Nuptials Part 3

Nuptials   Part 3

Written by Virginia Leonard

Copyright 1997

           "She's going to pay for this," Gabrielle said as she

re-worked her hair.  "So...fine...I don't know how, yet

but she is."  Giving her skirt one last brushing down,

Gabrielle flipped open the tent flap and stepped out

into the thinning crowd. 

     She slung her pack across her back and ambled in

the general direction of the tavern, noticing the still to

be explored tables, making certain she stopped at each

one.  "Xena...that great big, long haired, leather

wearing, mule headed amazon...will just have to wait,"

Gabrielle mumbled to no one in particular.  "Toy with

me, will she?  C'mon, Gabrielle, you're an artist, think

creative, think original...geez, think like Taledegas

and Ephiny."  Various images began to form in bard's

mind, each a little more devious than the first.  "Atta

girl," she grinned.

                                @@@

     Xena ducked out of the tent and hurried back to

their room, stopping only briefly to gather the few

supplies that would help her successfully finish what

she had started.  She was very careful not to damage

her arm while patting herself on the back.  It was her

sword arm after all.

     She replaced her armor with a blue and white silk

robe held together by a silk sash tied loosely at the

waist.  The sleeves were a full cut, left loose at the

wrists, which slid down her arms every time she raised

them above her head, revealing the smaller, polished

silver bands that replaced her usual bracers.

     Xena took her time in pulling her hair back, making

sure that no stray strands remained once the single

long braid fell between her shoulder blades.  She stood

back, admiring the handsome reflection in the mirror,

noticing how the small earrings, worked in silver and

bearing the same design as her armor, added just the

right touch as did the similarly designed pendant

hanging around her neck on a delicate silver chain that

was the perfect length, allowing the pendant to rest,

snugly, between her breasts.

     Smiling, for she was quite proud of herself, Xena

began to light the oil lamps and candles, breathing

deeply the scents of lavender and rosemary that filled

the room.  Next, she tacked a quilt over the window

to block out the remaining sunlight.  There would be

no evidence to mark the passage of time, not while she

and her lady were involved in the timeless ritual of

making long, slow, deliberate and passionate love.

Not this time.

     She turned to survey the room and finding every

thing satisfactory, she poured herself a goblet of wine,

took a deep, calming drink then sat down to wait.

                                @@@

     Gabrielle smelled the aromatic oils before she

reached the room and not knowing what to expect, she

cautiously opened the door,  stepped inside and closed

it, securely,  behind her.  The scene, unfolding before

her, erased all traces of the earlier thoughts of devious

retribution.

     The room was bathed in the golden fire light from

several small lamps and a few candles placed here and

there on tables and bed stands.  She stood in stunned

silence, looking around the room, soaking up the

ambience, finally locking eyes with the brilliant blues

that were Xena's.

     The warrior was sitting in a padded armchair, legs

crossed, allowing the silk robe to fall to each side,

exposing legs up to their mid-thigh.  Xena took a slow

drink, watching Gabrielle's expression over the rim of

her cup then set the wine on the small table next to the

chair.

     Gabrielle dropped her pack and began gesturing

towards her companion.  "Oh no you don't."

     "Don't what?"  Xena asked, putting on her most

innocent face.

     "You know exactly what, leave me standing in that

tent...alone.  I ought to..."

     Xena stood up and walked towards the babbling

bard.  "Yes you should."

     "It was cruel."

     "Yes, it was."  Xena stood behind Gabrielle,

moving the long red hair and playfully biting the back

of her neck.

     "This won't work, you know."

     "Of course not."  Xena went to work on one of

Gabrielle's ear.  She reached around from behind and

began to loosen the laces at Gabrielle's throat.  She

slowly pulled the cotton shirt from the confines of the

skirt and removed it over the bard's head followed by

the short chemise.

     Xena poured some of the scented oil into her hands

and began to massage Gabrielle's tense shoulders.

Knot after knot acquiesced to talented fingers,

transforming into relaxed and supple muscle.  She ran

her hands down each arm, entwining fingers with

those of the storyteller's.

     Fingers still locked, Xena began to work the oil

into the smooth skin of Gabrielle's stomach, up over

her breasts and across her chest, finally taking two sets

of fingers into her mouth, kissing and nipping at each

fingertip.

     "I know what you're up too," Gabrielle murmured,

resolve no longer a dominate factor in her voice.

     "I'm certain of it," Xena replied as she moved

around to stand in front of the red-haired beauty.

     "You're trying to take advantage of me."

     "I wouldn't dare."  Xena pulled Gabrielle over next

to the bed.  Warrior hands dipped beneath the

waistband of the brown linen skirt and began to ease it

towards the floor, her mouth leaving kisses in it's

wake. 

     Gabrielle stood, patiently, while Xena gently

removed each shoe and tossed them aside and she

watched the warrior princess kiss new places as she

stood back up.

     Xena took both of Gabrielle's hands back into her

own and kissed the palms of each one.  "Are you

thirsty?"

     Gabrielle cleared her throat, "Yes."

     "I thought you might be.  Make yourself

comfortable and I'll get the wine."

     Xena returned with two full goblets and handed

one to Gabrielle.  "A toast.  To the beginning of the

greatest adventure of my life, the first of many

precious moments and the celebration of the deepest

love I've ever felt." 

     "You never cease to amaze me."  Gabrielle allowed

Xena to remove the wine from her hand and set it

aside on the table.

     "I try.  Roll over because it's time to finish what I

started." 

     Xena dribbled oil across Gabrielle's back, watching

it run in small rivulets down her shoulder blades,

across her rib cage, settling in the small of her back.

