Orion held her gaze with the same unfathomable expression. Then he whispered, "I have only one condition, and you know what that is."

Agatha sighed in frustration and closed her eyes. "I cannot marry you, Orion," she said.

"And why not?"

"I don't want to have children," she whispered, mortified and desperate in her admission. "I saw how you felt when Eustace died. I don't want to feel that."

Orion nodded and asked, "is that your only concern?"

"Yes."

"You don't have to bear children if you don't want to."

Agatha's eyes snapped open. She had not expected him to acquiesce so easily. Orion laughed at her dumbfounded expression. "I've gone through that experience already, Agatha. I've fed them, cleaned after them, educated them, watched them grow, killed for them, and finally, watched them die. It's not an experience I'm eager to relive, either."

"Then...I suppose I can marry you," Agatha said cautiously.

Orion cupped a hand around her neck and pressed her chin upwards with a gentle push of his thumb. Then he lowered his head to kiss her lips, and this time, his lips were apologetically gentle. Agatha parted her lips under his, eager for his forceful claiming, and somewhat dissatisfied when it didn't come. When Orion drew away, she scowled at him. "Are you going to be gallantly agreeable until we are married?"

"I might be, why?" Orion twinkled at her.

Agatha pursed her lips in dissatisfaction.

"What do you want me to do?" He grinned at her.

Beyond shame, Agatha said, "I want you to take me."

That was all the encouragement he needed. Orion entwined his hands in her hair and pulled her in for a kiss, then he picked her up in his arms so that he did not have to lean anymore, and cradled her weight with a hand under her hips. His lips were warm and passionate, and Agatha wrapped her legs around his waist even as she was pinned against the wall. Her hands sought his torso, her fingers exploring the planes of his chest, her shame and diffidence evaporating faster than water in the desert sun. And despite her entreaties, his movements were different this time, less forceful, more reverent, and in that moment Agatha understood: he found no gratification in wrenching her submission from her by forcing her to cave under pleasure, he wanted it of her own volition, and contrary to what she had presumed two years ago, he did not simply want her for his pleasure, but because, despite all that he had done to her out of necessity, he was desperate to have her as a friend and a confidant in the terrifying, isolated life that immortality had brought him. This epiphany stilled her lips and Orion withdrew instantly, cautiously searching her face.

"What?" he asked.

Agatha pushed his wavy chestnut hair out of his eyebrows and cradled his face in her hands. "Do you love me?"

"Of course not, that's preposterous," Orion responded with an impressively blank face. "I want to marry you because I need a body to warm my bed, as you had so cleverly conjectured two years ago."

Agatha smiled a little and kissed him lightly on his lips. "I think you love me," she whispered.

"Allow me to help you make up your mind. I knew nothing about plants before meeting you, nor did I care. Now I know all about valerian, feverfew, snakeroot, milk thistle, goat weed, chamomile, nightshade, red mallow, breadroot and ashwagandha."

"I am impressed," Agatha laughed breathlessly and kissed him deeply, beyond a care in the world. Orion carried her to his bed and sunk into it with her underneath him and moved his hands to unbutton her shirt. A familiar tingle started to spread over her skin as he ran his fingers along the exposed side of her torso. Agatha lowered her hand from the back of his head and tugged at his sleeping robe, her fingers clumsy and weak from desire. Orion ignored her wordless entreaty and divested her of her breast band, boots and breeches in quick succession, leaving her naked and shivering on top of the furs while he knelt on the bed between her legs.

"Hurry, I'm cold," Agatha complained, staring up at him with hooded eyes. Orion took off his robe and pitched it unceremoniously aside and caged her lithe, small frame with his larger one. He collected her hands in one of his, trapped them above her head and whispered, "you will keep your hands up here unless I say otherwise, is that clear?"

"Why?" Agatha asked suspiciously.

