Adverse Reactions
By Shea
(September, 1998)
DISCLAIMER: The characters of Xena, Gabrielle and Argo belong to MCA/Universal Television and Renaissance Pictures This piece is not meant to garner any profit or step on anybody's toes. Again, as in my first piece I beg the forgiveness of the real-life portrayers of these characters. I plead the lack of a life.
WARNING: If you're underage and smut is illegal where you dwell, reading this could prove harmful to your health. There is very definitely graphic lesbian love in here for those of you who also don't have a life (or wish to improve upon the one you have). You all have been warned.
THANK YOU: To Tim, the Scroll-Poster. Brigid smiles down on him.
(You're probably wondering how I can have two first-time stories. Well, I had an over-active imagination. First times come in many forms. This is probably what would have happened to me.)
Sh…unk. Sh…unk. Xena gave her sword blade one more pass with the whetstone. Sh…unk.
"Xena? What's this?" Gabrielle pulled a longish, cylindrical piece of smooth, highly-polished wood from the bottom of Xena's saddlebag by a leather strap.
"What's what, Gabrielle?" the warrior asked, running her eyes and fingertips along her newly-sharpened blade.
"This." The bard held the item up with a thumb and forefinger. It swayed slowly at the end of one of its two straps.
Xena raised her dark head and looked toward the bard standing across the campfire from her. When she noticed what her friend was holding, the blue eyes quickly went back to inspecting her weapon. "It's nothing important, Gabrielle. Just put it back in the bag."
The blond held the curiosity piece in front of her face and studied it. She noticed it was rounded at one end and ridged and flared at the other. Running her hand along its length she saw that there were little wales that ran around it about an inch from the oval end to about halfway up. The straps were attached to the flared end and were adjustable. "Does it have a name?" she persisted.
Thanks to deepening shadow, the warrior's flushed cheeks weren't noticeable to the bard. "Gabrielle, you can name it anything you like. Just put it back."
"Ok." Must be a piece of tack or something. Gabrielle ran her hand along it one more time and reluctantly placed it back in the bottom of Xena's saddlebag and pulled out the oilcloth she actually had been searching for when she found the unusual item. She took the cloth over to her friend who smiled up at her.
"Thank you." She gratefully accepted the proffered oilcloth.
Gabrielle sat down not far from the warrior on the piece of deadfall they had been using as a sofa. She leaned back against the boulder behind her to watch Xena polish her sword. She loved seeing her friend's hands work with her weapons. Long, graceful fingers lovingly caressed the lethal metal. The young bard shook her head vigorously to clear her mind's eye of the vision of those dark hands gently and slowly running up and down the length of her outstretched legs.
Blue eyes, almost black in the growing darkness, looked concernedly to her small friend. "Are you ok?"
"Uh. Yeah." Gabrielle was still shaken at how real the vision had seemed.
"You sure?"
The bard smiled sheepishly. "Yeah, I'm sure. Seeing things that aren't there." She gave a little laugh.
"Tell me you didn't put henbane in the nutbread, Gabrielle," the warrior teased as she returned to the loving care of her weapon.
"Ha!" the bard laughed a little too loudly. "No. No, Xena. No henbane."
Xena worked and Gabrielle continued to watch those magnificent hands move so passionately along the length of her sword. She got hot and cold running chills up and down her spine. Gods! She thought. My body is ready to jump out of its skin. My heart is pounding like ten Amazon drummers. What's wrong with me? She closed her eyes and leaned her head back. Sweat beaded her upper lip and forehead.
Xena looked up at her suddenly quiet little friend, and she frowned as she noticed Gabrielle's rapidly rising and falling chest and the sheen to her face. She looked down at the bard's hand which was rubbing her thigh. She laid her sword down and moved over to her friend's side. Sweet mother of Zeus! She looks sick.
"Gabrielle," Xena said softly as she laid the back of her hand against the bard's forehead. "Come on, sweetie. What's the matter?"
Gabrielle opened her eyes to see worried pools of blue staring into her face. "Xena?"
"Tell me what's wrong." The warrior chafed a clammy, small hand between her large ones.
"I don't know, Xena." The bard looked a little alarmed, and that wasn't like her.
"Well, where does it hurt?"
"It doesn't. I mean, not really a hurt. More like a dull ache." Gabrielle ran her free hand through her hair. "Gods, Xena. I can't explain it. I've never felt this way before exactly."
"Exactly?" Xena looked confused, but so did Gabrielle.
"Yeah. I felt something like this after my wedding." She looked at her worried friend. "But it wasn't exactly like this. This is more…intense."
"Can't be the food or I'd be sick, too," Xena assured her.
Gabrielle shook her head. "Nah. It's not the food, I'm pretty sure." The bard finally realized that Xena was holding her hand tightly, and she suddenly felt very secure, but minataurs were doing Amazon dances in her stomach again.
"Does your stomach ache?" Xena asked, wiping the beads of sweat off the bard's upper lip with her thumb.
"No," she replied as she inhaled the scent of leather and oil from her friend's hand. Her stomach lurched suddenly. "Yes," she amended. She swallowed hard and felt relief and regret when Xena removed her hand.
"I think you'd better hit the bedroll." Xena stood and helped the shaky blond to her feet. "Get your shift out of your saddlebag, and I'll get your bed ready."
"Ok." Gabrielle slowly made her way over to where her bag lay and retrieved her sleep shift. She turned in time to see Xena shake out her own bedroll next to hers. When she had finished, the warrior looked up to see Gabrielle standing there staring at her and hugging her shift to her chest.
