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Disclaimer: Xena Warrior Princess and all the characters belong to Universal and the rest of those lucky guys. Character uses are for entertainment issues only and not to hurt any rights on them. As always.
Warning: We are talking about Xena here guys…so there is always the chance of something dangerous happening, in one way or the other ☺.
Anyway, this story contains scenes of two women finally getting a clue and acting on what the rest of the world has known long before them, so if you are under 18 years old, or this kind of story is forbidden where you live, please don’t read it.
Story Content: Well…our two favorite girls have just managed the whole issue with Lucifer and the Heart of Darkness thing…and now, have gotten to the point where what happened then was actually some kind of…clue…
***
The cry of an eagle overhead woke her, ripping her out of an uneasy sleep. She blinked several times to clear the fog out of her eyes, then sat up, rubbing her face with one hand.
It had been a long, restless night, with her more tossing and turning than anything else, and when she had finally managed to fall asleep, her dreams had been filled with darkness, and heat, and pictures that had shocked her to the core. Not because she wasn’t used to seeing them…but ever since she had faced off against the Lord of Hell, their intensity had grown to an unbearable extend.
A quick turn of her head told her that her daughter was still fast asleep, curled up under a blanket on the other side of the freshly made fire. That, however, indicated her friend was already up and about, and she raised her head a little more to be able to survey the campsite.
Gabrielle was nowhere to be seen, but next to the fire stood a small, silvery pot, and she smiled as she noticed the scent of her favorite tea wafting over to her.
It didn’t surprise her anymore that the bard would wake up before she did. Ever since she had been pregnant with Eve, Gabrielle had made some drastic changes in their routines. Meaning that she would always get up first to prepare food and do most of the chores, thereby ignoring the warrior’s protests for her to stop acting like she would be too weak, only allowing Xena the smallest of things since she thought her insisting on still fighting was hard enough work for a woman with child. With a baby in their life, they both hadn’t been sleeping much anyway, and since they had come back from the dead…well, Xena had just figured that the bard had gotten used to getting up early, and she herself to sleeping a little longer.
It had taken her some getting used to for sure, because the first time she had woken up after the bard, finding the camp already half broken down, the bard grinning at her from one ear to the other…one wrong word had been enough and the warrior had been close to exploding. She had been so angry, at Gabrielle for teasing her, at herself for obviously slowing down. She wasn’t that old, at least not too old for staying alert, and ready, and always being the first one to face the day with its challenges. It had felt as if she wasn’t the best of them anymore, and it had taken her a while and some straight talk from her friend to make clear that this had only been her hurt ego talking. It was just that now, Gabrielle was able to take care of both of them every now and then, and Gabrielle had told her that for her it was the greatest feeling to be able to finally give something back. And after a few days, the warrior had grumpily apologized for behaving like a harpy, and promised she would take the offered help, and finally try to slow down a little.
That had been some time ago, and today, waking up knowing the bard was somewhere nearby scouting, or hunting, whatever it was the start of the day needed to be done, gave her a warm, calming feeling. It was alright.
Gabrielle…the dark haired woman sighed and stood, stretching her long body out. It had been her picture that had haunted her through most of the night. Xena bit her lip, raising a hand to push some of her dark, unruly hair out of her face.
Maybe that whole affair with Mephistopheles and that gods be damned Archangel had made a bigger imprint on her senses than she had thought at first. Not the darkness. No, she was so used to that by now, to her evil past and the part inside her that always whispered to her to turn back to it accompanying her every day, she barely noticed it anymore. To tell the truth, every now and then she even dared reveling in it for a short while, letting the animal out, not long, just the barest of moments, but long enough to be able to taste the fire and passion on her tongue again.
A long time ago, when she had faced off against herself in that dreamscape to rescue Gabrielle, she had accepted that the darkness was a part of her. It would always be there, lurking in a corner deep inside her soul, waiting for a moment of weakness, a moment of fading light to break through the surface again. She had accepted that there was nothing she could do to get rid of it, however, she had learned to make it part of her life again without letting it take control. It had been a hard lesson, with her almost giving up more than once, but she had managed, and now knew the beast to be tamed unless she allowed it a moment to breathe again.
