“Enough!” Gawonii yelled, his face appearing darker that the desolate world they just left behind. “I will not sit here and listen to you yearn for your lover!”
My head snapped up, shocked at his outburst.
Setting my feet on the floor, I tried to shake the effect Iswali had on me seconds ago. “I yearn for no one.” I replied angrily, not just because of Gawonii’s accusation but because my body was in fact on fire for another man. “He only did what you’ve already done… force these feelings of desire on me. Both of you have this need to control me. You hypocrite. As far as I’m concerned, you’re no better than him. How dare you stand there and chastise me about another man when you made love to another woman while I was forced to watch?”
There was a silent stand-off then, neither one of us wanting to back down. He was the first to look away.
“Where’s Ahyoka?” I asked, noticing that she wasn’t in the room.
“Onacona and Tsiyi took her to Ghigau. She’ll be fine.” After a moment, he added, “Thank you for finding my friend.”
I was just as quick to forgive him as I was to be angry at him. I shrugged, balancing on one foot and then the other.
“You’re welcome. I have a feeling that she would have done the same for me.”
He nodded. “She would have. She likes you, and I know you’ve gained a powerful ally. We are all grateful, and you have gained respect from Onacona. You know well that he is hard to impress.”
“I wasn’t trying to impress him, you, or anyone else. I just wanted to help her.”
He shrugged, walking towards the bedroom.
“Come. Wash with me and get dressed. We have much to celebrate tonight. Our union and Ahyoka’s safety.”
I followed, no longer in the mood to argue.
Later that evening, we walked side by side into town, where a festival was already taking place.
I was somewhat peeved at the dress he made me wear. It was pretty, light, and flattering, but I wasn’t really a dress person. I relented without much of an argument until he denied me undergarments. It was odd walking around and feeling the warm breeze teasing me between my legs, along with the soft fabric rubbing my nipples. It sent all sorts of erotic thoughts to mind, and I was sure he was enjoying the visual pictures I was creating. I wouldn’t be surprised if he were the one sending them, either.
Walking with him to the square, I learned very quickly how much the people loved Gawonii. And he genuinely loved them too, stopping each time someone requested his attention. He never showed any irritation, nor did he rush his people. I hung back slightly, seeing a side of him that was rare when he was with me.
Getting closer to the dancing in the square, I smiled, watching the young women dance while lined up along the side of the open plaza. Young men admired the girls while making choices amongst themselves of which girl they were planning to pursue. Gawonii pointed to Inola and Hiawassee, requesting that I sit with them. Reluctantly but obeying his wishes, I sat as close to them as I could to show that I had listened to him, but it was still enough away that I exercised my defiance. My eyes drifted back to the girls dancing. How wonderful would it have been if I had the chance like one of those girls to dance and have handsome young men fight over me?
Soon enough, the boys mustered up some courage, and one by one, they each approached the girl they’d eyed during the dance and joined her.
“Our queen sits idly on the sidelines when she should be tempting her king with her sweet honey that lies between her legs.” I spun around to stare into the smiling face of Ahyoka. I jumped up and hugged the tiny girl.
She grimaced.
“Easy, Ama. I’m still not as strong as you are yet.” She sat down and I beside her. “But I am better, thanks to you. I owe you my life.”
I shook my head. “You owe me nothing. Just promise me no more dimension hopping.”
The expression on her face turned fierce. “That damn Iswali. One of these days …”
She let the rest of the sentence be left to the imagination. Ahyoka’s indigo eyes shone in the light of the lit torches. She didn’t say anything, but she stared into my soul. I relaxed, knowing that she understood how much of a hard time I had in adjusting in this place.
“What you want you can have, Ama. But are you willing and able to make the right decision on whom you are to be led by to get it?” I turned my body to face hers. Ahyoka looked up at the setting sun. “Choices, choices, choices,” she babbled. “Decisions … who will it be? One good, one evil or …” She drew an imaginary line in the air. “Is he?” I waited for the answer, but I didn’t receive one. “That is for you to figure out my friend. And this decision will come sooner rather than later. Our people are depending on you to make the right choice this time around. You failed the first time.”