"Come on." The warrior gestured to the bedroll. She stood and waited for Gabrielle to reach her. "Here. Let me help you." She took the bard's shift and flung it over her own shoulder, then she reached for the laces on the green top. She gently began to undo them. As her fingertips lightly brushed against the sensitive skin just above Gabrielle's breasts, the bard's stomach did a 360-degree roll, and her green eyes got huge.
"Excuse me, Xena!" The blond quickly turned and stumbled off into the nearby bushes.
Xena's lips tightened as she heard the distinct sounds of her friend losing her dinner in the brush. Hades, what kind of bug has she picked up? The warrior walked across the campsite and grabbed the waterskin. Taking a rag and some mint from a saddlebag, she went back to the bedrolls to wait for Gabrielle's return.
The bard walked slowly back to her bedroll where Xena waited patiently. Her arms were folded across her chest, and Gabrielle's shift still lay over her shoulder.
"Feel better?" Xena asked with a smile.
"Yeah. A little."
"Good. Here." The warrior handed her the waterskin. "Rinse your mouth out, then chew on this mint Might settle your stomach."
Gabrielle did as Xena bade her and felt a little better for it. The warrior next took the rag, which she had wet with water from the waterskin, and wiped the bard's face and neck. She then helped her off with the rest of her clothes and slipped the shift over the blond head.
"Thank you, Xena," Gabrielle said softly as she slid under her blanket.
"You're welcome. That's what friends do." She began to remove her own clothes in preparation of going to take a quick dip in the river before donning her own shift. "Is there still a dry towel for me?" she asked the bard.
"Yes. I saw one in your saddlebag."
"Good. You try and go to sleep. I'll be back in just a few minutes."
"Ok." Gabrielle rolled over onto her side facing the fire and watched Xena.
The warrior picked up her saddlebag and pulled out the towel which lay at the bottom. As she did so, the polished wood caught her eye, and she chuckled to herself. Oh, Gabrielle, if you only knew what this was for. She threw the bag down and whistled shrilly. A few seconds later Argo came trotting into the campsite. Xena led her over near the bedrolls.
"Guard!" Argo bobbed her head in response as though she were assuring her mistress that she would indeed do just as the warrior had ordered.
Xena walked into the bushes that led to the river, and Gabrielle closed her eyes. She couldn't for the life of her figure out what was ailing her. She felt just fine now, but every time she thought of Xena's touch or she saw those hands in her mind's eye, her stomach did flips and her skin got sweaty. The same thing had happened with Perdicus, except with Xena, the reactions were more extreme. At least she hadn't thrown up when Perdicus had touched her. The warrior had touched her on many occasions. Why all of a sudden did it make her feel jumpy and queasy? A few minutes later, she heard Xena coming back through the bushes.
"It's just me, Gabrielle," she said as she entered the clearing.
The bard opened her eyes to acknowledge her friend. The warrior walked over to the fire and towel dried her wet hair. Her skin was golden in the light of the flames, and she was butt naked. She looked toward Gabrielle and smiled. "How're ya doin'?" She shook her hair back, running her fingers through it to rid the chestnut tresses of their tangles. Her breasts stood out firm and proud.
"I'm fine, thanks," Gabrielle croaked out of a dry throat.
"Well, I'm glad." Xena slipped her shift over her head and strolled over to Argo. Patting her on the neck, she said, "Good girl. You can go get some sleep now."
Argo nudged her mistress and wiggled her lips against Xena's cheek. Then she turned and trotted off to the little grassy clearing she was calling home.
"She really loves you, Xena," Gabrielle commented.
The warrior smiled and slipped under her warm blanket. "I love her, too. We've been through a lot together. I'd be lost without her." She turned her head to look at her young friend. "Like I'd be lost without you."
Gabrielle raised her head to rest on her hand. "Really, Xena?"
"Really. You've become a part of me. I can't even imagine being out here on my own anymore. I don't think I could take the loneliness." She lay back with her hands behind her head and sighed a deep sigh of contentment. She looked up into the sky and watched light clouds flit across the moon.
"I know that I really love you," the blond said softly. "You've become almost everything to me."
"That's nice, Gabrielle. I love you, too." She reached over and brushed the hair back off of the bard's forehead. She let her hand slide slowly down the side of the young woman's face, letting it come to rest briefly on her cheek.
Gabrielle closed her eyes and leaned into the palm of Xena's hand. She again felt her stomach jump but knew this time it wasn't going to be a problem. "It's you," the bard said huskily.
Xena had placed her hand back under her head. "What's me, Gabrielle?"
"The reason for my sweating and jumpy stomach."
Xena laughed. "What? Are you trying to tell me I make you sick?"
"It appears so." Gabrielle had a look of befuddlement on her face.
"You know, I've been accused of many things but not once to my knowledge has one of my best friends run off to barf in the bushes." The warrior raised an eyebrow. "Am I that repulsive to you?"
"By the Gods, Xena!" Gabrielle protested. "You are anything but repulsive. You're the most beautiful creature I've ever had the good fortune to lay eyes on."
Xena eyed her friend curiously. "Thank you. I think." She narrowed her eyes. "If you think I'm so comely, how come the adverse reaction?"
"Oh, Xena, that's a good one. 'Adverse reaction.' Gotta remember that." Gabrielle had absolutely no idea how to answer her friend's question. "Can't help ya, I'm afraid. I simply don't know."
"Hm-m," Xena responded, gaze headed back up to the heavens.
The bard laid her head down on her arm, but she still kept her eyes on her dark friend. The warrior looked as though she were deep in thought. There was a far away look in the steel blue eyes. Gabrielle was content just to watch her lie there in her deep contemplation of the cosmos.