Just like it had happened when holding out her hand to Gabrielle for that dance.
Xena sighed again, shaking her head slowly. She had absolutely no idea why she had done this. Well…actually she knew why she had done this. What she couldn’t figure out was why she had allowed things to go out of control like that. At first, it had only been meant to lure Lucifer deeper into her little game of lust and desire. Involving Gabrielle in it to urge him into action had been the most logical thing for her to do. But the moment those deep green eyes had met hers and the bard had followed her call, had touched her…she had felt her hold on things slip too quickly for her to be able to do anything about it.
The warrior bent her head slightly as a sound alerted her, and a thin smile came as she turned into the direction it had come from, slowly walking out of the little clearing they had chosen for their camp into the woods that surrounded them.
Three summers after they had met had she realized that she was falling for her blond companion. It had been little signs that had made her aware of it at first, like not being able to keep from allowing Gabrielle to hug her anymore. Years had she spent to establish her façade as the untouchable Warrior Princess. All it took was one small, cute girl from some backwater swamp to throw that reputation right into the next river. Like her starting to search food and other little things she knew the bard would like, starting to pick out nicer spots to make camp, starting to pay better attention to the stories she got told. To others, those things might have been nothing out of the ordinary. To the warrior, they were as far from her usual self as they could be.
She remembered the night she had admitted those feelings to herself all too well. The night of being faced with Gabrielle’s death after the bard had fallen into the lava pit with her evil child. A night so full of loneliness, and self hatred, and grief that until that day she had no idea how she had survived it. A night spend staring into the flames of the small fire she had lit at her camp, thinking of her friend. Thinking about all the things she had left unsaid. Thinking about how big a coward she had been for never even daring to take a step towards telling Gabrielle how she truly felt.
When she had found her again, the relief had been so great that almost, almost, had she screamed her feelings out loud on the wave of joy of having Gabrielle back. But the situation hadn’t allowed room for any sentimental talks, and so she had put it off. For later.
Funny, though, how much time had passed until she remembered it being later. Too late, once more, as they had been put on crosses, about to die next to each other. She had said it then, that the bard was the best thing in her life. And Gabrielle had said that she loved her. It had been what she had always wanted it to be. And still…the situation had forbidden her to believe it to be more than mind clouded words of saying goodbye. When they had been brought back again, when she had finally worked up the nerve to ask Gabrielle outright if what she had said then was the truth…well, being pregnant from a once evil enemy hadn’t helped the matter. So she had put it off. Again…
That dance, and the dreams that had followed…showed her that she wouldn’t be able to push it away one more time. She couldn’t do it. Not anymore.
So many summers ago she had thought her feelings to be just an attraction, the simple reaction of a body that had been lonely and untouched for a far too long time. When she had allowed herself to believe that she had fallen for Gabrielle, she had been so sure that, given time and a little space, these feelings would pass.
They hadn’t.
And now, after finding herself fantasizing not only about having Gabrielle in her bed but as a constant lifebond as well…she knew that what she felt for the young woman was by far more than she had ever imagined possible.
A few more steps brought her out of the woods again, and she followed a small path towards the little lake they had been fishing in for dinner the previous night. The sun was coming up the moment she raised her eyes and spotted the bard, obviously deeply lost in thought, sitting near the shore, her hand every now and then throwing little stones into the water. The golden light filtered through her short hair, making it shine even brighter than it usually did, and the reflection of gently rippling waves on her face gave the features of a grown woman a very charming, soft and enticing glow.
The warrior couldn’t help but smile as she slowly walked towards her, once again feeling that pull inside her chest that always only wanted her close to her friend.
Well…feeling that, and actually acting on what she felt, were two very, very different things!
