Cathedra - Chapter 2: Hidden Paths

CW: language, sexual content, abuse

⦽

Steam lifted off the surface of the still water, rippling when a bead dripped from her drying fringe partially plastered around her face. Only when she took another breath did she feel her limbs floating serenely in the bath water, a reminder that the contentment she soaked in was only temporary.

“What did you tell mother to make her let you stay?”

Patricia’s constricting hold was around Calista’s arm the moment she stepped into her room, whipping around to face her sister's vacant eyes.

“Let go of me-” Calista snarled, trying to yank her arm free.

“Tell me!” Patricia hissed between her teeth.

“Get off!” Calista shoved, her arm stinging where her sister's nails had dug through the fabric of her dress. “It is none of your business-”

“Everything you do is my business!” Patricia gnarled. “Now more than ever after our beloved sister’s disappearance,” she leered, stepping closer to her. “In fact, I recall dear Rose acting quite similar prior to her leaving us, almost identical to the way you’ve been sneaking in and out of the castle as of late,”

Callie’s brows furrowed, stepping back from her. The atmosphere surrounding Patricia was altering, darkening day by day and it made her stomach roil; the woman she once knew had gone, and now something demonic had moved in.

“Are you up to something, little sister?” Patricia pressed, her chin angled down and big eyes locked on hers.

Callie swallowed. “I don’t feel well,”

Patricia snickered, her shoulders shaking. “Or perhaps you are just as SECRETIVE-” her fist beat into the stone wall beside Callie’s head. She flinched, eyes wide and on Patrocia who was aiming to swing again. “AND DISGUSTING AS ROSE!”

Callie dodged the fist, but the sharp slap from the other side left stars behind her eyelids and a burn raging across her face.

“TELL ME! TELL ME WHAT YOU’RE UP TO!” Patricia screamed down at her sister who’d fallen to the ground, blocking the next anticipated strike.

“I AM HIDING NOTHING!” she screamed back, hot tears pooling in her eyes and blood on her lip.

“Mother and Father may fall for your lies but you have never been able to fool me, Calista,” Patricia smiled, her fist rising above her head to make her flinch. “I will find the secret you hold and handle you the same way I did Rose.” She promised, her curls wild around her face before she spun and slipped out of the room like a phantom.

The sobs she’d choked were hiccuping in her chest, her hand held over the hot cheek that hotter tears spilled over. Callie scrambled to her door, slamming the heavy wood shut and pulling the iron lock closed. She held herself, sobbing, faced with the confirmation that her sister's disappearance had not been of her own accord and that she was likely the next target.

Callie wobbled when she stood, hands searching aimlessly across her belongings until she dug out Nik’s dagger she’d kept hidden between the folds of her dresses.

She would keep it close to her from now on, even when she ventured outside her room. What moment could be her last?

Callie glanced at the painted, curved dagger sitting beside the round tub she soaked in, only hidden by the gentle weight of a sheet in case needed. Her eyes naturally traveled to the door she’d asked a knight to stand behind, instructing to only let the servants in if necessary.

The castle was quiet, free of the loud conversations of strangers and her parents choking on their own laughter.

For a few days she could wander the lonely halls without the fear of her sister sneaking around an unexpected corner or her parents picking, picking, picking at her.

Keep your apologies- do better.

I did not raise you to be so weak, I raised you to be like me!

Any mother would’ve casted you into the seas by now. I should have done so when I had the chance.

Your sister was weak, that’s why she ran.

Callie held her face, tears burning behind her pinched eyes. A moment's peace never remained as the constant, anticipated abuse haunted her down every corridor and into every room. The little sleep she managed was thin, always on the horizon of consciousness. The slightest noise would make her jump, even distant ones out in the woods surrounding the castle would make her rise and observe the surroundings. Some nights went without a blink of sleep, instead staring out through tall windows that let her see out into the night sky, and how it shifted to pinks and oranges when the new sun came.

It was in these moments she doubted there would be an end to the torment. It had her second guessing every move she’d made, every one that was to come, and the ones that were expected of her Prince, soon to be King. Her heart hammered, skin turning hot under the water.

“It has to work,” she told herself, desperate for this one positive thought to stick while it was still coherent.

Callie looked at her palm. The Prince’s bite was still raw, tender, but a constant reminder that they couldn’t back out no matter how desperately either might come to want. If he decided to turn, she had this above him.

He won’t do that, she comforted herself. He seems honest.

Her mind played back the moment he had her pinned to his hard body, shouting down at her blushing face that gazed up at him astonishedly despite her better instincts telling her to flee.

She scoffed, wiping her eyes. “Maybe a little rude,”

However, she did find it awfully adorable the way his voice kept cracking when he’d speak beside her ear. Callie smiled, playing with the ends of her hair twisting in the water.

She looked at her raised knees poking from the surface.

He’d left behind a deep need, one that she wanted to serve.

Her feet lifted from the water, dripping noisily across the stone floor when her ankles hooked over the edges of the tub. She glanced at the door, securing her privacy before sinking further into the water, her touch venturing between her parted thighs.

It’s practice, she chanted to herself, her eyes sliding shut and riding the hazy daydreams of the Prince’s fingers fucking her against that very tree.

