The Last Library Ch. 03

She wound down for just a moment and he took the opportunity to try to console her.

"I know," he said. "I knew from that first night that you said you were going to send me back that it would be rough for you when I left. That's why I tried to help make good memories for you."

She shook her head violently. "That's not the problem! Well, it is, but it isn't! I lied to you, Ashur! I didn't want to, but I couldn't help it. I told myself that I needed your help so I could put it off for a few days, then you got hurt and I could put it off for longer. But, after a while, it got easier and easier to ignore, and then I started feeling guilty and wrong, but I'd been putting it off for so long that it was getting easier and easier to keep the lie going!"

Her rambling came to a halt as she looked up at him. "I'm so sorry I lied," she whispered.

"About what?" he asked quietly. He thought he might have an idea but also knew that she needed to say it.

"About sending you home," she answered into her knees. "The tether has been open for weeks, but I just couldn't bring myself to send you back."

Ashur nodded. "I thought that's what the sad looks were for, but I figured it just meant that the time was getting close, not that it was ready." He heaved a giant sigh and stood. Taking her hand, he pulled her up as well. She looked up into his eyes and mistook the pain she saw there.

"You hate me, don't you?" She backed away from him and wrapped her arms around herself. "I don't blame you. I'd hate me too. I've kept you trapped here like a prisoner and you don't deserve that and I..."

Her self-recriminating ramble was cut short when he reached out and tapped her on the nose. She looked up at him, startled. He took her hand and started walking them back towards the house. He wanted to reassure her but was having a hard time deciding how to do it and wanted the time to get his thoughts in order.

In truth, he was in as much pain as she was. Not because she had lied to him. He completely understood the reasoning and emotions behind that and didn't blame her a bit. More than likely, he would have done the same thing in her place. If he were honest with himself, he would have been happy if she had never told him at all.

No, his pain came from knowing that, now it was in the open, she had no more excuses to let him stay. She had to send him back. He would do his best to convince her to give him just a bit more time, but he ultimately knew it was futile. She was right in that he wasn't part of the Library. He was a visitor, an interloper; no different than the long dead researchers who wandered the aisles for a few hours before going home.

He would have to leave and it broke his heart.

Several times on their walk back, he started to say something, but broke off. It wasn't until they were back in the house that he was finally able to articulate his thoughts. He pulled the still sniffling woman into a great hug and sat them both on the couch.

"I don't hate you," he said. "Far from it. You are an amazing person that I've come to care for and would call friend, if you'll let me." He tilted her face up toward his and saw the relief at his admission. "I've actually spent a great deal of time trying to find ways to convince you to let me stay here with you."

Giving her one last squeeze, he leaned back away from her and settled at one end of the couch so that he could face her. "Unfortunately, I haven't been able to come up with any good reason for you to let me stay permanently. You're right, I'm not a part of the Library. I'm not a caretaker or one of the first races. I can't do magic or heal like you do. Over the years, I've had to come to grips with the idea that I'm not the immortal that my twenty-year old self would like to have believed.

"I know that the monster that hurt both of us so badly isn't a one-time thing. There will be others and I'll probably be hurt just as bad or killed. Part of me is willing to accept that just so you're not alone here anymore."

He took a deep breath and let it out.

"But I also know that it would be worse when it did happen. Worse for you. I'm well aware that you like me too and don't want to see me get hurt any more than I want to see you injured. However, I do have a proposal for you."

He leaned forward and took one of her hands in his.

"Let me stay long enough to train you. It might be a few months or even a year, but, in that time, we can give you even more good memories and you'll be better able to defend yourself when I'm gone. I can also help you for as long as I'm here. I can watch your back and do my best to keep you safe. It'll be short term, but it's better than nothing."

The hope that brightened her features was fleeting and gone quickly. She withdrew her hand from his and backed away to the other end of the couch. Folding her hands in her lap, she looked down at the couch space between them and her head slowly moved from side to side.

