Sons of Destiny Prequel Series 003 - The Shifter

by Jean Johnson

  On the one hand, Solyn thought that was a very sweet and generous thing for him to give up, particularly in the light of his obvious need. On the other hand, she wanted to smack the back of his head for being so stupidly selfless, just as she would have smacked Traver for making some equally pointless, if noble, self-sacrifice.

  Rather than argue the point, she shifted position, curling over him so that she could lick his stomach, much as he had licked hers at the start of all this. The spasm of his muscles and the sharp intake of his breath pleased her. So did the way he relaxed onto his back, giving her the chance to play with him as he had with her.

  Not quite sure where to start, Solyn nipped gently at his stomach. Or tried to; his natural form was lean and muscular, with little flesh to spare. She scraped her lips and teeth a bit, licked the faint marks her mock-attacks made, then sucked on his flesh. The latter moves made him moan, so she did them again, licking and suckling on various spots. He sucked in the sharpest breaths, she noted, the closer she got to his nipples, but he squirmed more the closer she came to his hip bones... and he did both when she brushed her cheek against the shaft jutting up from his groin.

  Grinning, she teased him a bit, nuzzling his flesh with her face, then moved to his thighs to give his legs some of the treatment he had given her. Unlike her, the backs of Kenyen's knees weren't ticklish, but his ankles definitely were. In fact, he swatted her rump lightly when she followed his squirming legs relentlessly. Chuckling, she kissed her way back up to his hips, where he squirmed even more. She teased his shaft, brushing it as she kissed and licked her way around his pelvis, until he threaded his fingers into her braid, and pulled her mouth away from his skin, breathing heavily.

  "Either put me out of my misery," he mock-growled, "or find something else to explore."

  Solyn debated for a long moment, then dipped and licked the side of his ribs. Kenyen choked and squirmed away, hunching protectively. Grinning madly at her discovery, she feinted toward his ribs again. He tussled with her, defending himself at first. After a few moments, he gave up and rolled on top of her, catching her wrists and pinning her bodily to the hard, blanket-covered ground.

  That wedged his manhood between them, making her very aware of just how aroused he still was. Lifting her head, she nipped at his chin, coaxing him into kissing range. With a groan, he kissed her back, deep, heated, full kisses, the kind which played their tongues together in a simulation of full twining. His hips flexed against hers, simulating it as well. Hers lifted as well, thighs parting in sheer instinct.

  After only a few moments, he groaned and rolled free again, releasing her wrists in favor of covering his face... honoring his promise not to go that far with her. She pushed up onto one elbow and looked down at him. As she did so, Solyn realized with a profound simplicity that she was in love with him.

  Bending down, she pressed a kiss to his navel. He twitched and groaned. Smiling, she shifted to her right and put him out of his misery. Or perhaps tortured him even more, given the deep groan that escaped his throat the moment her tongue circled around the tip of his engorged shaft. The taste wasn't bad, but the texture was what drew her to explore it more.

  Solyn couldn't remember ever feeling such soft skin before now. The closest she had ever come was bathing this part of him while tending to his injuries, back when she had thought he was merely Traver. But this wasn't her longtime friend, and she wasn't touching him with a damp rag between her flesh and his. This was Kenyen Sin Siin of the Shifting Plains, and she had fallen in love with him. Not with her childhood companion.

  She wanted to show him some of that love, so she licked him from tip to base with her tongue and lips. Mindful of how delicate the contents were, she explored the sac at the root of his erection, tonguing his flesh through the thin dusting of hairs guarding his bollocks. Each careful touch made him groan and clench his stomach muscles. In turn, that made his shaft bob and sway, until she rose up, took the tip between her lips, and licked.

  The ring got in her way. Pulling back, she examined it carefully. Seeing no signs of raw flesh, just whole, healed skin, she debated removing it. But if we lose track of it, I'd have to enchant two new rings... Giving up the idea, she pulled his foreskin down and licked the exposed flesh, avoiding the question of his enchanted piercing for now.