She knew she needed no excuse to be sitting next to Gabrielle, or hug her, or place their bedrolls next to each other. That…was the easy part. The hard part was not doing more than what Gabrielle was used to from her. Because being in love with someone and not do something that would give a hint on what was going on, was close to the hardest thing Xena had ever done.
She had never allowed herself to think that the bard would feel what she felt in return. She always held on to the thought that Gabrielle loved her like a sister, not more. Sure, there had been moments…moments when she could have sworn that the way Gabrielle was looking at her, was watching her when thinking it to go unnoticed, had changed too. Moments when the way the bard had curled up to her at night, the way she had touched her arm, caressed her cheek, had felt so warm and loving it had been close to impossible for her to hold on to her believe that it only meant friendship. And every time it had come to that, every time the bard had been close…so close that it would have been easy to just take the last step, take the risk…Xena had gotten scared again. Suddenly faced with the reality of it being just her wishful thinking.
Because deep down, she knew she still was who she used to be. And after everything that had happened to them, she knew the bard knew that as well.
“You up already?”
The light voice brought her out of her musings and she hurried to force another smile on her face as she reached her friend and sat down next to her.
“Yeah.” The bard nodded slowly, her gaze still fixed on the gently rippling water.
“I thought you would be sleeping through the whole day after what happened to you.” Xena swallowed down the sudden lump in her throat.
“Nah…I mean…I couldn’t sleep…I was tired… but…” She stopped, mentally rolling her eyes at herself. ‘Very subtle Xena, not the least bit suspicious.’
“I couldn’t sleep, either.”
Something was in her voice that unsettled the warrior. She sounded…not sad, really, but somehow…down, somehow unsure, somehow not herself. The dark haired woman pulled her legs up under her, crossing her arms on them, and turned her head to look at the bard’s profile.
“Are you…feeling all right?” A quick shrug was more than enough answer for her.
“I don’t know. And you?” Xena gave a short laugh.
“You mean, am I still feeling like the Queen of Hell? No…but it does leave a scar, doesn’t it?”
Gabrielle said nothing, but she didn’t need to anyway. She had felt it too, that vibrating jolt of excitement and darkness that had burned inside her soul during the whole thing. It had made her see things, know things, feel things…well, it was exactly why she was sitting there, gazing at the beautiful profile of the woman she wanted more than anything else in her life…and afraid of telling her.
“Every one of us has a dark side Gabrielle. That’s what I always told you. This whole thing just made you more aware of it, but that doesn’t mean…” The bard shrugged again.
“That doesn’t bother me Xena. I have known that for a long time, and I am not afraid of it anymore.”
Xena sighed, lifting one hand to rub over her face. No matter how much time would pass, she knew the bard would never forgive herself for past mistakes. And why should she? The warrior wouldn’t forgive herself either.
“Eve is still sleeping, by the way. Think she will ever forgive me?” Green eyes slowly turned to meet clear blue ones, and the flash of a smile shone on the bards face too quick for Xena to be able to return it.
“She already has Xena. She knows you didn’t do those things on purpose.”
“Not all of them, no.”
The questioning look on Gabrielle’s face made her all too aware of the fact that she had just said something she better should have kept silent about. Maybe not to Gabrielle, but to herself it opened up a path to what exactly her dreams had been about. And back to the never ending question why she was still too scared to admit it.
“What are you talking about?”
After all the years they had spent together, it was easy for the warrior to guess what her friend might be thinking or about to say. She had expected that question the moment she had realized her mistake. And yet…the answer to that was too hard for her to speak out loud. She gave a quick shake of her head, concentrating her gaze back on the rippling water, silently hoping the bard would just let it go.
“Never mind. You are right, I didn’t say those things to intentionally hurt her.”
“Okay…”
The voice of the blond woman held a strange undertone, one that let the warrior know she had expected something more, but the silence that had hung between them earlier built up again, leaving her free of any more necessary explanations.