⦽

The night had not been as restless as the one before, but his dreams had been strange. Fuzzy flashes of images, smells, intense sensations, almost all entirely about the Princess. The vivid recollection soon dwindled as he woke to the dull glow of the sun before it started to shine, knowing he had to be leaving soon. It took only a matter of seconds for the anxiousness to return, filling his stomach.

He rolled onto his stomach with a deep groan, his limbs stretching to either end. Slow morning it seemed; the usual sounds of the life around him were dull compared to other mornings. The night before had been filled with mild wedding celebration, but he’d not partaken too heavily in the ale his parents had returned with.

Nik sat up, glancing at his saddle satchel that was already packed.

He’d done his best to avoid his parents the night before, only briefly greeting his mother who cared little about his days since they’d been gone. He had stood beside Jakob, waiting for their father who never had much of a word to spare for his sons to greet them, but like the other times, it never came. His attention was directed to other children running up to welcome him back, his smiles wasted on another.

The brothers didn’t linger like they used to. When they found that their parents were not the ones to lean on, they learned to rely on one another.

“Stop crying!” Jakob pushed Nik’s narrow shoulder, tears still dripping down his round cheeks. “You’ll get in more trouble!” he pushed him again, but Nik swatted at his hand.

“It hurts!” the youngster snapped, shielding the fresh slice across the back of his small hand.

“If papa sees you crying he’ll cut your cheek!” Jakob hushed, glaring pleadingly at his brother. He held a finger up to his lips until Nik’s cries were only small hiccups, letting Jakob pour water over the cut and wrap a dirty bandage around it crudely.

Only the tops of their little heads showed over the tall wheat they hid in, their small tribe across the field where their father had dealt the lashing to his young son in front of everyone.

“We can still go swimming,” Jakob told him, struggling to tie the bandage.

“It’ll hurt,” Nik choked, but Jakob smacked the back of his hand.

“Only a little,” Jakob said, but Nik held his hand against his chest, shaking his head. “I don’t wanna go back,”

“Then stay here,”

“That's boring!” Jakob exclaimed. “I’ll let you ride Lyuda if you come,”

Nik’s golden eyes narrowed. His own horse was awfully mean- it would snap at his legs when he reached to pull himself up, not to mention all the times he’d dodged a kick, but Jakob’s horse had always taken a liking to Nik, just as he’d always liked the gentle beast himself. “I get her the rest of the day,”

Jakob’s eyes also narrowed, his small tusks shrinking behind his lips that pursed in thought. “Deal- now let’s go!”

The boys rose to race to their horses that dwarfed them, Jakob hoisting himself up faster than Nik could when his cut hand stung fiercely. With a boost from his twin brother, the two slipped away through the trees, laughing and ribbing their way to the slow moving river.

Nik stared down at the back of his hand. The scar was of the few that were greatly faded compared to the fresher ones, but the countless memories of his father taking his dagger across their skin remained sharp. He flipped his hand, observing the Princess’s- Callie’s gash that was past it’s gooey stage and starting to mend nicely.

Alright then.

He decided to change that day, swapping out the looser fitting ‘shirt’ for a tighter fit. The heavy cloak might stay here today- if he was ambushed, it would only hinder his ability to swing the sword he was also taking with, but leaving it meant facing the chilly morning without warmth.

He weighed his options. He really hated the cold- it was bad enough that his head and ears froze.

The soft scraping of his tent flaps turned him to face Jakob after he’d walked in, who then in turn looked his brother up and down.

“Alright,” Jakob spoke, crossing his arms and planting his feet. “Who is it?”

Nik hoped he didn’t see his face pale. Fuck. “What?” he went with, acting oblivious.

“Three days in a row now that you’ve snuck away,” Jakob counted. “You’re bathed every time you come back,” he went on, and Nik felt the heat on him.

Fuck fuck fuck fuck-

“You have so much Jasmine rubbed on you that it’s making the others sick,”

Now he was just embarrassed. So everyone can see it…

“So which tribe is she from?” Jakob asked.

Nik blinked. Oh. “I can’t tell you yet,”

“Why!?” his brother boomed, covering his mouth when Nik hissed at him. “Why?”

He fumbled, his nerves making him clumsy. “I don’t know how far it’s going to go,”

“Is it serious?” Jakob pressed, his curiosity annoying.

I mean I’m trying to get her pregnant- His cheeks blushed hard, his ears heating up too. “I have to go,”

“Nik! C’mon!” Jakob smiled, following his brother out of the tent. “What tribe is it? The Flying Bisons?” he whispered close to him, but only received an elbow to the chest. “What’s her name?”

“Shut up!” Nik hissed, glaring at him with his silver eye.

Jakob watched him, still following. His brother had never been one to hide something as harmless as a crush or random fuck, not even when he’d dared to cuddle up with a neighboring princess, so why the secrets now? Jakob grabbed his brother's arm, yanking him over where they were clear out of earshot from the other wandering morning-goers.

“Is it another man?” Jakob asked outright, but Nik rolled his eyes. “I am serious brother, you know I would keep this secret for you as you’ve kept mine,” he reminded wholeheartedly.

Nik sighed. Jakob looked concerned, maybe even scared. “It’s a woman,”

Jakob’s hairless brows pulled together in confusion. “Then why can’t you speak of her?”

“If I told you now it would make no sense, it barely makes sense to me,” he laughed, pulling his hand down his face.