Xena worked the oil up the back, concentrating on

shoulders, upper arms and sides.  Her hands found

their way beneath the poet and began working their

magic there.  She could feel Gabrielle's stomach

involuntarily quiver every time her hands passed

underneath it and she could hear the bard's breath

catch when those same hands passed across the downy

patch that marked Gabrielle as a woman.

     Xena poured more oil and began working the

tension out of tired feet.  Gabrielle felt herself relax

with each stroke that began at her heels and ended

with fingers sliding through her toes.  Her skin tingled

everywhere that Xena's hands went, along her calves,

kneading and massaging, easing tension in one place

but building it in another.  She felt the large

warrior hands encircle her thighs, inching closer to the

point where legs became hips and she felt her heart

skip several beats when Xena bit and kissed the backs

of both of her knees.

     The sensation of hands caressing her breasts and

her lover gliding across her back made Gabrielle's

head swim.  She could feel Xena's hips begin to rock

and she was certain her heart had stopped when a

hand, still beneath her, found its way down to the soft,

sensitive skin between her legs.  Fingers dipped, shyly,

into the growing pool of moisture and teased her

with their game of hide and seek.

     "Roll over," Xena whispered, allowing her lips to

lightly touch Gabrielle's ear. 

     Xena, kneeling between the bard's legs,

straightened up and removed her silk robe, dropping it

on the floor beside the bed.  She lowered herself onto

Gabrielle's body, careful to brace herself so that the

smaller woman wouldn't have to bear her entire

weight.  "Still mad?"

     "Yes."

     "I thought so.  What's it going to take to make it up

to you?"

     "Depends," Gabrielle breathed as Xena placed her

lips over her partner's, exploring them with her

tongue, coaxing the mouth open and slipping across

teeth to search for its own companion.

     Xena took Gabrielle's arms and placed them above

her head then began to slide down the well oiled body.

"On what?"

     "How creative are you?"

     Xena raised her head and looked into hazel eyes,

"As creative as you want me to be," she grinned

naughtily.

     "I don't believe you."  Two could play this game.

     "Am I to prove it?"

     Gabrielle moaned when Xena's mouth closed over

her breast and the hot tongue flickered across her cool

nipple.  "Yes," she whispered.

     "Yes what?"

     "Yes, prove it."  Gabrielle was barely able to speak

as Xena repeated her actions on the other breast.

     Xena brought her arms down and pushed herself

into a half kneeling position, raising her lover's legs

and bringing a foot to her mouth.  Gabrielle squirmed

when she felt teeth gently biting her big toe, the

bottom of her foot, the back of her leg and the inside

of her thighs.

     Xena could see the blood rushing to the aroused

woman's face when she entered

Gabrielle with two fingers, exploring deeply, the

inner reaches of the bard's body.  Xena stroked the

sensitive areas, pressing and releasing, causing

Gabrielle's hips to rise from the bed and meet her

vexing companion's hand half-way.

     Xena lowered her head, tasting the salty/sweet nectar

that bathed the tender skin beneath her lips.

     Gabrielle reached up and grabbed the spindles in

the headboard, an anchor to secure her floating body.

Xena's tongue began to move faster and her fingers

pushed deeper, harder, driving the storyteller towards

an orgasm that began in her hips, raging through her

body until every nerve was on fire, every fiber

screaming, caught in the void that lay between agony

and ecstasy.

     She felt the climax explode in her head, pushing

away all sensations of sight and sound, enhancing

those of touch and smell.  Her body tensed one last

time then relaxed and Gabrielle melted into the down

stuffed mattress.

     Xena withdrew her fingers and began to kiss her

way up to Gabrielle's head.

     "Don't you dare," the spent redhead murmured as

she slapped her hands over her breasts.

     Xena chuckled and continued her journey.  "Don't

what?"

     Gabrielle opened one eye and stared at her

exasperating lover.  "Sarcasm never did suit you."

     "Oh."

                                @@@

     The two lovers finally emerged, well into

mid-morning, and took a table in the tavern.  Neither

had any desire for food but both wanted something

stimulating to drink and when the serving girl

returned, they fell upon their mugs like ravening

vultures.

     Gabrielle was the first to notice the stranger

standing in the doorway.  She stared for a moment

then caught Xena's attention.  "She looks out of

place."

     "Who?"  Xena followed the bard's gaze and groaned

when she saw who was standing there.

     "You know her?" Gabrielle asked, surprise

registering in her voice.

     "Yes."  Xena watched the stranger approach their

table.

     "We meet again." 

     "And I assume it isn't by chance, right?"  Xena

sighed.

     "You're sharp," came the sarcastic reply.  The

graceful stranger took Gabrielle's hand and politely

kissed her fingers.  "My lady.  Finally, I have the

pleasure to meet the subject of many of my mistress'

stories.  I am honored."

     "What do you want?" Xena asked, trying not to

react to the sharp pain in her shin, a result of the

contact made by Gabrielle's well aimed boot.

     "My mistress has sent me to fetch you.  We must

leave with all haste as she does not like to be kept

waiting."

     "And if I refuse?"

     "Xena!"

     "Not now Gabrielle.  Well?"

     "I'm afraid that refusal is out of the question.  As I

have told you before, one way or the other you will

come with me.  I have no preference as to your state of

consciousness during travel.  It is strictly up to you.

You go pleasantly...or you go in a bag."  The stranger

replied, never taking her eyes off of Gabrielle.

     "Who's your mistress?" the enchanted bard asked.

     "The Goddess Athena, my dear."

     Xena slammed her head down on the table.  "Why

me?"