The sun rose higher, bathing both of them in its warm, golden light, and for a few seconds the warrior closed her eyes, letting her body relax a little, enjoying the feel of sunlight on her face. In moments like this, she sometimes found herself wondering why life couldn’t always be like that. Just her and her bard, sitting somewhere quiet and safe, talking about everything and nothing at all, just being with one another…maybe that was the whole problem. Their life was so hectic, so full of danger and pain and broken dreams that there was no room left to believe in something as beautiful and fragile as falling for someone. Maybe that was why she never found the courage to admit her feelings to her friend. Because she knew that no matter what would come out of that, would never be able to survive in a world filled with darkness like theirs had come to be.
“Xena…about that dance…”
Blue eyes popped wide open, and the warrior could feel her heart starting to pound so hard it felt like coming out of her chest.
“I wanted to…I…gods, I don’t know how to say this…”
The bard’s voice sounded frustrated now, and all of a sudden panic rose inside the warrior, making her whole body start to shake, and her throat go dry, and her mind spin. She swallowed down that lump in her throat again, almost choking on it, and dared turning her face towards the blond woman once more, fighting hard to keep a mild, disinterested expression. Sure that she was failing helplessly.
“What about it?” Her voice was shaking like the rest of her, and by the little frown building, she could guess the other woman heard it well.
“I just wanted to…I mean…I think I need to explain someth…”
“Gabrielle, wait.”
Surprised green eyes met her gaze, and the dark haired woman could feel something inside her soul starting to grow cold. She was such a fool! Of course her friend would feel uncomfortable with the whole thing, and instead of apologizing to her, telling her that she never meant to hurt her, she just sat there mulling over the possibility of Gabrielle wanting her just the same!
‘Such a fool…she would never…you are such a fool!...’
“Listen I…I think I am the one that should explain something to you.” she finally said, glad that her voice seemed to catch back on to its usual deep, vibrating tone.
“That dance…was just to urge that bastard into action. It never…it never was my intention to…”
She had to stop, and get up from her sitting position, making two quick steps that brought her to the water’s edge, and her back to Gabrielle, and allowed her to flee from the suddenly too deep, too intense look she had been caught in by those deep green pools.
“I am sorry if I made you feel…uncomfortable, or something like that. Just…I never…” There was a hint of defeat in her voice now, and Xena sighed, grinding her teeth together, unconsciously balling her hands into fists.
“It wasn’t meant to hurt you, Gabrielle.”
During the silence that followed, she could hear the water gurgling, and a soft breeze flowing through the grass underneath her feet, and the cry of a hawk sounding from far away. She could also hear soft movement behind her, and an almost inaudible sigh, and after seconds ticking by that felt like a lifetime, she felt the warmth of the blondes body next to her own again.
“It didn’t.” The warrior slowly shook her head.
“I am damn glad about that, because that was surely one of the most crazy ideas I ever had.”
“It was?” Was there some kind of mischief in the bard’s voice? Xena frowned. It was hard to tell…
“Well, of course it was! Trying some sexy little erotic dance number to get some attention? How stupid was that?!”
The summer breeze picked up around them, and Xena thought she could hear a gentle laugh being carried away on it.
“I don’t know…but it sure worked.” Xena rolled her eyes, then turned her head, giving her friend an exasperated look.
“Oh yeah it sure did. He had one hell of a time…”
She stopped as the absurdity of her words registered. Their eyes met, and gentled, and then they were both laughing, their voices ringing out over the small lake. It took them both a while to calm down again, but it seemed to help, two tensed up bodies slowly starting to relax, two thundering heartbeats slowly starting to ease.
Xena took a deep breath, glad that the bard didn’t seem as upset as she had feared her to be. She allowed herself a few moments of luxury to watch the other woman laugh, the way her face was glowing now, the way the skin around her eyes crinkled up, the way her voice carried those small little chuckles. She was…breathtaking.
The bard noticed her staring, and stopped laughing, bending her head a little, her eyes suddenly filled with some kind of challenge. Some kind of…renewed darkness. Something that was way too alluring for the warrior princess not to get caught on at once.