“That’s concerning,” Jakob noted lowly, watching Nik walk towards the horses. It took him a moment to follow, glancing over his wide shoulder to make sure no one had been watching the brothers. Nik was already on Lyuda by the time Jakob was at his side looking up at him. “Do you like her?”

Nik didn’t know how to answer that; his worries had revolved so often around his physical expectations those days that he had not actually taken a moment to ponder over this. The way she got in his way and cornered him could make his blood boil- she was annoyingly persistent, but his heart kicked up thinking of the way that wild hair framed her pretty face when she yelled at him.

Nik’s eyes turned vacant as he retreated into his steamy recollections, draping his cloak over his arms to hide from the crisp morning air. “She’s different from what I’m used to,”

“Mm,” Jakob nodded, amused by the way his brother stared off into the distance like that. “Is that where you’re running off to before father wakes?”

Nik didn’t nod, but did collect the reins from Lyuda’s mane and click until she turned, strolling away from Jakob through the tall, sparkling grass.

When the time came, he would tell his brother of the great dedication he’d made, and when that time came he would let him decide if he saw it as a great betrayal, or a wise investment. For now, he could make his assumptions, because assuming Nik was off to see another Orc was far better than admitting he was in relations with a human.

The journey to her castle was longer than he expected. The trail she advised he use up her mountain was almost too steep for his massive horse to ascend, and the low hanging branches made it a back aching trip.

The farther up they came, the more the scents around him changed. The natural smells that came with the dirt and trees were stale. It hung in the air like sickness would, leaving a scowl on his tusked mouth by the time he could see the Princess’s dark castle sitting before the small, caged kingdom her parents governed. The trees and soil surrounding the area were healthy and blooming with the chilly spring morning, but the stench of filth billowed from this place like smoke. Inside must have told a grim tale of the lives inhabiting; it was quiet, not even the loud clanging of a blacksmith's hammer ringing through the air.

Nik pulled back on Lyuda’s reins, directing her inside the tree line until she couldn’t be detected by anyone. The Princess had been truthful thus far; there had been no guards surrounding the walls.

Foolish.

He tied Lyuda loosely in case she had to bolt, and left his cloak draped over her back. The shade was chilly, and under the canopy was icey morning dew dripping onto his shoulders and head, making him shutter a few times. He patted her neck, fixing her forelock when she turned to him.

“Go home if I don’t come back,” he stared into her big blue eye. “Don’t be a glutton and stay for the dandelions.” He scolded, patting her cheek when she tossed her head a few times and nickered.

With the sword adorned with carved stones and colored bones secured at his side, he left Lyuda to follow the long wall, his head on a swivel as he observed the unknown territory. The forests were open up here, the bark of the trees dark and lush leaves with many more scattered across the wet ground. His eye trailed the stone wall, taking note of the old arrows and spears sticking from some of the cracks.

Castle Flores had never been amongst any talk of somewhere people or creature desired to be, or attend. He’d heard passing talk from other tribes leaders speaking ill of the unkept kingdom, and the King and Queen’s particular distaste for their non-human neighbors.

Were my parents really here? When he could finally see an end to the wall is when he found the willows she said would be there.

He stood straighter, glancing around himself again. The intimate cluster of pretty willow trees was a stark contrast to the ugliness of this dark castle, and sat at the center, nestled in the tall roots, was the Princess, playing with something in the damp soil beside her feet with her chin resting on her knee. The soft rustle of the willows leaves covered his steps up to her, giving him the extra seconds to look her over.

She was a little thing, barely making it up to his shoulders when they stood, and like this, he could pick her up with one arm and throw her like a bundle if he so desired. All that hair of hers was fanned around her shoulders, small strands glowing in the sunlight that peeked down at her, and even before he stepped in her proximity, he could smell her.

It was so warm, and sweet. Her skin wasn’t stained with those perfumes his parents had often come back with, telling them how humans bathed in the smells to hide their filth. Yet no headache inducing sprays covered her. The savory essence bloomed when she spotted him, quickly standing to smooth down the loose evergreen dress she wore, sparkling gold bracelets and necklaces twinkling under the sun.

Warmth consumed him. She smells so good.

“Nik!” she bowed her head, blinking away the moisture collecting in her eyes. The relief was intense- she’d been waiting longer than expected and had feared he’d abandoned the plan.

His brows furrowed, bowing his head. “Are you alright?’

“Yes, I’m fine,” she smiled nervously. “Did you have trouble finding this place?”

“It was the terrain, I’m not used to the woods,” he explained, an awkward silence following. The next obvious step was to make their way to wherever it was going to take place, but this whole scheme seemed to only get more difficult with every meeting. How do you even warm up to that sort of thing?

“Shall we?” she motioned towards the castle entrance behind herself, almost stumbling over a root behind her heel.

Nik nodded, passing her on his way to the stone archway she pointed to.

She exhaled, now able to take in his muscular back after admiring that tight… shirt, thing, she really didn't know what to call it- that he had switched to. Swords rarely did anything to peak her interest; she’d had plenty of knights swing theirs in attempts to sway the bored Princess, but never before had she been so tickled by the sight like she was now. Without the long cloak dragging behind him, she could better observe how he was light on his feet, and swift and precise in his movements.

He stepped into the first corridor of the castle, looking at every wall and down the two ends of the hall they stood in. He turned to every sound, his nostrils flared in deep breaths, but he only smelled the damp stone surrounding him.