"It won't work," she said softly. When she looked up at him, the pain and despair were back. "I want it to. You have no idea how much I want it to! I can see into your heart, Ashur. You are a good man and I want you to know that I think of you as a friend too, but it just won't work. The longer we keep going, the harder it will be to let go."

He knew she was right, but it didn't make him feel any better. He silently cursed whatever twist of fate or coincidence that had given them both this taste of goodness and then forced them to abandon it. Returning her penetrating gaze, he resolved to try one more time; even knowing it would do no good.

"Mera, I have nothing to go back to. You saw the same thing I did. Everyone I ever knew is dead and gone. My family was lost a long time ago and you watched my friends get slaughtered. They're all gone.

"I have no home to go back to. I've been with the army so long that I've had to walk away from any that I might have made many times. Truth be told, this is the longest I've stayed in one place since I enlisted. I've enjoyed my time here and, yes, I want to stay. Give me just long enough so that when I go, I'll know you will be safer. What's to keep us from enjoying this a little more?"

He reached out into the distance between them, his hands as pleading as his voice. She shifted in her seat and stared off into the distance.

After a moment or two, she answered him, still gazing off into empty space. "At what point do we end it?" she asked. "Say you stay to train me to fight. Where does the training end? What is the marker that declares me proficient enough to stop? When do I have enough happy memories of our time together to hold me for the rest of time? What is the end point that we both say is the time for you to go? Six months from now? A year? Five? Ten?

"We both know that we will keep moving the line. You want to stay and I want you to stay, so what is to keep us from lying to ourselves and each other as time goes on? If we set a time limit, then we will most likely extend it when we reach it. I know enough about fighting that there is never a point that you are done learning. We will keep making excuses until it's too late."

She looked back at him and clenched her fists on her thighs.

"I have to send you back."

They both sat silently for a long time. Finally, he spoke up.

"When?" he asked gloomily. She had tears again when she answered.

"Tomorrow. Early. If we wait any longer than that, we'll start this discussion over again and the excuses will keep piling up."

Nodding his reluctant agreement, he stood, turned, and held out a hand to help her up. When she shook her head, he nodded again and moved to the kitchen to make one last dinner.

***

They were sitting on the couch again some time later. He had pulled out all the stops for the meal. Wanting it to be special, he had made a small feast with as much variety as he could think of. The meal was spoiled, however, by their shared misery and neither had eaten very much. They had retired to the couch after cleaning up and taken their former places at each end.

Not able to keep silent any longer, the morose man turned to his companion.

"Is there anything I can help with before I go?"

Her low monotone answer was short. "No, thank you."

Neither of them moved as the evening wore on. As the lights dimmed, Ashur realized that he had one last request. Standing and offering his hand once again, his eyes pleaded with Mera to join him. She acquiesced and rose. He held onto her hand and lead her to his bedroom. Their eyes stayed glued to each other as they walked.

When they reached the edge of the bed, he drew her close and put his hand to the side of her face.

"Can I ask for one more night?"

Her answer was to turn her face up to meet his. Their lips met softly and timidly. Unlike most their previous couplings, he wanted this to be gentle.

He stroked the side of her face with his thumb and brought his other hand around to hold her. In return, both of her hands framed his own face and held him down in their kiss.

How long they stayed like that, neither could say. The kiss went on and on with both partners taking turns to keep it going. Eventually, Ashur began stroking Mera's back. When she melted into him, he reached up to the nape of her neck and undid the tie that held her dress in place. It unraveled and the top of her bodice fell to where their bodies were connected.

When he stepped away from her to remove his shirt, her dress fell the rest of the way to the floor. As soon as his chest was bare, she moved against him again. Her breasts felt hot where they touched his skin and he could feel her chest rising and falling rapidly. He leaned forward to press his lips to her neck and suckle gently there.

Mera moaned as swells of pink washed over her skin. Both of her hands grabbed at the muscles of his upper back and she leaned into his touch even more. Slowly, tracing every curve of her, his hands fell to her waist and he pulled her hips into his so she could feel his hardness and how much he wanted her.