Slowly the blue eyes turned to the bard. The look on her face caused Gabrielle to swallow hard. The tenderness and concern that radiated from those eyes made the young woman's stomach back flip again, but she kept a hold on it. Gods! What is this? Have I developed some kind of allergy to my best friend?
Xena noticed the light sheen of sweat return to her friend's face. "Don't do it here," she warned with a slight smile.
Gabrielle swallowed again. "No. I'm alright. Really."
"Good." The warrior reached up and laid her hand on top of the blond's head. She let her fingers run lightly through the silky strands. "You said you felt like this after the wedding?"
"Yeah," came Gabrielle's choked reply.
"When did it start? What were the symptoms?"
"Well, Perdicus was sitting on the edge of the bed, and I was standing in front of him." The bard's voice softened as she remembered the tenderness he displayed. "He was very gentle. He ran his fingers down the side of my face and throat. When he got near my breasts, I got this pounding in my chest. I got sweaty, which was embarrassing, Xena, and my stomach acted like I had been on board one of your ships."
"Hm-m," Xena reiterated. Her fingers still played in Gabrielle's hair.
"I wanted him to stop. When he did, the feeling went away, but I missed his hands on me. Xena, you're the healer. What's wrong with me?"
The warrior narrowed her eyes and chewed on her lower lip in thought. Green eyes full of confusion looked down at her. "Gabrielle, it sounds like a simple case of nerves to me."
"Well, I was really nervous at the time. I'd never been with a man like that before." The bard's cheeks flushed with the memories.
"I don't mean to pry, but what else happened that night?" Xena reached down and replaced the strap of Gabrielle's shift that had fallen off her shoulder. She heard the bard's sharp intake of breath.
"Uh. Not a lot. He touched me very gently in places no one had ever touched me before."
"That dull ache you said you had earlier. Did you feel that then, too?"
Why was Xena's voice so…silky? Gabrielle wondered, looking away from blue eyes that were searching her soul.
"Well, yeah, but it wasn't like this time."
"Not so painful?"
"Well, not so strong. I can't say it's really pain."
"What else happened?"
"Nothing. He was wonderful. He knew how nervous I was, and he said there was no hurry. We had the rest of our lives." Little had they known. "He showed me how to touch him to bring him relief, and then we fell asleep."
"Uh-huh. So, you had no relief."
"Well, I didn't really need it."
Xena smiled to herself. So, poor Perdicus didn't gain admittance to the blond's temple. Thank you, Artemis! "Hasn't anyone ever brought you sexual satisfaction?"
"Well," the bard stumbled, "I have a few times."
Xena knew she shouldn't be playing on her friend's weakness, but that had always been a weakness of the Warrior Princess. "Gabrielle, that's like getting willowbark tea when what you really want is baklava."
"Yeah, well, maybe. But it's the only thing I know." The poor bard wasn't at all comfortable talking to Miss Sexually Prolific about her own lack of physical attentions.
Xena rolled onto her side and propped herself up on her elbow. She placed her hand on the blond's arm. She gently squeezed the firm muscles and then trailed her fingertips across the sensitive inside of the elbow. Ooh, this is very nice. Gabrielle jumped at that and sucked in air, nearly choking.
"You said that the feelings you had tonight were more intense than the ones you experienced on your wedding night." Blue eyes gazed relentlessly into green.
Green looked away. "Well…yes."
"So, you're nervous around me."
Gabrielle looked up again. "No. Why would I be nervous around you?"
A corner of Xena's mouth curved upward. "Suppose you tell me."
"There's nothing to tell. I'm…not…nervous around you." Green eyes flitted all around the campsite.
"Then why can't you look at me and say that?" The warrior's voice was low and serious.
Gabrielle brought her attention back to the soft features of her friend's face. "I can. I mean, I'm…"
"You're in love with me," Xena said softly, finishing what Gabrielle wasn't going to say.
"That's not possible," Gabrielle countered with a little laugh.
"Sure it is, Gabrielle. You feel the same things with me that you felt when Perdicus was near you. You loved him, and the things he did to you made your body react. Albeit not pleasantly."
"Well." The bard brought her hand up before her eyes to scrutinize her manicure.
"But when I'm near you, your body reacts even more violently. You love me more." Xena continued to run her fingers along the inside of Gabrielle's arm. She saw the gooseflesh rise on her skin and the beads of sweat break out on her upper lip. "You need me to touch you. You want me to, but your body's adverse reaction makes you want to tell me to stop." She looked into the bard's somewhat terrified eyes and smiled. "How strong is that ache now, Gabrielle?" Xena felt sorry for her friend. There were tears of frustration in her eyes, and she was so nervous and confused. Come on, Gabrielle. Get in touch with your feelings.
"It's everywhere," she barely whispered in response.
Xena touched her fingertips to the bard's lips. "Here?" Gabrielle stared into the warrior's eyes. Xena ran her index finger to the valley between the blond's breasts. "Here?" She saw Gabrielle swallow, but she managed to keep her eyes locked on blue. The finger trailed slowly down the linen shift and stopped at the juncture of the bard's legs. There it was joined by the rest of Xena's hand where it slid gently between firm, young thighs. "Here, Gabrielle?"
Gabrielle's eyes snapped shut and her inhaled breath nearly sucked Xena in. She fell back against her blanket and brought her bottom lip between her teeth, her fists clenched tightly at her sides.
Finally, my young love, I get to express some feelings I have. Xena didn't move her hand. She let it lie there against the warm wetness she could feel through the linen. She wanted Gabrielle to get used to the feel of her hand on her body. The sooner she got used to it, the sooner those unpleasant physical reactions would be replaced by much more welcome ones. The warrior had known others whose first reaction to their loved one's closeness was the same as Gabrielle's. Once the relationship was acknowledged and consummated, those nasty feelings disappeared.