“Everything looks the same,” he mumbled.

“That’s how I feel about the trees,” she shrugged. He smirked, following when she tugged on his wrist. The noises outside were muted once under the dark cover of the castle, the walls hung sparsely with paintings and flags, some swords plastered here and there.

They would look cautiously around corners, his head peeking above hers before she stepped forward to another hall or around another corner, ushering him up a winding spiral of stone stairs, her dress flowing behind her all the way up until they came to the level her room was located on, away from her parents and sister’s critical gazes.

Tall windows let sunlight filter in here, lighting a short walkway that sat cozily beside an overgrown garden shaded by the few thick trees that had taken over.

A final turn down a wide hallway led her to the tall wooden door of her room, pushing her shoulder against the grain and pulling him in. Nik slipped past her as she gave her secluded hall a double take, sliding the heavy lock closed behind her once the door was closed. She finally stopped feeling like someone was on their heels with the lock secured, but now that she was turning to face his back as he looked all around her room, the present was ricocheting back.

Her bed made little sense to him, mostly the shape, but there wasn’t much about her room that was different from his own dwellings. They kept bits of their lives displayed around them, their comforts being these small things they still had control over.

Nik turned to her. “Where’s your girl?”

“Close enough,” she answered, her hands clasped behind herself.

That was a lie.

Morn had been forced to accompany her parents per Patricia’s request, and she worried about the torment she might’ve been facing.

He looked at the door behind her. “You are sure no one will stumble upon us?”

“No one else is here,” she told him, her nerves starting to wake.

His demeanor seemed to shift after that; he’d gone from being alert to grasping their reality again, namely exactly what he was about to do with her in that creepy castle. “Okay,” he nodded, his expression softening.

He tugged at the sword, the tie undoing easily from around his narrow hips before he walked to rest it against the wall.

She glanced between him and the bed, a flush spreading from her belly. Her senses were as scrambled as her actions. Trying to untie the wrap that was pooled around her hips proved difficult with fumbling hands, and she almost stomped her foot in anger when she only created tighter knots.

Nik glanced back at her, taking a breath. Did she see his hands shaking? With her back turned to him he could take the moment to shake the trembling out of his fingertips, but he turned just as she had loosened the sash covering her chest under the sheer outer material of the gown. He watched it fall around her ankles along with the one at her hip, a clear shape of her naked form now silhouetted under the thin gown that reached her bare feet.

“Do you mind if I keep this on?” she asked softly. It was barely any cover over the standing nipples atop those plump breasts, but it was one more layer to obstruct the heavy gaze of those mismatched eyes that guiltily drank in the sight before him.

“I don’t mind,” he mumbled.

He could see her taking deep breaths, licking her lips nervously, but her smell only spelled excitement once he was close again, watching the back of her knees hit her bed, barely catching herself.

She sat only to pull herself back with her hands, her feet following when he reached the edge of the bed.

The dress was pooled between her legs, the gown parting to reveal one of her tawny brown nipples and the freckles sprinkled across her creamy tan skin.

I can’t do this, Nik thought to himself, his knee hitting the soft surface of whatever this bed was made of. I can’t do this, but he still crawled, following her to the center where she sat looking at him. The bed creaked below him with every hand placed and knee settled.

“Did you practice?” he asked, entering her immediate space.

He smelled the spike, and saw the shame blush across those freckled cheeks. “I did,” she whispered. So close, she could smell the leathers he carried, but more so the earthy essence that carried on his dark, patterned skin. It was calming- much like the smell that hung in the fresh air after a cold rain.

“Lay back,” he told her, his bandaged hand parting her knees.

Callie only slid back until she was rested up on her elbows, her knee bumping his arm as he shifted between them. The spots his rough fingertips touched tickled, his wide palm smoothing down the silky flesh of her inner thigh. The sheer material was pulled away from between her thighs, and when he gazed down at the first human cunt he’d ever seen, he blushed, the cloth cradling his dick growing tighter. Much like an Orcs, but fascinatingly different.

Saliva pooled in his mouth, swallowing before he spoke. “I’m going to touch you,” his gravelly tone spoke softly, their excited eyes locking.

Callie nodded and rotated her knee out when he gently touched her lips.

The pad of his middle finger smoothed between to find that bundle he’d touched before, her stomach clenching and a soft gasp blowing past her lips. He watched her entire body react when he swiped her juices over it, following the slick rosey flesh down to her hole. Callie watched in awe as he rotated his wrist and carefully tested her work, the entry snug, but accepting of his two thick fingers.

“Ahh-” Callie moaned, her thighs closing around his hand when he pushed in till his knuckles pressed to her cheeks.

It was entrancing listening to her whine like that, moving his fingers experimentally, but his eyes darted up when she grabbed his arm and gasped.

“I’m sorry,” he apologized, blinking away some of the clouds he’d been floating in.

“It didn’t hurt,” she shyly admitted, her voice uneven.

Now they were both breathing heavily with his digits shoved knuckle deep in her hot passage and her thighs parting again, fighting the urge to thrum his fingers so he could see her eyes roll into the back of her skull.

Concentrate!

“This is as far as you got?” he asked, and she shook her head.

“That’s as far as I could go on my own,”

He was absolutely stuck looking at her. His head felt fuzzy, his body vibrating below noticeable. Is she asking me…?