Grabbing her hand, I looked to her, silently pleading for her to give me the answers that everyone refused to share. “I chose Iswali? Right?”
She laughed, wrapping her little arms around my neck. Pressing her brow to my brow and her nose to mine, she inhaled, closing her eyes.
“Iswali is not the one you need to worry about.”
“Well, I see you’re back to your old, clingy, neurotic self, Ahyoka.”
Ahyoka rolled her head to the side, careful not to break any contact with me. “Adsila, I see you …” Ahyoka sat back with a look of surprise. Even I did a double take when I got a good look at what Ahyoka was gaping at.
Adsila was wearing clothes.
“…are wearing clothes, my sister. Any special reason why?”
Adsila bowed at my feet. “To celebrate your safe return, Ahyoka, and to honor our queen who found you.”
Pfft! I thought sarcastically. Yeah, right! Adsila was the epitome of a narcissistic bitch. I needed to remind myself to talk to Gawonii about the crazy, naked woman he went traipsing around with today.
I have no desire for Adsila whatsoever, I jumped, startling both Ahyoka and Adsila.
“Sorry, I’m still hearing those voices in my head.” I replied between clenched teeth. “Thank you Adsila.” I nodded to her.
Can you give me a warning before you invade my thoughts with an answer?
I will consider your request, he replied. I do not look at Adsila in that way. Most of us here are used to seeing Adsila as such and are not offended. She doesn’t wear clothing because she is nature herself. The trees, the ground, the mountains, and the animals. She wore them this evening to respect you.
I watched Adsila’s departing figure make its way through the crowd.
How nice. Can I safely assume that she has put her insults on temporary hiatus for the time being?
Yes, she has sat her jealousy aside for now.
That’s refreshing to know.
“Tell Gawonii to let you be. You deserve a reprieve from his excessive talking,” Ahyoka said, pulling me to my feet. Laughing, I walked alongside her while we talked. I had grown fond of Ahyoka. She talked to me when no one else would other than Tsiyi, who I noticed was never too far behind this evening while he kept watch.
I wondered where Kasey had been hiding. I hadn’t seen her since that morning during that fiasco of a training.
Weaving through the townspeople, I finally spotted Gawonii.
He was talking to an elderly gentleman before he looked up and saw me watching. He paused in his conversation, leaning back on a post and crossing his arms over his chest. My skin tingled, spreading warmth over my body and taking my mind off the temperature drop. I could feel him inside my head mentally seducing me, projecting pictures of our first night together. Blushing, I had to remove the shawl I had wrapped around my shoulders to cool off.
Come here, I heard him call to me.
He moved away from the post and walked towards the pavilion that stood a few feet from the square. Leaving Ahyoka’s side, I responded to his call. Getting closer to the pavilion, I was no longer able to see him. I stepped through the breezeway and searched past the
tables lined in a row until I reached the other end of the small building.
Where are you? I reached to him through my thoughts, stepping down from the concrete slabs to go behind the kilns.
Never too far from you, I heard him whisper, his lips softly planting kisses on my collarbone as two hands encircled my waist, pulling me back into the shadows from any wandering eyes.
One hand went around my waist and another tangled in my hair. My insides turned to mush the minute his lips took mine. I surrendered immediately to him, my own hands wrapping themselves in his silky mane. He went to cup my bottom next, lifting me up and sitting me on one of the tables. Pushing his body between my legs, I wrapped my own around his waist, thrusting my hips up and rubbing my panty-less crotch against his hard cock that pressed against his pants.
Gawonii pushed my dress up around my hips, unhooking my legs from around him and pushing them open, allowing his breath to soothe my hot flesh.