The warrior sidled closer to Gabrielle until the length of her body rested gently against the bard's side. She let her left hand idly play with the red-gold hair. She lowered her head so that the bard could feel her warm breath against her neck and side of her face. Still, she didn't move her right hand. She increased the pressure but did not stroke her or make an effort to get beneath the linen shift. Xena was well trained in patience. This would be one time that it would pay off in a big way.
"Xena? Why are you doing this?" The bard's voice was barely audible, but Xena's ear was right near her mouth.
She raised her head to look at her young friend, but the green eyes were still tightly closed. "Did I just tell you that I love you?"
"Yes."
"Well, I'm doing this because I love you." She placed a soft kiss on the bard's cheek.
"Why haven't you done it before?" The young voice was so tight.
"Gabrielle, I no longer force my attentions where they aren't wanted."
The green eyes slowly opened, and the sight of her beautiful friend's face framed by the dark hair nearly took her breath away. "You really want to give me your attentions?" she innocently asked.
"Oh, yes, Gabrielle. But it's entirely up to you. If you say no, it's no." Xena's eyes in the shadows rivaled the black of the sky and the diamonds of the stars.
Gabrielle gulped and tentatively reached her hand up to brush the hair away from the warrior's smiling face. Xena turned her head and placed a gentle kiss in the palm of her hand.
"Oh, Xena. I've pictured in my mind your hands touching me. Every time I do, though, I get sick feelings. I want all that to go away."
Xena grinned down at her young friend. "You want the pictures to go away?"
"No!" Gabrielle reacted. "I just want the sick feelings to go away so I can enjoy the pictures."
That brought laughter from the warrior. "Ok, Gabrielle. Do you trust me?"
"Of course. That's a silly question," the bard retorted.
"No, my friend, it's not." She placed another soft kiss on Gabrielle's face, closer to her mouth this time. She felt her body stiffen beneath her hand. "I want to help make those ugly feelings go away, but you have to trust that everything I do is done out of love."
Gabrielle closed her eyes. Xena's lips were so close to her own she could feel her breath. "Uh-huh."
"Shall I?"
The blond swallowed. "Uh-huh."
"Trust me to stop doing anything you don't want or don't like?"
"Uh-huh."
"Trust me to stop completely if you change your mind?" Xena's words were a soft whisper against the blond's lips.
"Uh-huh."
Xena placed the softest of kisses on those lips, and she got the satisfaction of a light response. Tenderness and patience can overcome all kinds of fear. Slowly, she took her lips away.
"Ugh," came a soft, disappointed moan.
"You liked that?" Xena again increased the pressure on Gabrielle's warm center.
"Yes."
The bard's wetness had increased, and the warrior chuckled softly. "Yes, you did. Again?"
"Yes." Gabrielle opened her eyes to see Xena's smiling face just inches from her own.
"Touch me. Anywhere," she instructed her friend. The blond brought her hands up and put them behind Xena's head. "Good place." She lowered her head to recapture Gabrielle's mouth, a little more forcefully this time but not enough to spook her friend. She was rewarded with a lower, longer moan and a tighter hold on the warrior's head. She let her own pleasure in the kiss be known to Gabrielle. "M-m," she said as she pulled her lips away. Gabrielle's arms slipped around her neck and held her head close to the green eyes.
"That was incredible," the bard whispered.
Xena laughed lightly and gave Gabrielle a quick peck on the nose. "Oh, that was nothing. I really can do much better than that. With enough encouragement."
Surprisingly, the blond lifted her head off the blanket to meet Xena's mouth. Her arms clamped so tightly around the warrior's neck that she thought she'd cut off the flow of oxygen to her lungs. Still, this was encouragement, and Xena would just take shorter breaths. She tested Gabrielle to see how far she wanted to take this kiss by touching her lips with the tip of her tongue. To her amazement, she found that Gabrielle's mouth and her legs were apparently attached to the same string. As she opened her lips to the warrior's tongue, her legs opened to her hand. Ever so slowly she let her tongue explore the inside of the blond's mouth. At the same time, she lightly stroked the warmth under her hand.
One of Gabrielle's arms let loose of Xena's neck and made its way to her back, pulling her body closer. The bard could feel the mounds of her lover's breasts pressed against her own and she growled in response to the sensations coursing through her body. She let her tongue move against Xena's. After a few teasing parries, the warrior withdrew hers from the bard's mouth. With a moan, Gabrielle pushed her tongue into Xena's mouth to search for it. The warrior had been doing really well keeping her own passion in check, but this invasion changed everything. She placed her left hand behind the bard's head, pulling her deeper into her mouth. Gabrielle moaned again and tasted every inch of her warrior's tongue, lips and most of her throat. Xena sucked hard on the blond's tongue, taking it as deep as she could. Her right hand left its warm nest and slowly slid underneath Gabrielle's shift to rest on the soft curls above the wet space between her legs. As the cool night air replaced Xena's warm hand, the bard moaned and wrapped a leg around the thigh she found. The warrior was half lying on top of her now and all Gabrielle wanted was closer.
Xena thought it was time to back up and regroup. She let go of Gabrielle's tongue and ended the kiss. She kept her body in its close contact, however. When she looked into her young lover's eyes, she could see the passion that had been missing earlier.
"How's the stomach?" she asked with a smile.
"Fine," came the breathless reply.
"Good." She kissed the bard's nose again. "Wanna call it quits for tonight and get some sleep?"