  One of his hands blindly left his face, his fingers burrowing into her braided hair. Wincing a little as the act tugged uncomfortably on some of the strands, Solyn impatiently pulled the tie of her own braid from the end, and worked the plait loose with her free hand. The other was required to brace her weight, holding her head over his loins so that she could continue to give the tip of him little tasting licks. After a moment, his fingers joined hers, loosening her long curls. Once it was fully loose, she resumed her explorations.

  Kenyen stroked her hair, overwhelmed by his mounting pleasure. He tried to use the feel of the silky-soft strands to ground himself while she explored his flesh, but it didn't help. When she started sliding her lips up and down, bobbing her head slowly, all he could do was grasp the blanket instead of her curls. But when she rubbed with her tongue on that one spot on the underside, he couldn't stop the urge to thrust; all he could do was confine it to little movements so as not to startle or choke her.

  Solyn wasn't ignorant. Inexperienced, but not ignorant; her mother had been quite frank about the bodily functions of both men and women when healthy as well as when ill. Healers had to know both ends of the wellness spectrum, after all. Not sure she wanted him to climax inside her mouth—and curious to know what it might look like—she pulled back and stroked his shaft, increasing pressure and speed.

  He whimpered and flexed his hips harder. She had to lick him a couple times to keep her fingers gliding smoothly, particularly over the small, bead-clenched ring. On the third time, when her tongue paused to play with that funny little ridge at the top, he choked.

  "G-Goddess! I'm going to... I'm going—!"

  Fascinated, Solyn watched as he climaxed, careful to keep her pace and pressure steady for the first few spurts. Mindful of her mother's warnings that men could be very sensitive afterward, she gentled her touch until she was just holding him, squeezing occasionally. Finally one of his hands shifted from the blanket to hers. She took that as the sign to release him from her touch. Her fingers were a little messy, but he held and squeezed them, struggling to calm his heavy breathing.

  "Where..." He had to pause and lick his lips for moisture, for composure. "Where did you learn to do that? You were as... as good as an earth-priestess."

  Knowing what she did now about what an earth-priestess was, what one did, and why they did it, Solyn smiled at his compliment. "Healing lectures. Mother was school-trained, and they covered the proper functioning of healthy bodies as well as what happens when someone gets ill, so she passed it on to me. I don't have the best flavor of magics to be a spell-Healer, but I am trained in most other methods."

  Groaning at her words, he covered his face with his other hand, chuckling ruefully. "I really didn't need the image of your mother in my head at this moment. Although..."

  "Although, what?" Solyn asked. She knew he needed to be cleaned up, since her lessons had included the fact that this stuff was sticky, messy, and dried uncomfortably, but lingered at his side, curious.

  "Although she is a lovely looking woman, and very much like you. You'll be beautiful—still be beautiful," he amended, still struggling to scrape his wits back together, "—when you reach her age. You look a lot like her."

  She smiled at the new compliment. "I think she's pretty, too. What about your father? Do you look like him?"

  "A bit. My brother looks more like him. I take more after our mother's father in the nose and chin... and I need to go clean this off," he muttered, looking down at their twined hands. "And I could use something to drink—how about you?"

  "Oh!" she said, remembering something. Pushing to her feet, Solyn helped him up as she explained. "I brought tea, and two bowls.
I was going to share maschen with you yesterday, but then that accident happened..."

  "I'd love to try some," Kenyen agreed, distracting her from what were no doubt unpleasant memories of yesterday's healing efforts.

  Holding her hand, he walked with her out to the tunnel entrance. He shifted shape as he walked, making himself look like a naked version of Traver just in case someone was determined enough to brave the storm in order to spy on them. When they reached the mouth of the cave, the rain was coming down in a hissing mix of droplets and ice pellets, chilling both of them with the drop in temperature.

  Kenyen let Solyn clean up first, peering warily at the hail. "That cannot be good for the crops."

  "It will flatten some," Solyn agreed, washing quickly. "But the rest will recover. This isn't even pea-sized hail. One day, I hope to know enough about magic to shield the valley from nut-sized hailstones. But that requires getting rid of our infestation of face-changers."