I now understood his reason for the dress and the lack of underwear. I was completely open and vulnerable to him.
He rubbed his stiff shaft up against my wetness as his tongue pushed past my lips to tease my own.
Gawonii’s name was a sigh in my thoughts, and I was rewarded with an amazing flux of ecstasy that made my body tremble. Throwing my head back, mouth open, he pushed me back onto the table, his fingers clawing at the thin cloth and freeing my breasts. His thumbs plucked at the hardened peaks, and my core spasmed with pleasure. Soft lips closed over my exposed right nipple, his teeth gently pulling on it.
I whimpered, powerless, my body melting like hot lava in his hands. This bond we shared gave him the ability to shut down any resistance to him. There was no way I could deny him.
I reached forward to undo his pants, but Gawonii slapped my hands away, pinning them above my head. Straightening his body to stand at his full height and look down at me, he traced my body with his free hand teasing my nipples along the way, massaging my belly, and lightly running his fingers over my clit, which begged for the same attention he gave my breasts.
I sucked in air rapidly, feeling his fingers make circles around my swollen love button.
“Gawonii,” I pleaded. He answered by slipping a finger inside of me, his thumb practicing on my clit the same blessed torture he’d given my breasts. My hips bucked and rolled while my mind screamed for him to make love to me. He made no such move, much to my disappointment. He heard my silent pleas but chose to ignore them. Nothing in my private thoughts were hidden from him while I struggled with uniting with his body and mind. Even after he completed the bond with me, I still feared of what I might find inside of him.
He removed his fingers, which were wet and completely covered in my juices. My heart jumped when he finally undid his pants, releasing what I yearned for. I eagerly anticipated the moment I would feel him moving inside me.
Grasping my hips, he pressed the head of his shaft against my opening and pushed. I panted loudly as I marveled the sensation of my body opening for him and his anatomy filling me.
Gawonii lifted me up into a sitting position on the table, one hand on by rear and the other on my neck as he moved inside me. Tightening my legs around his waist, I rode him, matching his wild cadence and wondering how I must have looked to someone if they caught us right now.
The thought was wiped away instantly. No other thoughts unless it is of me, echoed in my head as an overwhelming surge of sexual energy was released into my body through his. The cries I let out as my core convulsed were carried away in the night air.
My orgasm drove him harder, his cock now slippery wet, made by his own doing. Laying me back down on the cool table, he imbedded himself deeper into my contracting walls that repeatedly milked him. His speed increased, becoming erratic the closer he came to his own orgasm.
His lips came down on mine, hard, before he transferred another wave of ecstasy into my body. The moment of his release, he muffled my own cries of madness as my body rocked with another orgasm.
I could hear his heart beating, matching my own while he held me to him, his breathing slowly coming under control again.
Gawonii looked down at me, his face barely lit in the little light provided by the moon and stars. There was a tenderness there that I rarely saw. It was too much to hope that he would look at me that way. Contempt… disappointment and the occasional steamy glare of lust, yes… but this softness in him was new.
“I shouldn’t have taken us away from our people,” he said, fixing my dress and covering up what he’d exposed. He then adjusted his own clothing. “My desire for you was too great, and I was weak. We must get back.” He helped me to my feet.
“Would you have considered it weakness if it was your Chitsa?”
The quizzical look he gave me had me wishing I’d kept the question silent.
“You think I do not desire you?” he asked. Unable to look at him, I busied myself with the condition of my dress.
Gawonii slowly smiled as he began to comprehend why I would think that. He leaned into me. “You are only hurting yourself by not allowing yourself to bond with me.”
“We are—” I began, but he held up his hand, stopping me.
“I am bonded to you, but you continue to refuse to become a part of me. If you worked half as hard on us becoming a working unit as you do fighting against it, you would have already known the answer to your question and much more. I cannot help you with that.” He turned to walk back towards the waiting crowd in the square.
