Chapter 14
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Elder Soparo was nestled away in a cozy reading cubby in one of the peripheral chambers of the vast archives of the Norvalian Sect. He sat alone, quietly studying the difficult language of one of the ancient Dotharian texts, as he did on so many days.
When he was a young man, he was known to travel far and wide in his duties, but now as the elder of the order, most of his time was spent here, overseeing the younger brothers and helping them interpret and understand precisely the laws and rules they’d sworn their lives to uphold.
And a large part of that required scholarly study of the many, many volumes that had been expanded upon over the millennia.
It was in this secluded nook that Draikis found him late that evening, approaching the elder with an uncharacteristic hesitation in his step.
Soparo looked up, a brow slightly raised. “Brother Draikis. What seems to be amiss?”
“Amiss, Elder?”
“I’ve known you a great many years, Draikis. Something troubles you, clearly, and I would assume you have come to me for guidance.”
Draikis took a deep breath, his shoulders relaxing slightly with the man’s words. “You assume correctly.”
“And you knew where to find me how, exactly? These are not my normal counseling hours.”
The priest chuckled. “I’ve known you a great many years as well, Elder Soparo. Always with the ancient texts, eh?”
“We learn from the teachings and mistakes of the past.”
“But the Dotharians do not make mistakes.”
Soparo grinned, a gleam in his eyes. “Perhaps not now, but how do you think that came to be?”
“By careful study of things that went wrong.”
“So, you did pay attention to my lectures.”
“One would be foolish not to.”
“Just as it would be foolish to not learn from the past. To study objectively and with no judgment, but always an open mind and willingness to admit when errors were made.”
“You are a wise man, Soparo.”
“Some say. But with age comes the realization that we are not as wise as we may think. The more one learns, the more one must also accept that we know far less than we believe.
“As you’ve said. The more you know, the more you realize you don’t know.”
“Precisely.” He leaned back, gesturing to the nearby seat. “Join me, Draikis. Make yourself comfortable and tell me what it is you wish to discuss.”
Draikis did as he was bidden and slid into the welcoming embrace of the soft cushions, gathering his thoughts a long moment.
“The thing is,” he began, a little flush of embarrassment coloring his cheeks. “I was wondering about the extent of our order’s rules.”
“Specifically?”
“Uh, specifically about reacting to the charms of the opposite sex.”
A little grin creased the older man’s lips. “Ah, I see. Our guest, I assume.”
“Yes.”
“It is the first time a woman has been in these walls for any extended period in longer than I can recall. Cloistered as we are, it is only natural that her presence should awaken certain interests. Feelings you are not accustomed to.”
“I realize that. But it seems like more than that.”
“Relax, my boy. You have spent a great deal of time with her during her convalescence, and her remarkable recovery is no doubt due to your constant attention. The care with which you have looked after her is admirable, not something to be concerned about.”
“But these feelings? It is not normal.”
Elder Soparo chuckled. “We may have taken vows, but we are not dead, Draikis. We are men, after all, and Ella is by all measures an attractive woman, even if of a race we are not familiar with.”
“She is at that. And charming. Intelligent. Quick of wit and funny.”
“All of which is fine. You have made a friend, and for the most natural of reasons. You are a clever man, and she is an equally sharp counterpart. It’s no wonder you’ve developed an attachment.”
“But the rules—”
“Are quite clear. We have our way of life, and you have embraced it willingly. Attraction may happen, but our Infalas are incapable of bonding. It is a safeguard that should give you peace of mind. Whatever you feel, it is in yours to overcome. And I know you are strong and will abide your vows.”
“So, it is not a betrayal of the rules?”
“Being attracted to someone? Bah! If that was counter to the order’s rules we would all be in trouble at one point or another.
To feel something is normal. It is upon our willpower to not act on it.
That would be a grave violation, but one I am confident you will not make.
Now, are there any other things you wish to discuss? ”
“That was the most pressing concern.”
“Then we are done. Be strong, Brother. I know you will continue to do what is right. Now, if you will excuse me, I do have my studies.”
“Of course. Thank you, Elder Soparo.”
The older man nodded sagely. “From the Many, the One.”
“From the One, the Many.”
Draikis took his leave quickly and quietly, though there was no one else but Nilkis the archivist in the structure.
There were copies of the most current and relevant laws they all studied upon admission into the order throughout their compound.
As a result, very few ever came to the archives.
Elder Soparo was the exception, not the rule.
“Brother Nilkis,” he said as he passed the front desk where the man spent his long days in solitary silence.
“Brother Draikis,” the man replied with a nod as the troubled priest headed out of the building.
Draikis headed to the main courtyard where he walked the pathways of the garden a long time until the rising moon had eventually reached its apex, the glow rising and bringing a light to the entire compound.
More time had passed than he’d originally realized. He had been in constant motion for hours, even if slowly, a meditative stroll as he wrestled with what his mind knew, his heart felt, and his vows demanded.
It’s just a silly attraction, he reasoned.
Elder Soparo is right. There’s nothing unusual about that.
I wasn’t always a priest, after all. It’s no secret I’ve had plenty of infatuations in my days before joining the order.