"Behave, Agatha, or I'll tie them to the headboard," he said idly, skimming his nose down her jaw and neck. A thrill of pleasure ran through her at this ominous proclamation. Perhaps Siegel had been right, perhaps she simply liked submitting to Orion's wishes. Then Orion took one of her nipples in his mouth and rolled about the hardened tip with his tongue and she discovered that she did not care very much about Siegel.

With his free hand he squeezed her other breast, gently at first, then lewdly. Pausing his fingers by her nipple, he raised his head and said, "tell me when it hurts," then without warning, pinched the tip between his forefinger and thumb. Agatha hissed in pain and he released it immediately, then caressed the reddened flesh with his warm, calloused hand. As the pain ebbed away, it left a curious tingle of pleasure behind it, and Orion seemed to understand, because he asked, "did you like that?"

"Y-yes," Agatha stammered, confused and burning with need.

Orion nodded in approval and skimmed his nose down her stomach and settled his face between her legs. He ran his fingers in repetitive strokes down the inside of her thigh, never quite touching her there, but amplifying the burning hot lust in her into a trembling crescendo.

"Orion," Agatha protested softly, knowing what was about to come and terrified of it. When Orion flicked his tongue out and ran it along her opening, she reached down with her hands and tried to pull him up by his hair. "Please don't do that," she pleaded.

Orion yielded to the gentle pull of her hands and settled himself over her body, his brow furrowed in confusion. "I don't understand. You used to like that."

Agatha shook her frantically. "It's demeaning to you. Please don't."

"But I want to do it, Agatha," Orion said in a low voice, then, when she continued to shake her head, stared at her with dawning comprehension.

"You think that you will be asked to reciprocate if I pleasure you," he said slowly. "And you don't want to do it." Agatha's silence was confirmation enough. Fredenand's frequent demands for fellatio had ensured that she never wanted to do it again.

"You will never again have to do anything that you don't want to, Agatha," he said quietly. "Now, I thought I asked you to keep your hands above your head." Purposefully, he reached for the belt of his sleeping gown and tested its strength by tugging it between his hands. He stared at her for a few moments, then, when she did not offer any resistance, looped it around her wrists and tied the end to the bulwark of the wooden headboard above them. Then he trailed a blazing string of kisses down her stomach and settled himself between her legs again. This time, Agatha did not resist as his tongue and lips worked in unison, unleashing attention on the tiny bundle of nerves above her quim. Soon, all thoughts of Fredenand were erased from her mind as a familiar tingling pressure built up inside her midsection, and she careened towards her climax like a twig caught in a tumbling rapid. Orion clamped her nub between his lips as her pleasure hit, prolonging the peak until she started whimpering. When he relinquished her from her peak and raised his head, her body was limp and face was flushed and sweaty.

"Orion," she uttered softly, helplessly, her hands stretched into the bond and her dark hair spread out in a halo around her head. Orion stood on his knees between her legs and wiped the proof of her arousal from his chin. "Yes?" He asked.

"Take me," Agatha begged shamelessly, spreading her legs further apart. Orion considered her with an unfathomable expression as his eyes darkened visibly with desire. He reached down and stroked his hardened shaft once, trailing his thumb delicately over the blunt head. Inexplicably, the sight of him touching himself sent her over the edge. "Please," she begged.

Orion lowered himself above her, and with his weight on one of his hands, positioned the head of his shaft against her core with the other. Agatha winced slightly as he stretched her painfully on his way in; abstinence had made her tight. Orion noticed and withdrew slightly, starting with short, shallow thrusts. The motion set off residual tendrils of pleasure from her last climax and Agatha moaned without thought, her propriety and modesty hurled out of the window into the gently falling snow.

"Eyes open," Orion reminded her, and she followed his command obediently, staring up at the darker flecks of blue in his pale eyes that reminded her of a fleeting pattern from a kaleidoscope held against the sun. Orion tucked one of her legs over his shoulder, opening her up for a deeper penetration, and once he started thrusting, Agatha had no control over the sounds that she made anymore. He knew her inside out, her darkest fears and desires as well as her most intimate responses. He had always known how to pull down the fortifications she had repeatedly armoured herself with; at first he had done it with pleasure, then with his constancy. He unleashed his attention on her like he wielded a chisel and a hammer on a piece of wood, carving out whatever responses he wanted out of her with unapologetic finesse.