“I wasn’t talking about him.”
It struck her like a bolt of lightning. She could only stand there and fall into that deep, mesmerizing gaze as it slowly got darker, then came closer, until the bard was standing right in front of her. So close, so very close now that Xena could hear her whole being screaming at her to reach out.
“Xena I…somehow that whole thing with Lucifer, and that darkness that took hold of me…it made me realize something I have been wondering about for a long time now.”
She knew she should say something. She was sure there were a lot of things perfectly fit for a situation like this. Thousands of ways for her to react to what she sensed was happening between them. Fight it. Embrace it. But all she could do was stand there, and trust the bard to, once again, find the courage she couldn’t.
“I think I have been…waiting…for something like this to happen. For you to…call out to me…”
Her bard. Always the poet. The blond woman looked at her, and Xena could see something in her eyes change again. She seemed to falter, seemed to draw back, seemed to…
‘Say something! ANYTHING! Do something, you stupid piece of…!’
“I am sorry Xena, I don’t know what…”
For years she had feared that moment. The moment when she would do something that wouldn’t leave a single doubt as to what her true feelings were. So many times she had imagined it, how Gabrielle would react, how she herself would feel, how this moment would change things between them forever. So many times had she thought about what she would say, what she would do, what she could come up with to make the other woman understand…
A kiss.
It was the simplest way possible.
Yet it did change everything.
Forever.
Countless times had she been lying away long into the night, long after Gabrielle had said good night and fallen asleep, looking to the star filled sky above, her thoughts taunting her with images of her and Gabrielle being together, of holding her, touching her, kissing her…not one of them had come close to what this kiss now was doing to her.
The bards lips were soft, so soft she at first though she had just imagined touching them with hers. So she leaned in closer, deepened the contact, only to find herself sinking into that incredible softness more, deeper, longer, until time, and space, and eternity weren’t more than a sliver of memory on the far edges of her mind.
Had she expected for their first real kiss to drive her insane, make her crazy with want, and need, and desire, it did just that, but instead of losing control, Gabrielle’s kiss centered her in a way nothing else ever had before. Never before had she felt that calm, that sure, that free…nothing had ever been able to touch her soul like this, nothing had ever been able to let her feel alive like she had just been born anew.
She had no idea how much time passed, thousands of years could have slipped through her fingers in this moment for all she cared, as slowly, ever so slowly, Gabrielle pulled back, and the incredible warmth of her touch vanished. Her skin tingled everywhere their lips had tasted one another, and Xena kept her eyes closed, as if not allowing sight back to reality would be able to keep the memory of what they had just shared forever. Then the touch of a gentle hand on her cheek, hesitant, yet loving, and as she dared open her eyes nonetheless, only then did she realize the bard was catching a lone tear that was about to fall.
Green eyes searched her face, and she couldn’t turn away from them, knew that in this moment, she wasn’t able to hide anything from her friend, her bard, her soulmate. And she wouldn’t. Destiny had already stolen too much from them. She wouldn’t see one more chance going to waste because of her fear.
“I am in love with you, Gabrielle.”
It was so easy to say that, all of a sudden. And hard as she might have tried, she couldn’t remember why she ever had thought it impossible for her to make the blond woman understand. Just those words, that was all it took. And she could see, in the flash of light dancing through those beseeching green orbs that the bard, indeed, did understand.
“For a long time now. I know.”
The bard’s voice sounded so much deeper than usual, deep and vibrating and sensual, almost like a dangerous purr, and Xena could feel a shiver crawl down her spine. And she could now, too, see the slight flush on the cheeks of her friend, and the little nervous trembling on her lips, and the hint of fear barely hidden being reflected back to her…
“Just as long as you have been. I know.”
The blond woman blinked, and swallowed, and just as she was about to pull her hand away, Xena reached for it, holding it gently, pulling the bard closer again, so close that she could feel her breath on her face.
“Dance with me.” Her own voice reduced to a purely erotic drawl.