Kissing her yet again, he leaned down to remove his shoes and trousers; giving a little laugh into her mouth when he stumbled a bit. He could feel her smile as she shared the humor.

Once he straightened, however, the amusement was gone, replaced by lust. Taking her by the waist, he easily lifted her and tenderly laid her in the middle of the bed. Taking a moment to appreciate her body one last time, he stood before her proud and erect. By the way her eyes traveled up and down him, he guessed that she was doing the same. He stood there for another few seconds, letting her fill as much of her memory as possible. He regretted that his own mind would be wiped clean of her and that he would not be able to look back on this as the joyous time it was.

Finally, not able to wait any longer, he crawled onto the bed with her and brushed the insides of her knees with his lips before moving up her body, leaving other soft kisses and licks as he went. Her soft sighs and gasps only fueled his own passion and, by the time he was laying fully on top of her, his penis was twitching visibly with his heartbeat.

However, as much as he wanted to move inside her, this would be their last time together and he wanted to savor it. Supporting himself by his hands and knees between her thighs, he took in her face and the cerise hue that colored her blue skin. Her eyes locked onto his and, for a moment, tears returned to them.

He understood those tears and leaned down to kiss each cheek as they trickled down across her temples. She brushed his face with light fingertips.

"This really is it, isn't it?" she whispered.

He nodded solemnly, unable to respond vocally.

"Then make this last. Make tonight something I can take with me through the years. I promise never to forget you and the time we had together, but I don't want to think about that now. Keep me in this moment."

She brought her legs up around his hips and tilted her pelvis until the head of his cock lay on her mound. Understanding what she wanted, he drew his own hips back until his tip slid down along her wetness. Finding the opening, he slid just the head in and stopped. She gasped as he spread her labia but held still and enjoyed the feeling with him.

As if following the laid-out steps of a dance, they moved together on cue. She put pressure on his hips with her feet at the same time that he hunched forward and lowly slid his length into her. When he bottomed out and felt his scrotum resting on her skin, they both stopped moving once more. Several times, they repeated the steps: moving and stopping, moving and stopping; doing their best to make the sensations distinct before continuing on. Eventually, as nerve-endings became more sensitized, they increased their speed, but still kept it easy and unhurried. They knew that this would be the first of many peaks and wanted to enjoy all of them.

Even at their leisurely pace, they were both close before either of them knew it and Mera only beat Ashur by a few seconds as she cried out in a voiceless moan and her body shuddered. Her legs wrapped around his hips, clamping him to her and the waves of grasping convulsions that stroked his immobile length were enough to set him off. He grunted hard with every pulse of his orgasm as his seed coated her insides. Even trapped within the confines of her legs, his hips still tried to thrust into her for several seconds. They both rode their respective climaxes for what seemed to be an eternity before the big man pulled out of her with an audibly wet noise and collapsed next to her. With her thighs still quivering and riding aftershocks, Mera rolled over and climbed on top of him. She lay her head on his chest and they enjoyed the intimate touch of body to body while their breathing settled.

They rested like that for some time until her scent and the feel of her naked body renewed his lust. Feeling himself harden, he caressed her back and sides, tracing the Words on her skin. When his cock brushed up against the inside of her thighs, she gasped and looked up at him. He smiled wickedly and grabbed her hips. Her answering giggle had them both chuckling, but she still wiggled down his body until she could feel him slide along her backside. She reversed her direction and reached between them to grasp his shaft. Smiling into his chest, she guided him once more into her and he felt their combined fluids lubricating his entry.

Suddenly it was her turn to give him a grin and she sat up. Raising off of him, she brought her hand to her pussy and scooped two fingers through the wet mess there. Settling his dick back inside her, she leaned back and reached behind her with the gooey hand. After a moment, her face took on a studied look which dissolved into one of enjoyment.

He felt the finger which she had used to penetrate her ass through the wall that separated the two canals. In the process of opening herself up, she was also playing with the underside of his cock and he was loving it. Her hips shifted again and then two fingers stroked him. The swaying woman moaned as she worked the two digits in and out of her ass. Her hips thrust against him in an effort to grind her clit against his pubic bone.