Agatha raised her hands and cradled his face. This time, Orion did not reprimand her as her eyes rolled back into her head and her body went rigid with her second climax. He reached forward with his free hand and pressed down on her clitoris when it arrived, and Agatha covered her mouth to muffle her screams. Orion removed her hand from her mouth.

"I want you to scream," he commanded, savagely stabbing into her pulsing heat, drawing out her pleasure. He returned to worrying the bundle of nerves above her entrance, thrusting deeply and mercilessly. "Show me that you belong with me, Agatha." He turned his face slightly and planted a chaste kiss on the leg tucked atop his shoulder, but Agatha was too far gone to care about it, too consumed by the pleasure coursing through her body to see the openly affectionate countenance that proved his devotion to her beyond a shadow of a doubt.

Orion slowed down as she tumbled down from her peak wearing a dazed expression, her hair clinging to her face with perspiration. He released the leg tucked over his shoulder and it drifted limply down his side. He was not done with her.

"Orion," Agatha whined in protest as he withdrew and turned her on her stomach. He raised her torso from the bed with one arm tucked under her pelvis, then gently pushed down on her lower back to open her up to him. Agatha adjusted her weight on her elbows while her wrists remained firmly tethered to the headboard.

"Tell me if this hurts," he cautioned, and entered her from behind in one swift stroke. Agatha whimpered with pleasure as his cock hit a different spot inside her channel. Orion held her waist as he pounded into her, his pelvis slapping against her hips. Agatha could tell that he was trying to be gentle, trying to restrain himself, but he could not, and his thrusts grew rougher and deeper. She gasped his name again, whether in protest or encouragement she did not know, for pain and pleasure blurred into one another at that moment, and she wanted him to thrust deeper, harder, and take her with merciless abandon. This time, her climax hit her without warning. Her shoulders collapsed into her arms and her body went limp in his arms, and distantly, she could hear his grunt as he picked up his pace and came with her, his seed spurting inside her channel. Agatha slumped on the bed as he withdrew from her, his seed dribbling down the inside of her thighs. Orion untied her hands, massaged her wrists and shoulders, then he brought a rag and cleaned her up, but Agatha could not move of her own accord; her limbs seemed to have turned into useless lumps of jelly. Orion drew her into his chest and pulled the covers over them, and a little while later, she realized that he was asking her if she was hurt.

"No," she answered, pleased to find that her voice still functioned even though her limbs refused to. Orion seemed to sense her predicament because he laughed a little.

"How do you feel?" he chortled.

"Like a cloud. Weightless."

"Good," he said, tracing careless circles over her back.

"Orion?" Agatha murmured.

"Yes?"

"Please don't give me away again."

There was a pause during which Orion pulled her more securely against his chest. Then he wrapped a heavy leg around her and said quietly, "you have no reason to forgive me or trust me after what I did. But hereafter, I promise to protect you no matter what happens." He snared her wrist in his hand and whispered, "you're mine, and nothing will change that."

Agatha smiled languidly and said, "this is where I'll argue that the proprietary nature of your regard is demeaning towards me. I am a strong, independent human and I do not belong to anyone."

Orion laughed. "I have waited for you to come to me, Agatha, and that is where my chivalry ends, I am afraid. You're mine, and I can prove it to you ten times over before dawn. Let's not fight a battle that we both know you'll lose." His hand left her wrist and cupped her breasts as he said this, his thumb stroking her nipples threateningly with this statement. Quite shamelessly, they hardened under his touch.

"You've made your point," Agatha grumbled, an aching need building up in her midsection with his light caresses.

"Have I?" Orion murmured, edging down along her back so that his lips lined up alongside her neck. He shifted her hair out of the way and softly bit the tender skin at the base of her skull. "I think you need some persuasion."