  Once her fingers were rinsed off, she tossed the dirty water outside. There was a broad-mouthed water barrel near the entrance, placed so that it would catch a fair amount of rain. She shivered, getting wet as she dipped the ceramic bowl into it. Half-melted pellets floated on the water as she carried it back. Kenyen—still looking like Traver—met her halfway, taking the bowl from her.

  "You should've let me do that," he admonished, taking it from her and carrying it back himself. The heavy bowl threatened to slosh as he walked, making him admire her hidden strength and grace at having carried it so easily. Shifting his muscles slightly for balance, he smoothed out his walk, and poured a little water into the washing basin before putting the rinsing one back into its metal hoop on the stand. "It's easier for me to keep warm than you, you know."

  Rolling her eyes, Solyn muttered a word. The rainwater soaking her body started to steam, evaporated by her warming spell. It also triggered an explosive sneeze from her shapeshifted lover. Biting back a giggle, Solyn took pity on him. "I'll go start the water boiling for maschen... and I'll be nice and cut you a couple of slices of greenvein, too."

  "Thank you," Kenyen muttered, rubbing at his nose with his clean hand. "Remind me to keep some of that cheese on me at all times."

  "Even when you're naked?" Solyn teased. He flicked water droplets at her for her impertinence before reaching for the softsoap pot. She squeaked in mock-fear and fled, giggling.

  Several minutes later, both of them were still naked as they waited for their clothes to dry. Solyn, kneeling by the low table and the heating stand, finished whisking the maschen to an enchanted, mint-green froth. She studied the way it swirled and formed in the largest of the three tea bowls she had brought. All three were works of art, smooth conical curves fashioned from thin, green-glazed porcelain, all three from a tea bowl set gifted to her by one of the valley holding families in thanks for her modest but needed healing abilities.

  Kenyen, assembling a makeshift meal of meat-filled pasties and slices of greenvein cheese on the scrap of cloth that had contained the pasties, didn't sneeze. He had already feasted on one slice, and its anti-allergen effects were already giving his sinuses respite.

  "Well?" he finally prompted her.

  "The clouds will be gone by this time tomorrow, then we'll have not quite a quarter turning of Brother Moon filled with bright, clear skies. After that... overcast, I think, but only lightly," Solyn judged, studying the mound in the center of the bowl and the thin rim of foamy bubbles clinging to the rim, before pouring it into the smaller bowls. "Enough to keep things relatively cool when the grain is ready to harvest. At least, for a day or two. Beyond that, I cannot see."

  "At least you can see that far," he reminded her. Turning his own thoughts to the next few days, Kenyen shook his head. "I wish I knew whether or not those paper birds reached their targets. A heavy rain would be ideal for spiriting Traver away from those curs holding him. And days of clear skies means that 'Traver' will be expected to help with the harvest. No more accompanying you to the cheese caves, no more excuses for being alone..."

  She smiled wryly. "Then we should make the most of it." Picking up one of the two smaller bowls, she offered it to him. "Here—for your first time, it's considered polite to lift the cup to Cora and thank Her for the maschen you are about to drink. Children aren't allowed to drink it, save on the holiest of occasions, but you're an adult. That won't offend you, will it? Being an outlander?"

  "When in Correda, a Shifterai is expected to worship as the Corredai do," Kenyen countered politely. He lifted the bowl in both hands, since that was the way she had drunk from it the other day, and murmured, "My thanks to the Goddess Cora for this drink; may it honor Her when I partake in the ways of Her people."

  "Well spoken," Solyn praised. She sipped from her own bowl at the same time he drank from his. The startled expression on his face at the first mouthful made her raise her brows.

  Swallowing the drink, Kenyen eyed the remaining liquid. "I know you didn't sweeten this—I didn't see you sweeten this..." He sipped again, more cautiously. "It also isn't nearly as sweet as sugar or honey, but it doesn't taste quite like the tea I do know."

  "It is both bitter, because it is tea and therefore naturally astringent," she enlightened him, "and sweet, because of the care in which the tender, young tea leaves are prepared." She drank more of her tea, then added, "We consider tea the metaphor for life. You get more out of your life when you're submerged in hot water and stirred, rather than if you just let everything steep in tepidness. And life itself can be quite bitter, but it also has many hidden moments of sweetness. It requires careful tending in order to grow and properly be used... and it can be quite stimulating."