Callie kept her eyes on him, her body screaming to be touched, but could he see it? Could he understand the signal she was giving him even though the more logical part of her said this was taking things way off course, maybe even dangerously?

But it feels so good- far better than any realm her imagination had taken her to.

There was only a half second to spend worrying if she’d overstepped by suggesting such a thing before he adjusted the hand he’d been leaning on at her side, his knees sliding closer so he could sit down.

He evoked another soft moan when he scissored his fingers steadily, her body bouncing up with every careful thrust of his fingers.

“What are you doing?” She panted, reaching down to touch his hand. “What is this?”

“I’m spreading my fingers,” he showed her when he withdrew, her shimmering arousal spreading between his digits.

“Oh,” she nodded, another soft whimper when he slid his fingers back in.

Callie could feel the pressure of him stretching her, the gradual growing of the distance between his fingers as he pumped his hand between her thighs, and that same pressure collecting in her lower belly made her weak, absolutely powerless.

It made her head almost bob when struggling to stay up on her elbows. She knew she needed to conceal this vulnerability- they weren’t supposed to be doing this for enjoyment. But when she dared a look up at him, could she assume he might’ve been enjoying himself too by the way he poured his entire concentration into the steady pumps of his arm? Or how he kept inching closer on his knees, wanting nothing more than to wrap his arms around her waist and slip into the creamy center he massaged.

I can’t do this. “I think we can try now,” he spoke, his tone gravely.

A tremble broke out over her body even when she nodded, her hair clung to the sweat on her forehead, her skin hot when his hand pulled back over her thigh.

Callie watched him lean between her knees as he finally closed the space between them, the bed creaking and her legs over his thick, scarred thighs. She couldn’t pull her eyes away when watching him untie the cords at his hips, tugging them until the cloth holding his anatomy fell away.

“Good god!” she exclaimed, sitting farther up to stare down at the fat, veiny, rigid monster dangling between his thighs. “Dear god, oh my god,” she chanted, laughing hysterically and covering her face. “It’s the size of my fucking arm!”

Nick faltered, a little conflicted. “Do you want to stop?”

She looked away from his impressive size, shaking her head and fighting the tremble in her chin. “I can do this,”

“I told you our sizes-”

“I know, I remember, I’m okay,” she went on, gathering her courage to reach down and touch him.

He grunted and tensed when her fingertips and thumb, now wrapped tightly around his girth, couldn’t touch. When she pushed back on the velvety skin to reveal the purple-ish head that was pierced and dripping with precum, her jaw dropped, looking up at his embarrassed glare.

“A piercing, Prince?” she teased bravely, but he chuffed in her face, making her eyes flutter.

“Where’s yours, coward?” he growled, but she merely rolled her eyes, looking back down at the cock she held.

Her grip tightened when she slowly pumped it once, his stomach clenching with a groan. She’d not expected a males appendage to feel so… meaty, but was undeniably captivated by how pretty it was. She couldn’t help squeezing it gently, her toes curling when he exhaled shakily and jerked into her palm. Her touch felt electric, his body reacting stronger than ever before.

They looked at one another. His golden eye was dilated and locked directly on her as her hand fell away, coming to pull her dress farther up her stomach.

I can’t believe I’m doing this, she told herself, finally laying back with his top leaned completely over her sprawled form, her knees drawing back. She felt completely naked although scantily dressed, but also felt the intense throb of need between her thighs. Never before had she felt a desire as exact as this one, desperate to satisfy her craving to be filled.

“I’ll go slow,” he whispered.

“Please,” she asked, tingling when he let spit drop onto his tip and spread it around with his thumb. I can’t believe I’m doing this! Her knees bobbed at his sides; she could feel his warm, slick tip part her lips and slide down to her center.

Callie tensed, the pressure growing as he pushed.

His head was thicker, more so than his fingers that had been a gentle lull, but their slick arousals made his first poke in smooth. He groaned when her heat kissed his tip, his hands balling painfully in the sheets by her side as his hips dropped and his head slowly eased in.

She hissed, and he paused. “Careful,” she choked.

He nodded loosely, his words slurred when he softly apologized.

He was feverish, his stomach in knots. His arm was shaking already- she was so tight, her whimpers so soft when gazing up at him.

“It stings,” she mumbled, but he could barely hear her.

Warmth made his eyes heavy, his control weak. He wanted to slip into the pool of ecstasy and lay over her while she sobbed his name. Nik wanted to put his mouth on the twin peaks below him, and taste how sweet her skin must’ve been-

The consuming pain of the spike being driven into his arm made him holler, snapping up and away from the Princess who had the small hair pin clenched in her fist, scrambling away from him.

Nik stood, looking at his bleeding arm, vicious breaths raging through his teeth when he looked at her. He looked like the beast her parents had painted Orcs to be with his sharp teeth and tusks exposed like that, darkness filling his sharp eyes. “What the fuck!?” he shouted.

“You did not stop!” She cried, covering herself hurriedly.

He blinked. “What?”

“You- you went in all the sudden and I asked you to wait and you didn’t!” She yelled, obviously jarred. Her arms crossed her body, her legs pinched tight where she stood across the bed.

Nik paused, thinking- had he heard her? No, he hadn’t heard anything, he realized, looking at her again.

“I didn’t hear you-“

“You should have! You said you would go slow!”