Agatha laughed breathlessly as his nose skimmed over a sensitive spot on her neck. "Stop, that tickles!" she squealed, and tried to wiggle out of his embrace. Inadvertently, her hips rubbed against his shaft with her frantic struggles and it soon stood hard and proud against her entrance.

"You can't win every argument like this, Orion!" Agatha sighed as his hand slid down her stomach and slipped between her legs. He slid another arm underneath her and secured her against his chest while he rolled over onto his back, taking her with him. His legs opened hers lewdly and his fingers slipped inside her, massaging the tiny bundle of nerves above her entrance.

"You'll soon find that I can," Orion kissed the top of her head, then wrapped a steel arm across her torso, his fingers fondling her breasts and playing with her nipples. "I'll be gentle this time," he whispered, and though his shaft stood hard against her entrance, he did not enter her. Agatha closed her eyes and relaxed against his hard chest and asked, "what are you waiting for?"

Orion entered her slowly, his fingers keeping up the slow, torturous massage over her clitoris. He started pumping in and out with short, shallow thrusts, never relinquishing his hold around her chest. "Admit it," he whispered, "you like this. You like submitting to me."

Agatha did not answer, merely arched her back to allow him a deeper penetration. "And that is why you continue to return to me," Orion continued, taking advantage of the opening she offered and thrusting deeper. "You want to belong to me. You're mine, Agatha. This. Belongs. To. Me." He punctuated every word of that last sentence with a thrust, uncharacteristically arrogant in his assertion.

"I'm not," Agatha panted.

"Yes, you are. Now, you'll come for me," he whispered huskily against her ear, picking up the pace of his thrusts. "Because I am asking you."

"I won't," Agatha insisted, fighting the familiar pressure building up in her midsection, simply for the sake of winning the argument. Orion pinched her nipple lightly, then caressed it with his finger. When that did not work, he increased the pressure over her clitoris. Agatha did not stand a chance after that.

Her pleasure hit her in rolling, pulsing waves, and Orion did not last long either. He pumped his seed into her pulsating channel and they collapsed sideways into the bed afterwards. Agatha whimpered a little as Orion pulled himself out of her.

"This is what happens when you argue with me," Orion declared, and kissed the top of her head.

"You're a terrible person," Agatha rebuked him contentedly.

"Agreed."

"You've stopped calling me Princess," Agatha realized, smiling a little at the welcome change.

"My memory might be a little hazy on account of age," Orion quipped, tracing his hand over the curve of her hips, "but I was under the impression that you did not like it."

Agatha's eyes snapped open as a sudden unease weaved its way into her midsection.

"Say that again."

"I said that you didn't like being called-"

"No, the part before that," she turned to meet his eyes, the post-coital bliss evaporating rapidly.

"My memory is hazy on account of-?"

"Haze!" Agatha exclaimed, raising herself up on an elbow, comprehension and horror clouding the relaxed expression on her face. "You said that all of your informers are reporting that they are feeling unnaturally dizzy for a while before the pyre is suddenly empty of the witch or wizard that was sentenced to death. Feeling dizzy is a side effect of the Haze! Someone - a very powerful someone - is casting a Haze on the assembled audience and is retrieving the wizard from the pyre. And it has to be an exceedingly powerful witch or wizard who can cast a Haze that affects so many non magical people at once."

She stared at Orion with dumbfounded terror, fighting the premonition unfurling inexorably at the back of her mind. She could not help but notice that Orion was surprisingly composed despite the enormity of the revelation.

"Unfortunately we both know a very powerful wizard who is capable of doing this and has reason to," Orion grimaced.

"Siegel," Agatha realized, her voice sounding hollow.

Orion nodded grimly.

Then he seemed to hesitate a little before uttering the sentence that would shatter the happy bliss that Agatha found herself shrouded in. But he said it anyway, on account of an unspoken promise to treat her as an equal.

"It appears that he's building an army."

~~End of Part 1~~