  "Stimulating?" he asked, draining the last of his maschen. She hadn't made a lot, but that was alright. "I know tea can make a man feel more alert."

  "Maschen is tea refined. It stimulates the mind, the senses... the body," Solyn murmured, slanting a warm look at his bared flesh. "It gives one clarity to see what needs to be done, and the energy to go forth and seize it."

  He didn't miss her innuendo. Chuckling, Kenyen set down his empty bowl and picked up one of the pasties in exchange. "You went forth and seized it without any tea. I wonder what drinking it will spur you to do."

  She grinned. "Maybe you'll find out. And in greater detail, next time."

  "And maybe my sense of honor says I won't," he countered mock-firmly. "What we did do was more than enough to qualify as stimulating."

  Her good mood fell a little. "You don't want to do it again?"

  Face heating, Kenyen gave her a pointed look. "I didn't say that. I just meant it won't go beyond that point." At the resumption of her grin, he added, "You look rather pleased by that thought."

  "Well, it does imply we get to do it ag—aaah!" The bright white flash and ear-aching crack of another lightning strike lit up the cave tunnel, startling her mid-speech. Hands flinging up to cover her ears, she didn't realize what she had done until after the delicate bowl hit the hard stone floor with a matching, if quieter crack. She stared at the shattered pieces, heartbroken. "Ohhh... oh, no..."

  Startled twice, once by the sudden attack of the storm and again by the loss of her teacup, Kenyen flinched at a second flare and rumble of too-close lightning. When the noise faded enough to hear, he set down his unbitten pastie and touched her elbow. "Are you all right?"

  She nodded her head, then shook it slowly. "I just... That was the first gift I received as a Healer. A gift specifically for me, and not just something my mother passed to me." She flinched at a third flash and again at the accompanying thunder, but the timing between light and sound proved that part of the storm was moving away. Shifting forward, she started picking up the pieces, putting them on the low table. "I still have four more bowls at home, and I know five should be more than enough for my needs, but..."

  "But it's a very lovely set, and it hurts to lose part of it," Kenyen agreed, shifting to help her. Their fingers met over one of the larger pieces. He lifted her hand to
his lips. "I'm sorry it broke, Solyn."

  His sympathy soothed some of her upset nerves. The fact that he cared she was upset meant a lot to her. Leaning into him, she kissed his cheek. "Thank you, Kenyen."

  Together, they picked up the pieces. Kenyen hunted down even the smallest shards, since while he could toughen the skin of his soles and quickly heal cuts, her feet weren't so gifted. Settled into a little pile on the table, they still made her sad. On impulse, he tugged the scrap of linen over them, dragging the half-dozen pasties and bits of cheese.

  "There. It's all safely hidden," he quipped, rearranging the baked dough to hide the lumps of broken pottery. "You can now forget about it. At least for a while."

  The light, teasing words made her smile ruefully. "It's still there, I know it, but... yes, getting it out of my immediate sight does help, thank you."

  A thought made him frown in worry. "Um... a broken tea bowl isn't going to offend your Goddess, is it?"

  She chuckled. "No, it won't. Spilling the mascha might upset Her a little," Solyn teased, "but I drank it—ack!... Gods!" she swore as the next crack of lightning flashed down the winding length of the tunnel. The blue white flare was a stark contrast, even at this distance, to the yellow glow cast by the oil lamps around them. "Cora! When is this storm going to end?"

  Somehow, that struck him as funny. Shoulders shaking, Kenyen tried to bite back his laughter. At her wary glare, he blurted out, "You just predicted when it would!"

  Watching him quake with mirth, Solyn rolled her eyes. That made him laugh even harder, wheezing for breath. Blushing, she shoved at his shoulder, knocking him over, then followed him down. Her fingers dove for his ribs, intending to give him a real reason to giggle. Choking, he squirmed and fought back, seeking out her own sensitive spots. It didn't take long at all for the broken cup to be fully forgotten. Or the pasties, or the cheese, or even the storm still rumbling and raining away outside.