“It was an accident, I wouldn’t do that purposefully!” He shouted, his seething anger inching back.

“How do I know you’re not lying!?”

He was taken aback- was she serious? “You rope me into this without knowing anything about each other and now you want to ask these types of questions?” he spat, warm blood coming down his arm. “Are you mindless?”

“You are the mindless one who couldn’t keep his head together! That’s weak!” she shouted back, her face turning red.

“It was a mistake!” Nik thundered, watching her flinch as his voice rang loudly in her room. “Fuck this- all of it, this was a stupid idea!”

She watched him spin in one swoop across his half of the room to collect his items before throwing open the door so viciously the hinges loosened, the wood banging against the wall and losing a few splinters. The room that had once been filled with quiet, intense concentration was now too quiet.

She held her face, her hands shaking still.

A moments worth of the fear she’d collected over the years after listening to first hand accounts of men taking what they wanted without asking had driven her to grab the hair pin she’d stashed under her pillow and stab it into his arm, but now that she was looking from a different point of view of where they once laid together, she could see she’d acted too fast. Just as he’d been locked in the moment, so had she, riding the adrenaline before he reached her limit, but fear had not graced him with enough time to even comprehend that she had asked him to wait when the stinging grew too intense.

Callie sat on her bed, holding her face.

“Mindless,” she repeated, rolling her eyes.

She looked over the drops of blood leading from her bed and across the floor, her hair pin discarded across the sheets she’d been gripping to for dear life.

Her eyes closed. What should I do?

He still reeled in embarrassment. He hid his face in his hands, grumbling insults, shaking his head.

How had he let his concentration slip that much? Where had he gone to not hear her right below him?

You were thinking of how deep you would fit, you fool.

Nik groaned, mashing his hands against his face and rubbing his eyes until the wound at his arm protested. He winced, rotating his elbow to look at the small puncture that only bled mildly but could tell would ache something fierce in the days to come.

She almost poked the bone.

“Nik?” Came her breathless voice, turning his head to find her at the entrance of the overgrown garden they’d passed on their way up to her room.

She’d clearly run around for a while before finally finding him perched under one of the windows that lush vines had taken over, tall grass and flowers hiding his large form. Callie was breathless and still wearing that sheer gown, her hair stuck around her neck.

“I thought you’d left,” she panted, composing herself. “I’m- I’m very sorry,” she stuttered. “I see now I didn’t give you the chance to even respond before I…” she motioned to his arm, his face souring a little. “I got scared,” she added, glancing down at her feet.

He overlooked her nervous fiddling, how she couldn’t meet his eyes. The fact that she was here first apologizing when she could’ve been screaming for help said a lot.

“I’m sorry too,” he exhaled, pulling apart a flower he’d picked. “I do not know where my mind was and it was because of that that you felt the need to protect yourself, so I’m sorry, Princess,” he apologized.

Well. She nodded, clearing her throat. I wasn’t expecting this.

“What are we to do now?” he asked while standing, dusting off any bits of grass and debris from his legs.

She chewed the inside of her lip. “Try again?”

He winced. “You hit your limit back there. I think we need more time,”

She couldn’t deny that- he’d only made it past his head before a ring of fire had the panic replacing the excitement once rushing through her veins.

“While I don’t disagree, as I said before, I don’t know how capable I am of carrying that out myself at this point,” she articulated, her fingers laced awkwardly at her front.

That’s true, she did mention that. “I remember,”

“What you experienced was after a night's worth of… preparing,” she chose, catching the twitch of his ears, her eyes widening in delight. They can move their ears!?

Nik took in a deep breath and let it out, rubbing the back of his head in thought. Why was he still here? Why did he keep doing this?

“Should we keep doing this?” He asked. Should we? Can we? Can I?

He could see her mulling that one over, her big eyes cast down in thought. It looked to have opened something dark in her heart, something that immediately changed the bright demeanor of the stubborn Princess.

“Can I ask why you keep coming back? Is it wrong to assume you’ve doubted me- this entire thing?” she asked, and he nodded. “So why do you keep coming back?”

Nik stared down at her. It really didn’t take much thought for him to really know why he kept coming back here once he was asked out loud.

“I didn’t realize how much I disliked my life until you pointed out how bad things are,” he mumbled. “I suppose you gave me hope for a future I didn’t think I could have,”

“Hope,” she nodded.

“C’mere,” he motioned to his lap, helping her kneel down to where he was at the base of a sunny tree inside the garden. “Are you sure we can do this here?” he asked, glancing over his shoulder.

“It would be wise to be closer to the trees if someone found us, no?” she asked, taking his hand.

He grumbled. “I suppose,”

Once her bottom hit his thigh, he carefully spun her so she was draped across his lap, leaning back into one arm and the other hand coming to rest at her parting thighs.

“Ready?” He asked softly.

It helped her comfort when she let her elbow rest behind his shoulder, allowing her to better lean into his chest. His skin was so warm, the heat coming off his palms even more intense than the skin of his arms.

She liked when he moved her around to adjust her spot in his lap, effortlessly sliding her this way and that until he had a better angle to touch her. Like this, his arm could slip under the knee that rested against his chest, her foot rested against a tall root.

“I’m ready,” she nodded, still tensing as his fingertips skimmed to her center. She slipped the dress to the side and his wrist rotated again, his middle fingers slipping in.

