Chapter 8
eight
. . .
Calla
Kissing her was a mistake.
It was, because now Calla wanted. She wanted more. She wanted to snap the bond into place and just be. But then what?
She had been staring at Zera for far too long now, watching her eyes, her lips, her hands. Those lips. Those hands. The same ones from her dreams.
There was no doubt now. Morfeus had shown her this, shown her Zera, as if to say: “Here. This is your mate. Do with this knowledge what you will.”
But her mate … her mate was Vulcanian. A Vulcanian on a mission.
A strange one, sure, but a mission, nonetheless.
And Calla was certain that if she gave in, if she truly gave herself, then Zera would make her leave, and Calla was not leaving the Rhea Kingdom, nor her village.
Then if she didn’t, Zera would leave, and what good would it do to bond if it meant being torn apart?
She had heard the stories about the bond sickness and how it eats at people, how it physically hurts to be away from your mate once the bond forms. It was like withdrawal. Would she survive that?
But then again…
At least you would experience it.
Even if Zera had to leave … wouldn’t it be worth it? To live it, even for a moment? To know what it feels like?
But what if she leaves?
But what if she stays…
Zera stepped closer, hand reaching for her.
Calla flinched. She lifted her arms, her damp skin prickling in the cold of the cave despite the fire. “Don’t.”
Zera’s face contorted. Confusion and pain were written across her furrowed brow.
“You don’t understand,” Calla rushed out, the words bubbling in her throat. “This… this is terrifying. We don’t know each other. We’re completely different. We’re strangers and—”
“Talk fast…” Zera interrupted, reaching again.
“I have to. If I slow down, the words won’t come out. Because I’m afraid.”
“Des… pacio.”
“No, Zera! I don’t—” Calla groaned. “What do you want? Do you want to stay? Do you want to leave? Are you just here to … to bond and go?” Her voice cracked.
“I don’t want to leave my land, I don’t want to go to the Vulcan Kingdom.
My place is here. I don’t want to move! I don’t want that.
Yes, I want the bond, who wouldn’t? It’s said to be one of the most beautiful things you can ever experience, but, gods, I don’t think I can handle this. It’s too fast, too soon, and—”
“No.” Zera cut her off gently, stepping close and cradling her face. “No scared.”
Calla looked at her, lips trembling. “How could I not be?” Her voice dropped, quieter, more vulnerable. “I dreamt of you. Of the pleasures you would give me. I never thought I’d be so scared and—puneta, Zera…”
Zera hushed her again and released her face, only to take her hand. She was shaking just as much as Calla was. She brought Calla’s palm to her chest and pressed it there, right over her heart.
“I don’t understand much,” Zera whispered. “But… gods are right. No scared now. We fine.”
Zera sighed, visibly frustrated. “Don’t be scared. I’m a protector. I’m a warrior. I will always keep you safe. How would I not, when it is my soul that calls for you?”
Calla’s frown deepened. “I don’t understand Arevulcan.” She shook her head. Gods … she was so tired of not understanding.
But Zera wasn’t done. She looked her in the eyes and tried again, this time in broken Florensi. “Tu… eres mía,” she said carefully. “Yo soy tuya.” She stepped closer. “I will stay.”
Calla’s lips parted.
She looked down at their joined hands pressed to Zera’s chest.
“Morfeus showed me your hands, eyes … And your mouth. In a dream.” Her voice cracked. “I thought it was just that—a dream.”
She looked up at Zera.
“Tu eres mi sueno.”
Zera blinked. “You sleep? You want to sleep?”
Calla laughed. Her smile burst across her face, and Zera’s whole expression shifted. Zera looked at her like she’d kneeled right then and there. Like she’d worship her without question. Calla’s hand slid to the back of Zera’s neck and pulled her in.
Zera gasped in the kiss, her hands gripping Calla’s hips tightly as if she didn’t want Calla to leave. But she wasn’t leaving, not now, not when she finally knew Zera wasn’t leaving.
Zera’s breath became short and hot, her desperation palpable underneath Calla’s fingertips.
And then …
“Let me make you cum” Zera breathed in her native tongue. “Let’s create the bond.”
Zera’s lips were trembling. Calla felt it as surely as she felt the fire flickering beside them. When she pulled her close by the neck, fingers tangled in damp curls, and parted her lips.
“Por favor. Let me make you cum…” the warrior muttered. Calla didn’t know the words, but the sound of them hit low in her belly.
Suddenly, she was lifted, cradled in strong arms as if she weighed nothing, then laid gently onto the thick blankets near the fire. Her breath caught in her throat.
The storm outside raged, lightning flashing across the cave walls, thunder echoing like the pulse in her chest.
Zera hovered above her, water glistening on her skin. Calla couldn’t help but touch the taut shoulders, trying to get the droplets of water off her, but knowing damn well she was using that as an excuse to touch, to feel, and revere the strength in her mate’s body.
Her mate…
She pushed the wet hair away from her neck, her full lips finding the thrumming of her accelerated pulse there.
She kissed it, her nails raking through the skin of Zera’s rippling back.
Just as the other woman’s grip on her wide hips grew almost painful, she sighed against the dampness underneath Zera’s ear, leaning now fully on the dry sheets of the cave.