“You haven’t made it easy for me to want to, Gawonii. The one time I merged with you, I got a front row seat while you made love to my friend. I don’t want to feel how much you love another woman every time you see her or how much you wish I were her.”
He turned back around to face me. “Yes, I care for Chitsa. Would you rather I lie?”
“No! I’d rather you not make it so obvious that you continue to embarrass me in this town.”
His hands cupped my face. “I’m sorry. I was wrong, and I do regret it. Regardless of what you think, I do not enjoy hurting you. I went over to see her only to discipline her. Seeing her hurt …”
“Seeing her hurt? What about me?’ I pushed him away, folding my arms over my chest. ‘Whatever. I’m over it.”
Gawonii laughed, pulling me into his arms. “You lie, and again, I apologize. You cannot possibly understand the mix of emotions I am suffering from having you here. I cannot admit to my people that I don’t know what to do when it comes to you, but yet I am expected to know you like before … care like before, like things never changed.”
I pushed on his chest to move him away, but he held on tight.
“I’ve made myself vulnerable to you and you still push me away?” he asked, insulted.
“I know you never loved me, Gawonii. Ghigau already told me.”
“Ghigau tells half–truths. She knows not of what I truly went through when we lost you.”
Again, I witnessed that tortured expression he wore when his thoughts would go back to a place long before my time. “You seek these answers from others when you have all you need within me. But we can talk about this later. Right now, we must get back.”
He walked over to a pitcher sitting on one of the tables that the women usually used for the clay. Gawonii picked it up and poured water over his hands.
Walking back over to me, he gently placed his hands over my flushed face. His fingers brushed any lose curls from my rapidly growing hair out of my eyes.
“Come,” he said, taking my hand in his and leading me back out to the festivities. Along the way, we were spotted, and a flock of little girls ran to Gawonii, surrounding us. He scooped a couple of them up, and they squealed as he spun them around only to set them back down in a dizzy mess. The young boys shared their adventures with him, and he listened intently, praising each and every one of them afterwards.
I tried to release his hold on my hand and walk back to my little corner, but he held on tightly, never letting go.
>
“These people love and fear you. It would be wise if you repair your relationship with them. Your temper and my lapse with Chitsa have managed to take them back hundreds of years when we had promised change when you returned.” We walked past a couple that bowed. I couldn’t help but to stare at them in my own state of awe. “I know I’ve asked much from you since you’ve arrived, and it all has been very confusing … and very sudden.” He pulled me closer to him when I tried to walk behind him. “And maybe my demands have been a bit imbalanced—”
“A bit?” I snorted. He ignored me and continued.
“—and unfair, but the way you are perceived here is important. As much as you struggle against this change in your life, I ask that you please try for them.” He changed directions and led me towards the center of the square.
“Come. It’s time for us to give Inola and Onacona our blessing.”
Hand in hand, we walked up to the couple that danced together near the fire. Surrounding noise and activities ceased when they saw us approach. Onacona nodded in our direction, and Inola glared at me, expressing her dislike.
Oh well, I thought. I didn’t like her very much either. Gawonii’s hand squeezed mine as a warning. Then he spoke. In his native language, of course. He must have started the blessing, for both the man and woman smiled.
The crowd cheered, happy for the union, and then their eyes were on me.
Gawonii’s voice came to me loud and clear in my thoughts.
Just repeat after me.
He gave me the words to say in their language. Onacona cracked a smile. I wasn’t sure if he was laughing at my attempt on speaking their language or out of approval. Inola merely glared. But in the end, both nodded, and the crowd cheered again.
The little girls from earlier ran up to the couple, placing a white throw over them and throwing flowers as they were congratulated.
I turned to Gawonii. “What did I just say?”
He smiled, and my heart flip-flopped in my chest. “You have blessed their union. They are now officially married under their laws. To have not just one but two blessings from an Angeni, and especially from the high priestess, is one of the highest honors.”
The Ageni Series: Queen Page 7