He shook his head vigorously. Come on. Get a grip on yourself, Draikis.
Stop acting so emotional over something so trivial.
He was exhausted from the constant strain on his psyche. He had talked to himself non-stop until his mental voice felt as tired as if he’d been chatting out loud all night.
“Enough,” he grumbled, turning from the gardens and heading to his chambers. “A good night’s sleep will remedy this.”
If only.
Draikis arrived at his chambers in short order, exhausted in a sense, but also buzzing with something new churning in his belly. No matter how long he had spent trying to put his thoughts in order and his spirit at ease, he was still befuddled. Torn. And above all, aroused.
He shed his clothes absent-mindedly, leaving them in an uncharacteristically messy heap on his floor rather than hanging them in the auto-cleaner that was seamlessly embedded in his tasteful armoire against the far wall.
All the technology in this place was more or less hidden like that. Subtle. Natural. It was an interesting dichotomy as the Dotharians had provided the Norvalian Brotherhood with only the best of devices and the highest of technology, some of which had been used on their unusual guest.
“Could that have had something to do with it?” he wondered aloud. “Did it somehow make her more appealing to me, for whatever reason? But if it did, then how? No, that makes no sense,” he grumbled, stepping into the force-field boundary of his shower unit.
The water immediately sprayed down from above and up from below, shifting to a swirling torrent that circled his body clockwise, the water pre-set to just the right temperature for his preferences, the energy field keeping every last molecule within its boundaries, his floor, walls, and ceiling completely dry no matter how much the water might splash.
“Harder,” he commanded. “Hotter.”
The system reacted at once, knowing what this command meant in the context of Draikis’s preferences.
The water heated instantly, the power increasing by thirty percent, feeling pretty amazing as it hit his flesh hard enough to make it ripple from the force, providing a hot liquid massage from head to toe, but avoiding high-pressure to his face—a safeguard for the device after its initial tests discovered the potential issue in a particularly painful quality assurance cycle before being approved for public use.
The part of the stream striking his groin felt particularly good, his girthy length hardening from the sensation.
“More here,” he said, directing the water’s flow, his hand sliding over his cock, showing the system where exactly he meant.
The thumping rhythm of the water dropped to just one spot and pulsated steadily over his rapidly engorging manhood, the nerve endings singing with joy at the sensation. “Yes, right there.”
Draikis felt his breath catch in his chest, the feelings were so intensely good, his cock utterly buzzing with sensitivity even though it was still not fully erect.
His mind wandered a moment to Ella. Her face, her eyes, her lips.
The way her body looked when he studied her skin.
How her nipples were so hard when he grazed them.
He tried thinking of something else. Anything else.
Focusing on only the pleasant sensation of the water.
Or past lovers from his days before he was a priest. But try as he might, Ella kept surging to the front of his thoughts, and with the intrusive thoughts of her arrival his arousal increased exponentially.
“Nnngh,” he groaned, his hand instinctively wrapping around his length, the entirety of which had abruptly grown steel bar-hard at the thought of her.
It was incredible, how quickly he’d swollen to full rigidity, but this strange human woman had taken hold of some part of him, and there was nothing he could do about it.
He stroked himself, squeezing and sliding his grip over the rings and bulbous protrusions that lined his cock, each of them vibrating stronger as he became more and more aroused.
“Yessss,” he murmured, the head of his cock pulsing hard, a steady trickle of hot pre-cum leaking from him as his hefty balls began to contract closer to his body as his much-needed climax neared, pulling up, the angle increasing the tension on the sensitive underside.
He stroked faster, needing this release almost as much as he needed air to survive.
His body was a ball of buzzing tension, and it needed to be let out.
Draikis fought to push Ella’s face from his mind, but it was no use.
She was now inexorably linked to this moment, and it was with her at the forefront of his mind that he cried out as his manhood erupted in a geyser of hot jism, his legs trembling from the force of it, his abs clenched rock-hard as he came.
The gush of cum sprayed up across his chest, splashing hot on his skin, his Infala seeming to jump at the feel of it, the long-dormant rune awakening and twitching from the warmth of his massive load.
Again and again, he spurted, emptying himself while the water blasted his now overly sensitive cock.
“Stream up,” he stammered, the water hitting his chest, washing the shockingly voluminous quantity of cum from his chest and torso.
He’d been straining hard, pulling his cock in an upward manner so the water could better hit the tender bottom of it, but now the result was something he hadn’t expected at all.
He’d masturbated as an adult, naturally.
There were no rules against that in the order.
But this was different. The way Ella had invaded his thoughts.
How his body seemed to act of its own accord.
And, of course, how he’d come as hard as when he was just a hormone-filled teenager ready to pop at a change in the wind.
“What the hell was that?” he wondered, more thoroughly rinsing himself clean as his pulse slowly began to diminish.
He stood in the water a long time after he’d cleaned up, thinking ponderously, surrounded by a cloud of steam. Finally, he shut off the flow and activated the auto-dry system. A moment later he moved to his bed and lay down, staring up at the ceiling.
“This could be a problem,” he said quietly to the air. “And I fear it’s going to require all my willpower.”