Callie’s eyes fluttered, her back arching and nails digging into his shoulder; he was so smooth about it.

“You don’t need that much more, I think,” he mumbled, swirling his fingers before scissoring them. She was still wet, still radiating that delicious spice, but he wasn’t gonna let that land him with another stabbing.

“Mhm,” she hummed, her brows furrowed.

Nik could hear how slick she was as he spread and closed his pumping fingers in rhythm, the sound intriguing him to the point where he had to look back at her face so he wouldn’t stare. He was surprised to find her barely managing to keep her head up, her hands gripping various parts of him and her breaths uneven. Often a small moan would come forth, sometimes a choked whine she would stiffen with.

“Does it hurt?” He asked, but she shook her head, her hair moving around her face.

“No, not at all,” she sighed, her head hitting his shoulder when she glanced at him.

His head rotated to keep looking at her, spreading his fingers a little wider, but her head kept wobbling around, thwarting his attempts to watch how her face changed with the pace of his fingers.

Goosebumps fired across her scalp when the scrape of his nails moved between the roots of her hair, his big hand grabbing a fistful to turn her face towards him.

“Fuck!” she hissed, her toes pushing her feet off the roots.

She had to resist curling around his hand and grinding, but with his control over her head, she could only lay across his lap and writhe. He could swear he felt the slightest rock in her hips when he buried his fingers, but he was more entranced by the array noises she made.

I didn’t know humans made noises like this, he thought curiously to himself, tightening the grip on her hair to keep her head still. She winced, but did not ask him to stop. That spiked his intrigue, his image of the Princess changing shape with every second they spent together.

She looked up at him when he chuffed loudly, her jaw dropping when the spreading stopped and he curled his fingers.

Her breaths were punched from her chest, his touch urging her body to react to the way his fingers coaxed in a come hither fashion.

They were off course now- something had shifted, and his only objective in that moment was to hear how loud she could scream when she started to fall boneless in his hold, soft moans growing louder with every second passing, but she couldn’t stop herself, either.

This was the euphoria of another's touch, wasn't it?

This was the weightlessness, the floating in the clouds.

His thumb snuck up, pressing soft circles against the reactive bundle of nerves. His heart rate spiked when her eyes momentarily rolled back, her hand grabbing his.

Without a word passed between them, she knew to sit up and draw her knee across his chest to straddle his lap, her feet now on either side of him and pushing off the roots to raise enough so he could quickly do away with his coverings.

She breathed heavily above him, her hold locked against the back of his neck and hungrily watching him finally free his springing member.

Calista almost whined, her thighs aching and trembling madly already, but a greater, more urgent, needful part of her had taken over. It told her how to slowly ease her way back down after his hand had returned to her waist from pushing aside her dress again, panting just as she did when looking down at her sex that was soaked and glistening.

It led her to gently sit against the head of his throbbing cock, his thumb holding the length steady.

Her forehead bumped his, the pair watching as she gently, with glacial speed, eased his head in easier than the first time.

Nik exhaled loudly, his hand leaving from between them to hold her sides with a wraithlike power. She was hot, enough to make him feel like he may overheat.

Her toes curled into the moss and grass below them, her nails pinching the skin on the back of his neck as she whimpered above him.

Nik’s eyes found hers, both flushed and drunk on lust.

Maintaining his composure was tricky when she bobbed on his head a little, her snug hole sucking his head again and again, testing his girth the farther down she went. He chuffed loudly, his blind eye pinched shut and his other about to roll back into his skull while his heels pushed into the earth. It was a meager sensation to be shaking over in the grand scheme of what was happening, and Nik couldn’t understand why his mind so reeled at the slightest sensations.

Calista winced and gasped, the agony of stretching starting to outweigh the rush of her first time fucking anyone, yet when she glanced at the Prince, her center clenched watching him struggle to even his breath or maintain the rough exterior he’d upheld. She could’ve reached for his sword and plunged it into his chest, he was so far gone! His cheek rested against her inner arm, his hairless brows curled in what appeared to be anger, but the loud exhales and little whimpers said otherwise.

A sudden glance up at her and push against her stomach to lift her off his dick brought clarity back to her world, and she blinked, looking down at his alert manner.

“Is everything-” she started, but didn’t expect him to be grabbing her so fast, she nearly got whiplash. Despite his massive size, almost as fast as a hummingbird's flap of a wing, he had them standing and whipped around the tree, her back to his chest and his hand over her mouth, holding her tight to his hard frame.

“Someone’s coming,” he whispered, watching over his shoulder.

She waited, seconds ticking by until she heard the distinct foot falls of a small group of guardsmen walking by, their low conversation traveling with them. The hand splayed across her stomach pulled her in tighter, inching up her ribcage.

Nik growled low, eyeing his sword he’d left in the grass and praying was concealed enough. He felt a fight rising in his chest; this is exactly what he feared would happen.

She pulled his hand down from her mouth, turning in his hold to face him. “They will leave,” she whispered, leaning over to watch them too.

He shushed her again, but she only pointed until he followed her finger to where the four armored men were making their way to a separate hall that would lead them in the opposite direction. Even then he did not release her hastily, instead keeping his hands secured at her back until he could no longer smell them with a raise of his nose to the air.

“They are gone,” she ensured, finally managing to bring his attention back to her, but he looked far more troubled than before, but she was too, realizing this was the end of their day together.