"Xena! Please tell me you're not serious." The look on Gabrielle's face was priceless.
The warrior's hand trailed up the bard's body as her passion-filled blue eyes stared down at her new love. Her fingers came to rest on a firm breast, and as her thumb gently teased the hardening nipple, she could see Gabrielle's eyes darken before she closed them. The blond's upper body arched into her lover's hand, begging for a firmer touch. A soft mewl escaped her lips. The callused hand performed a gentle massage in response.
Xena lowered her head to the other breast and kissed and sucked it through the linen. She looked down at the dark circle with the erect nipple now visible through the thin, wet fabric and found it very erotic. She took the nipple between her teeth and heard an exhalation of breath above her. The warrior moaned low in her throat and pressed her hips hard against Gabrielle's leg.
A whisper came down to her. "Take it off."
"What?"
"Your shift. Take it off," Gabrielle ordered.
Xena raised herself up onto her knees and slid the garment over her head. "What about yours?" She knelt above Gabrielle in all her bronzed-skin glory.
"That, too." The bard held her hands out for Xena to grasp in order to assist her weakened body into a seated position.
"Put your arms around my neck." The bard complied and while Xena held her off the blanket with one arm, she raised the shift up and sat her back down on the blanket. She grasped the hem with both hands and slowly lifted it and the bard's arms over her head.
Xena still knelt astride the bard's lap and the small arms went around her neck again. Gabrielle's nose was at breast level. "May I?" she asked tentatively.
"Of course. Please do." She placed her hands on the blond's shoulders as two smaller hands snaked down her chest to each caress a large, firm breast.
The bard let her thumbnails rake over the nipples, and she smiled as she saw them harden before her eyes. "They're beautiful," she remarked. She placed a light kiss on each, and when she felt Xena's hand behind her head, she took one erect bud into her mouth and sucked on it as Xena had done to her.
"Oh, Gods, Gabrielle," came a husky voice. "Don't stop." As the warrior pulled her head in tighter, the bard wrapped one arm around Xena's back and brought her closer. Her other hand fondled the other breast. "Gods, yes!" Xena cried out. "It feels so good." As she suckled, Gabrielle looked up to see Xena's head thrown back, her mouth open and her eyes closed. "Yes," the warrior hissed. It fascinated the young bard who had never seen her friend in the throes of passion before. She stopped what she was doing to get a closer look at Xena's face. "Gabrielle, please," came the ragged response. She raised her other breast and offered it to the blond. "Please," she begged, but Gabrielle didn't need to be asked twice. She latched on to Xena like a newborn.
Xena grabbed hold of the bard's free hand and brought it to rest between her legs. At the soft touch, the warrior flinched. Gabrielle's response to the warm wetness was a jump and an unintentional bite. Xena cried out and clamped her thighs together, trapping the bard's hand against her.
"Oh, Xena! I'm so sorry!" Gabrielle kissed the small red mark. "I didn't mean to do that."
"Shh, Gabrielle." Xena loosened her grip and kissed the top of the bard's head.
"I didn't want to hurt you," the blond continued.
"You didn't hurt me." She pressed Gabrielle's head to her chest in a gentle hug.
"I didn't?"
"No. I like it a little…rough," Xena assured her.
"You do?"
"A lot of the time, yes. There's a very fine line between pleasure and pain." She lifted the blond's chin so she could look into those soulful green eyes. "You didn't hurt me," she enunciated clearly. A smile greeted her own. "You know, this isn't going at all the way I planned."
"Is that bad?" Gabrielle asked innocently.
"I don't know." Xena grinned. "How's the ache?"
"Well, it's kinda centered now between my chin and my knees."
Xena sat back on her heels to be more on a level with the bard. "You mean here…" She slid her hand between Gabrielle's legs again. "…and here?" She leaned forward and took a nipple between her teeth.
"Ai!" the blond cried out.
"Thought so," the warrior mumbled around a mouthful of bard breast. "How bad is it here?" she asked, wiggling her thumb over the nub at the top of Gabrielle's sex.
Through gritted teeth, the blond answered her. "It's…pretty bad."
"Needs my attention, huh?" Xena sucked a nipple in and rolled her tongue around it.
"Yours…or mine," came the husky reply.
Xena laughed outright. "Oh, no you don't, bard of mine." She looked up into sea green eyes. "If anyone gets credit for this orgasm, it's gonna be me." To her surprise, she saw Gabrielle blush, and it just brought the warrior closer emotionally. "Lie down and get comfortable." Xena helped her lie back against her pillow of rolled-up blanket and supported herself over the girl on her elbows. She noticed her hips came about to Gabrielle's thighs.
She leaned her head down for a kiss, which the bard readily offered up for the taking. Hands went behind the warrior's head, and a small tongue danced inside her mouth. Xena couldn't hold back a moan. Her hand slid down the smaller body, passing over breasts and taut stomach muscles. It stopped to play for a moment in the soft curls. As the kiss deepened and Gabrielle began making little endearing noises, Xena applied pressure to the inside of a thigh and it moved outward. She submerged her hand in the pond between the bard's legs.
"Sweet mother of Zeus!" she exclaimed. "You are so wet."
"Is that bad?" Gabrielle asked again in her ear.
"Only for someone who isn't thirsty," the warrior replied with a grin.
"What?" the bard asked, totally confused.
"You'll see." Xena nibbled on an earlobe as she ran her fingers up and down and over every nerve ending between Gabrielle's legs. She felt her hips begin to move against her hand. "That's it, Gabrielle. Make me be where you want me to be."
"I want you…ah. There! Right there!" The blond grasped Xena's wrist in a vice-like hold.