For his own part, Ashur reached up to grasp her breasts. He kneaded them firmly which increased the volume of her moans, especially when he occasionally pinched her blue nipples. She writhed on him and the flow of her arousal dripped between them. The heady smell of sex that had waned while they rested once again filled the air.

Still holding two fingers inside herself, Mera lifted her hips from his and rotated them with just a few inches of him remaining. She smiled as he groaned and gripped her chest even harder. He sucked air through his teeth when she dropped back down quickly. Repeating the process, she bounced up and down on his cock until he was certain that he would blow again. She felt that in the slight swelling inside her slippery vagina and lifted completely from him. His frustrated protest was quickly cut off when she slid his cock into her ass and slid down it.

The sensation of her tight anal grip was too much and he blew. Grabbing her thighs, his hips thrust up into her as his balls ejected their sticky contents into her bowels. With a satisfied smile, she leaned back, resting her hands on his legs and continued her movements all through his climax. It felt as though the tight ring of her sphincter was doing its level best to milk every drop of cum from him.

After a few moments, he regained his breath and senses. Noticing that her ass still held his softening girth inside her, his eyes settled on her face. The smile was still there, lighting up her entire countenance. Not wanting to let go of him, she kept her weight on his hips. Still supporting her weight on one thigh, she brought the hand that had not been in her ass down to her still wet pussy and started lazily stroking her clit.

He watched in fascination as the telltale strobing of pink washed across her skin in time with her hand. Brushing his hands along her skin, he held her just under her ribcage, trying to give her body more stability. Knowing that it would be at least a short time before he would start to get hard again, he enjoyed the sight of her pleasuring herself.

Her eyes, which had been locked onto his, squeezed shut and she bit her bottom lip as she got closer. Finally, she let him hold all of her weight and fondled one of her breasts with her other hand. The one that caressed her nub was moving faster and she panted heavily.

"Do it," he told her. "Let me see you cum. I want to feel it. Cum for me." Her eyes snapped wide at his words and her body quaked violently as she crested. The hand rubbing her breast stopped to pinch the nipple.

"Uunnngghhh...." she keened. Holding her tightly as she thrashed, he felt his own arousal growing inside her. Even through the wash of pleasure, she was aware of his erection expanding her ring and she was overcome by another orgasm. His mouth opened in astonishment when her pussy sprayed across his pelvis and stomach, drenching him in her cum. A hefty amount made it as far as his face and he licked his lips. The taste of her there made his cock even harder.

Not waiting for her to come down, he flipped them both over and pulled her legs up to her chest. His sudden re-positioning almost interrupted her pleasure until he began to thrust hard and fast into her ass. Another orgasm took hold of her body and all she could do was give herself over to it. Wracked again and again by the sensations coming from her rear, she writhed under him, her sex fountaining across his groin.

The wet slapping noise of their bodies coming together filled the room. Her flailing hands slapped at his shoulders. "Please," she whimpered. Her skin was a distinct pink now, the pulsing alternating colors were gone. "Oh please! Fill me! I can't take anymore! Please! Ooohhh!" As usual, her words sent him over the edge and he grabbed the sides of her ass, filling it once more. The pulsing of his penis as he came shot her skyward yet again and she collapsed underneath him once it had passed, insensate and unconscious. His testicles emptied the last of their contents and he fell on top of her, breathing hard and feeling his heart pounding against his ribs.

Eventually, he pushed his weight off of her and, rising to his knees, pulled his cum-coated cock from her gaping ass. He saw it twitching in response to being empty, almost as though trying to find him and suck him back in again. The outpouring of his cream mixed with the remnants of hers as it flowed down her and into the sheets.

Still catching his breath, he sat on the edge of the bed. Her breathing had calmed shortly after she had slipped into insensibility. Reaching out, the tired man brushed hair from her face and tucked it behind her ears.