She blinked a few times- together? This is an arrangement.

But that slip-up was definitely not part of this arrangement. “You should go, I don’t want you in any danger,” she told him, stepping from the cozy comfort of his arms as he covered himself again.

The disappointment was immediate. Had she been alone, she likely would’ve had a good cry after ending a long desired experience like that so abruptly.

Nik nodded, agreeing, but couldn't help feeling a little… bummed. “I’m sorry today didn’t go well,” It was strange to feel that those words were a lie, but even if he wanted to accept that mistake, he’d undeniably enjoyed every moment of it.

“Maybe we’ll have better luck next time?” she asked, the pair gazing at one another.

About that. “I don’t know when that will be,”

Her brows furrowed, her eyes questioning.

“My parents have returned home and our father keeps us on the move between other clans,” he explained, anticipating days worth of riding and keeping up appearances.

“How long does that usually go on for?” she asked, tensing.

Nik weighed his hands. “Five days, maybe more?”

Her shoulders dropped, nodding her head. “I understand,”

In all honesty, he felt bad. It was easier to understand the urgency of her scheme when all he had to do was take a breath for a reminder of the state her kingdom was in, but that didn’t stop his own day to day turmoil from happening.

“I will see you soon then?” she looked up at him again, forcing a small smile.

“If I find the chance, I’ll come to you,”

“How will I know you’re near? You can’t walk up, they’ll see you,”

Nik looked around, pointing to the forest surrounding her castle. “I’ll call you from the trees,” he told her, and she cocked her head.

“How?”

“Can you whistle?” he asked, and she shook her head. His hairless brows pulled together. “You can’t whistle?”

“No one ever taught me,” she said softly, fiddling with her own hands.

That struck a sadness in him he felt was all too familiar, a loneliness that he’d carried with him since childhood. “Do you know what an Ora bird is?”

“The violet ones?” she asked, watching as he turned to the trees and lifted his fingers to his mouth. A smooth, three tone whistle carried far and picked up other songs from Ora’s nearby, the melody circling before it came back to them. Callie grinned, never having known the birds she listened to everyday were capable of such magic.

“That’s the whistle we’ll use, no one will notice it,” he explained. Something sudden, but luscious, and sweet filled his senses, licking his lips when he realized it was on his tongue.

“Like this?” Callie asked, trying to mimic his hand placement and whistle.

He glanced down at his own hand, his fingers that had been… Nik pressed his tongue to the roof of his mouth, swallowing, fighting a debilitating rush of heat under his skin.

Paradise.

“Like this,” he instructed, his tone deep, dark, rough. He carefully adjusted her lithe fingers, his fingers bumping her soft lips a couple times. When she had her eyes closed and attempting another go, he licked his lips, his breath nearly punched from his chest.

A soft, weak whistle from the Princess brought reality back, and she dazzled him with a wide smile that made those big, brown eyes sparkle in excitement.

“Was that it?” she asked, trying again to carry the three toned call.

“Almost,” he quietly responded, sharing a half grin. “Keep at it and you’ll get it quick. If either of us needs each other, we can use this,”

“Thank you, Nik,” she grinned, but great guilt swarmed him.

It was not ten minutes ago he was ready to fuck her in that overgrown garden, and now here he was teaching her something so meager, yet she was the happiest he’d seen her in the days she’d graced his company. He felt as if he was stealing away the moments she should’ve been sharing with a real husband, someone she chose over love instead of obligation.

“I’m sorry you feel you have to do this,” he mumbled, his eyes dropping in shame.

She was puzzled, trying to understand his meaning. “Whistle?”

He couldn’t help but chuckle. “No, this- us, what we have planned. That you have to waste your first moments of intimacy with me,”

“Ahh,” she nodded, chewing the inside of her lips. “Do you think you would make a good husband?”

His ears twitched again- she almost squealed. He’d never asked himself that before, but… “I think so,”

“Then I’m not sorry.”

He departed hesitantly after they exchanged goodbyes, and found difficulty in pulling his eyes away from her after he’d left her under the willows they walked back to in comfortable silence. Even as every step took him farther away, she still coated his skin, her essence on his hands, on his lips. Her smile was still vibrant in his mind when he made it back to Lyuda, her nose hovering close to his chest when she smelled Callie.

Her big ears perked forward, nudging him a few times.

“Shut up.” He grumbled, pushing her head away.

He rode back leisurely under the warm sun and chilly breeze, his thoughts floating high above him with the billowing clouds.

He recalled soft moans, and gentle twitches, the way her fingers dug into his skin. He traced his hand over the back of his neck where she’d left small crescent marks, grinning to himself. It was how luscious her walls felt, and how she looked him in the eye without hesitation, her body asking for more than she was capable of. Nik blushed, rubbing his eyes. Even if he’d made the mistake of losing control over his actions for a split second, he hadn't been wrong when he thought she wanted it just as badly as he had. Had she not been a virgin, he’d still be back there, buried deep in her belly and branding her into the Earth.

Nik chuckled at himself. It didn't even faze him anymore that she was human. Perhaps all his judgements had been misguided despite the overwhelming evidence. She was… different, though.

Another day to come with the Princess didn’t seem so daunting, or as intimidating, but that was the first time he felt that maybe, just maybe he had the capability to do this.

⦽