“I…Xena I can’t. I…”
“…am afraid? Me too.”
A question in those eyes again, and this time, she didn’t fear answer it. The kiss they had just shared had told her everything she needed to know. What she felt. What Gabrielle felt. How much more painful their future was about to get. She knew now. She knew.
“Of what this is doing to me. To you. To us. Of the part of it that I know is darkness, and desire, and has nothing to do with the light and hope love brings.”
Her other hand came up, stroking through the short blond bangs, caressing the soft skin of a cheek, and she smiled at the way the bard almost unconsciously leaned into her touch.
“But there IS that, Gabrielle. The light is still there. You taught me that. And I trust you, us, to be able to keep it, hold on to it just like we will hold on to the darkness that allows us to…stop being scared.”
She kissed her again, more passionate this time, and couldn’t keep back a groan as the bard returned the kiss eagerly, the softness of her lips being replaced by the seductive caress of her tongue demanding entrance, and she allowed it, meeting each gentle taste, each hungry touch stroke by stroke, feeling the heat settle in the center of her being, feeling her blood start rushing through her veins, hearing the growl of the animal within.
They both were breathing hard as they separated this time, both looking deeply into the others eyes, searching, calling, fearing, daring. Gabrielle raised a shaking hand to push a strand of hair out of her face, slowly shaking her head, starting to step away from the warrior.
“We shouldn’t…Xena, we shouldn’t do this.” The warrior nodded, a seductive smile playing on her lips.
“You are right. We shouldn’t.”
The bard stared at her, irritation slowly giving way to desire as the undertone in Xena’s voice registered. She allowed the warrior closer once more as she went, allowed her into the simmering heat that erupted the moment their bodies got near each other. The dark haired woman raised a hand, held it out for her friend to take.
For a moment, nothing was there. Nothing except them, nothing except the decision that was Gabrielle’s and hers alone to make.
As the blond woman took her hand, entwining their fingers, the warmth of her touch sent a shockwave through the warrior’s body.
They shared another smile, gentle this time, trusting, loving, and then Xena pulled her closer still, her other hand coming to rest softly on the bards hip she started to sway to some unheard melody, some inner rhythm that seemed to vibrate through their connection, so much so that Gabrielle easily picked up on it, following her lead, letting her pull her deeper into the unknown fog that started to engulf them. That made them unaware of anything else except each other’s bodies, and breathings, except each other’s feelings and desires.
For some endless moments, they danced like this, allowing their skin to touch just the slightest bit, both needing the time to get used to the way their souls suddenly screamed out for the other to take what was hers. The sun slowly crossed the sky, the wind picked up again, blowing petals of summer flowers over the clear water and into Xena’s open hair, and the bard smiled as she reached out to pull one out, the soft white blossom a stark contrast to the deep blackness of the warriors unruly locks.
She looked at it, stroking it softly, and for the warrior princess it was as if she could watch some kind of understanding run over her features. The moment was gone as fast as it had happened, and then Gabrielle was pulling her head down, locking their lips in another passionate kiss that almost robbed her off her breath.
Xena moaned softly as the bard pulled away again, and now, could clearly see the desire burning in the green eyes. She raised a seductive eyebrow, then moved both her hands to the bards hips to be able to turn her around, having Gabrielle face the lake while she stepped up behind her, the short blond hair and thin straps of her top giving her easy access to the bards neck.
She let her hands wander over the smooth skin of Gabrielle’s arms while she kissed first her shoulder, then her neck, and as she bit into it with a possessive growl, she raised them above Gabrielle’s head and back, an evil gleam appearing as the blond woman complied, strong fingers reaching into her long tresses, and a low moan told her how much her friend actually wanted what was about to happen between them. Her hands roamed freely now, stroking cloth, and skin, changing between gentle, almost ghostlike brushes and firm strokes barely hiding her desire.
It took her a mere second to open the straps at the bards back, and as she slowly, almost carefully brushed down the top to reveal the blond woman’s breasts, she only belatedly got aware of holding her breath.