"Ok, love. Right here." She lay her head briefly on the bard's shoulder as she made little circles around the swollen bud of Gabrielle's present pleasure center. The bard's hips moved faster in response, and she began to breathe heavily. Xena kissed her neck and stopped the motion of her hand.
"Ah!" the bard screamed in her ear. "Xena! What in Tartarus are you doing?" The warrior felt a small hand plunge between their bodies. She grabbed it before it reached its destination. "Xena!"
"Shh. I'm not done. I'm just changing positions."
"The one you were in was fine," the blond retorted.
"Not half as fine as this one, Gabrielle."
Xena slid slowly down the bard's body, planting kisses all along the road south. When her mouth reached the red-gold curls, she circled her tongue in them and found them moist. The musky fragrance of Gabrielle's arousal was going straight to her head. She forced the bard's legs apart and planted kisses on the insides of her damp thighs.
"Xena," the young woman whispered breathlessly.
"Shh, Gabrielle." Xena pressed her mouth into the wetness and licked and sucked at the abundant juices like one deprived of moisture for months.
As Xena's tongue made its way to the blond's swollen center, Gabrielle bucked and cried out. The warrior circled it slowly and lightly. She noticed when she hit one particular spot, the bard's hips would thrust against her tongue. Ok, Gabby, where's that spot again? She circled again and Gabrielle pushed into her while grasping a handful of chestnut hair. There it is. Hang on, Gabrielle. She took the skin into her mouth and sucked with the same rhythm of Gabrielle's thrusts.
"Zeus! Artemis! Odin! Xena!" the blond cried, head thrashing from side to side.
The warrior chuckled to herself as she hung on to the bard. I'm in pretty good company, but who in Tartarus is Odin? She inserted a finger into Gabrielle's small opening, but she met with instant resistance. Not wanting to cause pain and detract from her approaching climax, she simply ran the tip of her finger around the rim of the opening as her tongue finished bringing her lover up and up. Xena felt her reach the pinnacle, and she grasped her hips in her hands and sucked hard. Gabrielle came plunging down from the dizzing heights she'd been on a moment before.
"Xena!!" she cried out, loud enough to make Argo whinny.
Xena couldn't help it. She lay her head down on Gabrielle's damp curls and laughed.
"Holy Mount Olympus!" Gabrielle croaked.
"Is that where you went?" Xena asked as she kissed her way back up to waiting lips. Arms went around her neck, and a bardic tongue did a tonsillectomy.
Still holding the warrior around the neck, the blond exclaimed, "I have never done that to myself."
Xena giggled. "Even with my many skills, Gabrielle, I've never been able to do that to myself either."
"Oh, Xena." The blond gave her a playful slap on the shoulder. "You know what I mean."
Xena looked at the satisfied expression and grinned. "By the way, who is Odin? Some old boyfriend?"
"No. He's like Zeus to the northern people."
"Any special reason why you invoked his name in ecstasy?"
"Did I?" The bard giggled.
"Uh-huh. Zeus, Artemis, Odin and Xena. In that order."
"Well, I didn't leave you out." Gabrielle frowned at her lover.
"No, but I was last." Xena frowned, too.
"When I finally fell off the cliff, wasn't your name the last one on my lips?"
"Well, yeah."
"So. Isn't your name the last one you want to hear?"
"Yeah."
"You got it. Nobody else was even near my mind then but you."
"Well, when you put it that way," Xena conceded. She lay her head on Gabrielle's breast, and the bard ran her fingers through long, dark hair.
"So, Gabrielle, have all the sick feelings gone away?" She was enjoying the feel of the bard's fingers in her hair, so she didn't move.
"Um-m, let me see." The blond closed her eyes and got quiet for a minute.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm picturing your hands on me." There was a pause. "Nope. No more sick feelings."
"Good. I'm glad we got rid of the adverse reactions."
"You're glad? Still, I think you're in even worse trouble than before."
Xena lifted her head and scowled. "Me? Why?"
"Because those pictures make me think about how good you really made me feel. I think now I'm gonna be all over you like a bad smell."
The warrior grinned a lascivious grin and traced the outline of the young woman's breast. "Really, Gabrielle?"
"Ooh… Yeah." The finger circled the nipple. "Oh, Xena. Oh, my."
"Oh your what, Gabrielle?"
"Please don't tease," the bard pouted.
"Oh, I'm not teasing, love. I'm deadly serious." She ran her tongue from the blond's ear to the hollow of her throat.
"Wait!" Gabrielle suddenly pushed Xena away. "Wait just a minute."
"What?" Xena sat up, confused.
"I just remembered that only one woman here tonight has been satisfied." She tapped the warrior on the chest with a finger to punctuate her words.
"Argo gets it where she can," Xena said deadpan.
"Look, you're very close to getting some four-letter words thrown at you, Jokester."
That's Joxer, and he's not invited." She loved getting the bard going. Oh, life is good! "Please, Gabrielle, whisper some of those four-letter words in my ear," she growled. "It turns me on." She kissed and nibbled on the young woman's earlobe.
"Hm-m, ok. How about kiwi, milk, nuts…"
"Gabrielle," Xena snarled.
The blond giggled and hugged Xena hard. "Two can tease. Don't think I'm an easy mark with no weapons in my arsenal."
The warrior laughed a low, husky laugh. "Oh, Gabby, you have wonderful weapons in your arsenal. I just have to get to them."
"I thought you already did." She again began running her fingers through Xena's hair. The warrior laid her head down and let her continue.
"You have a hidden one I can't get to right now."
"Oh? Want to let me in on the secret?"