Zera kneeled next to her, looking at her, taking her in completely, and for the first time in her existence, she felt so exposed that she wasn’t sure she could take it. Her arms snaked their way to cover her still clothed chest. Ashamed of how her nipples had hardened at the coldness of the cave.
“No,” Zera muttered, her callused hand coming to move her hands away. The barbarian tilted her head to look even better, allowing the light from the fire to frame Calla. She swallowed hard and pressed her hands to her side, her breathing almost too erratic.
“Bella,” Zera said before gathering her hair to the side, before lowering her mouth to Calla’s neck.
Calla pressed her eyes together, hard. The prickling feeling of Zera’s mouth on her skin was simply too much.
Gods, she had never done this in her life, at least not to the point of being completely open to let another person touch her.
But this was Zera; she was her soulmate, her mate; there was no reason for her to feel so anxious.
“Relax, flower.” Zera said, her hands coming to squeeze the tension of Calla’s shoulder before cupping her cheeks and peppering her face with soft kisses.
It wasn’t until she opened her eyes that she saw the tenderness in the barbarian’s eyes.
She was surprised to see that. She was waiting for fire; instead,, she found warmth …
Not that she minded; she knew they were just starting, so she appreciated the slowness of the moment.
With skilled fingers, Zera undid the knot on Calla’s chest wraps, a soft smile on her lips as she finally bared Calla’s chest to the dimmed Cave.
Then those violet eyes left her to consume her.
Although it was hard, Calla could see how Zera’s eyes sparked with a fire Calla had never seen in anyone.
It was as if Zera was battling with herself.
After a shuddering sigh, Zera’s hands came to grip her left breast, squeezing it just enough to earn a whimper from her. Closing her eyes once more, Calla almost snapped when Zera’s lips found an achingly stiff nipple.
“Puneta…” She hissed, hands finding Zera’s wet and dark strands. She held her firmly, savoring the sensation and how warm and delicious her tongue felt on her and her breath … This woman was really a forge.
A vibrating chuckle escaped Zera until her lips trailed between her breasts, following the invisible path down her stomach, her tongue grazing her skin now and then, as if allowing her to know what she was about to do.
Calla opened her eyes just as Zera knelt between her legs, dragging her rough palms down Calla’s thighs. A shiver bolted up her spine when Zera pushed her legs open with slow, deliberate care.
And then she smirked, her purple eyes flashing up to her for just a second.
This, this was her dream.
Zera with her hands, with her purple eyes and that mouth of hers … This is what she had dreamt of so long ago.
“You are…” Zera said in her thick, broken Florensi, “Ares and Vulcan’s gift.”
Calla’s heart thudded.
And then she said something else, something low and reverent in Arevulcan.
“Look at me. I will worship you with my tongue until you scream my name like a prayer.”
Calla didn’t understand the words, not yet.
But the way Zera looked at her then… gods. Her purple eyes glowed with something fierce, something holy. Her fingers slid between Calla’s thighs, gentle, slow, spreading her open like she was something to be revered.
Calla’s lips parted. Her whole body arched.
Zera looked up at her, grinned, and then her mouth descended.
She kissed a path from the inside of her knee down to the junction of her thighs, her curly patch of hair.
Calla swallowed hard, wanting so much to close her legs.
Embarrassment still burning at the back of her head but then there was heat, a slide of a tongue, and pressure.
Calla’s gasp filled the cave’s air.
The sensation made her thighs tremble and her vision blur. She tried to say her name, tried to beg, but her breath was caught somewhere between a moan and a prayer.
Zera groaned against her, and another string of Arevulcan slipped out. Ot sounded filthy yet beautiful, and for once, Calla couldn’t wait to know what she was saying.
“You taste like heaven. Sweeter than any fruit.” Zera stopped her eyes, shifting from contemplating Calla’s pussy up to focus on her face.
“I will eat your cunt every evening.” She grinned, pulling Calla harshly towards her.
“You will be sated for the rest of your days,” Zera said, followed by a broad lick to Calla’s cunt.
Calla’s breath exploded in her chest. Her stomach clenching as Zera’s attention was once again between her legs. Her lower lip trembled, her emotions blossoming as warmth spread through her. “No pares,” she managed to say before throwing her head back.
Calla cried out as Zera’s tongue circled her clit, slow and sure, her mouth dragging fire and pleasure and worship with every kiss.
Her fingers gripped Zera’s hair tighter, her hips lifting off the ground. “Zera—!” she whimpered.
Zera held her steady, strong arms locking her in place, mouth working her deeper, tongue sliding over every nerve.
She didn’t stop, not even when Calla squeezed her face with her thick thighs.
It wasn’t until the other woman groaned against her, the vibration tearing through her, that Calla broke, her orgasm slamming into her like a wave.
She screamed, her grip growing taut; she knew it was painful, but all she could see, feel, or hear was Zera, her purple gaze, her strong hands, and that skilled tongue.
Zera licked her through her orgasm, every tremor, every gasp, every aftershock, her hands strong and possessive held her down as if she let go, Calla would float away or disappear into nothingness.
When it was over, Calla collapsed, gasping, her chest rising and falling fast, but she wasn’t done. Not yet. The heat inside her hadn’t burned out. The bond hadn’t snapped into place.
Calla blinked back into reality, her dark eyes darting to look at Zera …