The first touch was…intoxicating. They both moaned out loud at it, and Xena buried her face in the curve of Gabrielle’s neck, kissing, licking, biting, while her fingers lovingly explored the softness, stroked, caressed, until all the bard was able to do was whimper and press her back harder against the warrior, trying desperately to get even closer.
It felt wonderful.
So good that she suddenly feared for it to be one of those dreams she kept having, about this, about Gabrielle admitting her feelings for her, about them finally giving in to that desire that kept haunting her mercilessly during the nights. She stopped what she was doing, she had to, for fear that in any moment Gabrielle would disappear again, out of her embrace, and leave her alone with that craving need inside that was short of driving her insane.
The bard surely sensed that something was going on, for she turned around and faced her, and the warrior had to fight the urge to let her eyes wander. No, no she needed to look into those green ones that had caught her attention from the very first time she had fallen into them, had to, needed to see that this…was real.
Gabrielle smiled.
“Don’t worry. It is…”
Then she closed the distance between them, pulling the surprised warrior into a kiss destined to erase everything but their touch from her mind…
Four candlemarks later found them locked in yet another loving kiss, both submerged in cool water except for their heads, with Gabrielle threading her arms around Xena’s neck, and the warrior slowly stroking up and down her naked back.
It had taken them until just a few moments before to finally quiet the hunger for one another, one of them constantly starting the fire again with just the slightest of touches, igniting a flame that had been simmering inside both of them for too long to be tamed with just one moment of lust an desire. They hadn’t been able to get close enough, hands reaching, lips searching, bodies fusing tightly in a burning spiral of passion and want, both women in desperate need to assure the other of the feelings that lay beneath every single touch.
Together they had soared, each moaning the name of the other as the heat between them erupted, both panting heavily as the first wave subsided. But it hadn’t been enough for either of them. No, never enough.
The warrior had been the first to catch her breath, and urged on by the still raging storm inside her body had started a slow, tantalizing journey of kisses over the blond woman’s skin, trying to imprint every sound, every taste, every smell into her memory. That journey had ended with Gabrielle begging her for release, and for the sweetest moment ever as she had held onto her as the waves crashed against shore and the bard screamed out her love for her friend, their eyes locked, and Xena had seen every single emotion so clearly reflected in the green seas under her she had been close to tears.
They had rested a little after that, the bard lovingly stroking through her hair, and down her neck, and it had been so relaxing and peaceful the warrior had actually slipped off for a few moments. Only to wake up tangled in a raging wave of the bards passion, nails scratching her skin, teeth biting it, and the most delicate of kisses given by the bards tongue as it had dipped into the need the bard’s touch had instantly awakened between her legs. Never in her life had she felt anything as exquisite as that, and the explosion it created left her out of speech, and out of breath, only able to lay trembling helplessly in Gabrielle’s embrace with the bard whispering soothing words of love to her.
It had felt…perfect…
“What are you thinking about?” Gabrielle’s voice was still a little rough, and Xena smiled as she reopened her eyes, meeting the green orbs that were close, very close, to her own.
“You need to ask?” The bard blushed, and Xena husked a laugh at that before she kissed her again.
“What happens now?” Gabrielle asked when she pulled away again. Xena sighed.
“I am afraid we have to get back sometimes sooner or later. Even though…” and she growled a little, pulling the bard hard against her body, sighing at the instant heat that touch created between them despite the cold water they were in.
“Xena!” The bard rolled her eyes, but smiled nonetheless, leaning forward to nibble her lip.
“You know what I am talking about, don’t you?” Clear blue eyes watched her seriously.
“I do.”
There were things they needed to talk about. How to go on after what they had just shared. How to deal with the aftereffect of it, and what it would do to their lives now that they had crossed the one line they never thought of crossing. How to fit their desire and love for one another into a life that never allowed for anything like this to last forever. So many things to talk about. So many things…
“I love you, Xena.”
The warrior smiled.
That was all she needed to talk about.
For now.
The End
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