"Well, somebody, if not me, needs to storm the ramparts that Perdicus didn't."
"Oh." The fingers stopped. "Is it really worth it to me if you do? I mean everything tonight was just wonderful. I can't imagine it getting any better."
Xena gave her young lover a gentle kiss. "You're only getting part of the package. I guarantee you, it's worth a little pain for a lifetime of pleasure. In other words, you ain't felt nothin' yet."
The green eyes lost themselves in the electric blue ones that smiled down at her. "That good, huh?"
"Oh, yes, my love. Once that little thing is taken care of, I'm very knowledgeable in how to increase your pleasure a thousand-fold."
"That sounds good to me. When do you want to do this?" Xena could see the trust in Gabrielle's face.
"We're not negotiating a treaty or drawing up a battle plan here, Gabrielle. We'll take it a day at a time. When you're ready for more, you'll let me know and I'll take care of it." She kissed the blond's nose. "The best time to handle something like that is when you are at the height of passion. Then it's over quickly and with the least amount of discomfort. You trust me, right?"
"Didn't I already tell you that I did?"
"Yes, but I want you to really be sure. Maybe someday, somewhere down the line you will wish that you hadn't let me do this. You might want some young man you fall in love with to have that honor."
Gabrielle wrapped her arms around Xena's neck and hugged her fiercely. "Xena, there's no way I would ever want anyone else to have this 'honor,' as you put it. You're the love of my life, and I know that. Maybe you don't, but you'll learn."
"Oh, I know, Gabrielle. I know."
"I only have one question, then I'll shut up and let you get some sleep if you want."
"What's that?" Xena rolled over onto her back and brought the bard with her to lie on top of her long body.
"How will you do it?"
"You scared?"
"Maybe a little, but I just want to know how you'll do it. I'm curious."
Xena looked off into the distance with a smile on her lips. Then she brought her gaze back to her lover. "Ya know that little item you found in my saddlebag tonight?"
"The one you wouldn't talk about?"
"Yeah. That one."
"Uh-huh. What about it?" The bard's eyes got wider.
"Well, I could use that." She saw the blond's look of uncertainty. "Or, then again, maybe not. I've got strong hands if that's what you prefer."
"That's what that's for?" Gabrielle asked in awe.
"That's what that's for. I like it myself." Xena raised her eyebrows. "Which I guess would explain why I have it." She giggled, which the bard thought was so unlike her.
"You mean you want me to use that thing on you?" The eyes were even wider if that was at all possible.
"M-m. I certainly hope so, Gabrielle." Xena's blue eyes danced with mischief and desire. "Not all the time, but, just remember, I do like it."
"O--k. If that's what you want me to do. You'll have to teach me, though, 'cause I don't know what to do with it."
Xena raised her head for a kiss. "Oh, I'll teach ya, Gabs. You'll be surprised at how much you can learn and how fast." The blond laid her head on the warrior's chest, listening to her heart beat. "I'm a demanding lover. I need someone who isn't afraid to go the distance with me."
"Well, I may be new to this kind of thing, but I'm a quick study. You know that. Look how fast I learned to use my staff."
"Uh-huh. That's why I have no reservations when it comes to you. I know you can pleasure me as much as I can you. Even if our needs are different."
"I doubt they'll be that different, Xena. Give me time. I'm new to this."
"I'll give you all the time you need, love. You have what's left of my lifetime."
Gabrielle raised her head and looked deeply into the warrior's dark eyes. "Our lifetimes, Xena. We're going to live to be old and gray and talk about our exploits in front of the fire in comfortable chairs."
"No kids, huh?"
Gabrielle giggled against the warrior's left breast. "I'll gladly have one, Xena, when you find out how to give me one."
"You're assuming that I won't be the one having it?"
This time the bard laughed out loud. "I'm sorry, Warrior Sweetie, but I simply cannot see the Warrior Princess in the family way."
"I've done it before."
"Yes, I know. Somehow I don't see you getting surprised in that way again."
"Well, you're right. I wouldn't go through that again. You can have it all, Gabrielle. If there were a way, and it was something that would please you, you know I'd find it."
"I know. You have many skills." She placed a kiss on the exposed breast and was rewarded with an 'aah.' "Hm-m."
"What?"
"Air must be getting chilly."
"Ya think?"
"Well, there are two very large goosebumps here. Shall I warm you up?" The bard looked up with a grin.
"Oh, yeah, Gabrielle. Why don'tcha do that?" The warrior's grin was wider.
"Ok. Oh, wait a minute. I thought you said you wanted to get some sleep." Fingertips teased the skin along the warrior's sides.
"No, Gabrielle. You said I wanted to get some sleep." Xena placed her hands under the bard's armpits and pulled her up for a kiss.
With roving tongues and wandering hands, they each explored the insides and outsides of each other's bodies. Since Gabrielle had not had that chance up to that point, she took advantage of her superior position atop the warrior. She pushed herself up into a sitting position astride Xena's stomach. That allowed her to reach the warrior's face, ears, neck, hair, lips and especially those eyes. It also put her breasts right in line with the warrior's mouth if she leaned forward, which she managed to do from time to time. When she decided she wanted to learn a little more Xenography, she slid slowly down to sit astride the warrior's thighs. She took full advantage of her freedom and used both hands and her mouth liberally on her lover's breasts. Xena made delicious little noises that were beginning to excite the blond. She didn't realize what an aphrodisiac such sounds could be, but she was learning.
Xena kept running her hands up and down the bard's arms and her sides. Her eyes were closed, and she was reveling in the softness of Gabrielle's hands and lips against her skin. Gabrielle was not her first female lover, but she found that she was the only one that made her heart skip beats. The others had been conquests. Gabrielle was the love of her life, and there was absolutely no doubt in her mind that it was so. She had to smile when she thought that there was absolutely no doubt in Gabrielle's mind either. Right now her senses were reeling with the magnified sensations the bard was causing with just the gentle touch of her hands and mouth.
Gabrielle moved lower inch by wondrous inch until she found her mouth nearing the dark, curly hair that hid the entrance to Xena's own arsenal of weapons. The bard had never touched another woman's body hair, and she was intrigued as her fingers played with the curls. She could smell the musky fragrance wafting up to her on the evening's breeze, and she shivered in anticipation of exploring that nether area. She could tell the warrior was anticipating this herself as her noises became a bit louder, her fingertips dug a little deeper into Gabrielle's shoulders and arms, and she moved her hips against the bard's chest. Everything Xena did told the blond that her lover was calling for more contact. She placed a kiss in the mass of curls and heard the warrior's intake of breath. Gabrielle moved to the side so that she was now astride only one thigh. With a gentle push of her hand, she moved the other thigh outward, away from her. She ran her fingers up and down the insides of Xena's thighs with her hand finally coming to rest right at the opening of the warrior's nether lips. The hair she found there was soaked with her lover's juice, which told her she must be doing something right. She wanted to explore this treasure, but she was like a child with a piece of candy. She also wanted to make it last. She let her fingers run lightly along the hair between Xena's legs and just enter between the lips without touching the opening or the throbbing center.
Xena allowed this tentative exploration to go on for some little time, but she finally had had all she could take. She moaned loudly and reached down, taking Gabrielle's teasing fingers and pushing them deep inside her center. She thrust her hips up to meet them. "Yes, Gabrielle," she growled. At first the bard wasn't sure what she wanted her to do with them, but they were buried and she figured if Xena had placed them there, it would be best not to remove them. Then she got her clue from the warrior. Xena began to rhythmically move her hips against the bard's fingers. Gabrielle smiled and started to meet her thrusts with her own rhythm. She pushed farther in as Xena pushed her hips up to her. She knew it was right when the warrior let out a low moan. Still, she was not going to let that other small area of pleasure-producing nerve endings go untended. She knew first-hand how good what Xena had done to her had felt. She fully intended to return the favor. As she continued to match Xena's rhythm with her hand, she lowered her mouth to take in the swollen nub she had been ignoring up to now.
"Gods! Gabrielle!" Xena cried.
Gabrielle was a quick study as she had claimed. She copied the circling motions with her tongue, and the more vocal and athletic Xena became, the more she sucked and licked.
"Ugh! Gabrielle!" she groaned, pulling the blond's head in closer and pumping her hips harder and faster into her mouth and hand.
Gabrielle was enthralled as she looked up through the black curls fringing her forehead to watch her lover's face. She couldn't see it very well, but she knew her eyes were closed without having to see them. Xena's back arched off the blanket and her moans came faster and louder. Suddenly, the motion stopped and the young woman heard a large intake of air being taken by her warrior. Gabrielle didn't stop her ministrations. She kept pumping her hand inside her lover's body and sucked harder. A loud cry erupted from Xena's depths and her hips bucked up against the blond. There were small tremors, and Gabrielle knew she had accomplished what she had set out to do. Xena lay quietly, taking deep breaths and moaning softly. The blond placed a kiss on the warrior's damp curls.
Xena reached down without lifting her head and grasped Gabrielle's arms, hauling her up to lie on her body. The blond placed her hands on either side of the warrior's face and kissed her deeply. Xena moaned and pulled her closer.
"Oh, you are good. You're very good," the warrior growled into Gabrielle's ear. "You show great potential. Think I'll keep ya."
"Really, Xena?" the bard looked into misty blue eyes.
"Yeah, Gabrielle." She pressed the blond's head down onto her shoulder and stroked her hair. "I'm sorry I rushed you, but things were getting a little bit desperate there."
"That's ok. You let me know what you wanted."
"Well, I promise next time you can take all the time you want. It's just that I was pretty worked up from having made love to you, and then you were so thorough with all those nice places on my body that craved your attention. Well, I just came to the end of my rope."
"I understand, Xena." Gabrielle placed a soft kiss on the warrior's breastbone.
They both lay quietly, listening to the other's breathing and feeling their hearts beat together. Xena reached over with one arm and pulled the blanket up over the two of them. Their sweaty bodies were chilling in the cool evening air. Gabrielle snuggled down into the warrior's body, and Xena wrapped her arms around her.
"You ready for some sleep, Gabrielle?" she asked.
"Uh-huh," came the soft reply. "Want me to move?"
"No. Stay where you are. You aren't heavy."
"Ok." This reply was softer still. "Xena?"
"Hm-m?"
"I like the way you say my name all the time. It makes me know that you're speaking only to me. The way you just kinda draw it out? That really turns me on. Just wanted ya to know that."
Xena smiled and turned her head to place a kiss on the blond's forehead. "Good to know. I want you to tell me all the things that turn you on. I promise to keep them locked up in my head."
The bard giggled. "Your other arsenal, Xena?"
"Yeah," she said with a chuckle. "My other arsenal."
FINIS (Oh, I doubt it.)
I HAVEN'T FORGOTTEN ABOUT THE CYLINDRICAL, HIGHLY-POLISHED WOODEN THING. MORE ABOUT THE MARVELOUS LITTLE TOY NEXT TIME IN "THE WARRIOR PRINCESS' MARVELOUS LITTLE TOY" or "GABBY AND HER LITTLE STICK."
This Is Story No. 2 - September, 1998.