“I didn't think immortals could be hurt. . .” Leslie ventured.
Isira gave her a rueful look but it was the sphinx who responded. “With the right tools anything can be done. A building made, a mountain moved, a god killed, even.”
“Is that what happened to Elisandra?”
He scoffed. “She told you that, did She? Maybe you shouldn't believe everything you're told, hm?”
Isira went quiet at that. Once they had the side panels on the two women stepped back from their 'captor' and shared a quick glance. Isira needed only to take him to bed now or do. . . .whatever it was they did to complete their plan.
Still, Leslie couldn't help but appreciate the work she'd been able to produce. Pride swelled in her chest as she gazed upon the sphinx in all his splendor-- the tawny velvet and thick red strips that filled out the back reminded her of a tiger while the embroidery and silver accents highlighted his more human attributes, making them stand out boldly against his own body. Sphinx or not, there was something about his appearance that drew her in. It wasn't just the clothing, but the look he gave her and the curiosity in his eyes.
“Well? How does it look?” He turned around on the spot but his gaze never left hers.
Isira smiled warmly. “I don't think you've ever looked better, and that's saying quite a bit!”
“Or lying through your teeth-- Leslie-- your real thoughts?”
She was momentarily stunned at the use of her name but she hid it well enough, forcing a smile. “I think it looks good on you. A bit. . . .bright, maybe, but it suits your personality.”
He chuckled. “Yes! Of course it does, but for the eye of a good seamstress and the array of colors by mortal hands, balance is restored! May it reign in perpetuity!” He laughed and sprung to his feet, brushing against Leslie's bare thigh as he passed. “This calls for celebration! Drinks for everyone!”
“Finally, something we can agree on!” Isira strode off towards the kitchen. “And a free question for the girl!”
“Naturally! But drinks first!”
Leslie opened her mouth to object, not even sure what she'd say. They hadn't gone over how exactly they'd get him to say his own name, but that small oversight was easily remedied if they were careful. Maybe she'd ask for a hint to the riddle. Yes! That was it! “But there's still the riddle you threw at me! I can't celebrate until I know its answer!”
“A riddle? Of all the silly questions in the world you would ask me-- the mysteries of the sun and starts, the meaning of life? You'd ask me to help you with that?”
With false confidence the older woman sauntered up to the bar while Aee was busy filling glasses for all of them. His gaze didn't once leave her but he wasn't possessive. Obsessive, maybe, but not commanding. His gaze met hers and they smiled politely. “Well you didn't say I could ask anything I wanted, what if I wanted to ask about something you didn't know the answer to? Would I get another chance?”
“If you really want that to be your question, I suppose I'll have to answer it.”
“No, no, hold on!” She looked to Isira, “I feel like the fifth wheel on a three wheel cart here, what'm I missing?”
Isira downed Her drink before answering. “It's common, if you please a sphinx enough to make them want to celebrate you're rewarded in a very special way! Usually it takes the form of an answer to a question-- yes, anything. The answer will always be truthful, even if you don't like it.” She smiled wryly. “Many try their entire lives to earn such an honor, you've done it in one week!”
Leslie found herself ringing the mouth of her glass with her finger, looking at the bar with a small frown. “No pressure or anything.”
“None at all!” Aee supplied. “But make it interesting, it's hard to find good conversation!”
“Gods--” Leslie downed her shot-- the alcohol burned all the way down. She choked and sputtered, eyes watering. “Good gods!”
“Let's not go that far. Now, there's one other minor stipulation.” Isira glanced at the sphinx. “The only questions you can't ask are about yourself-- so no asking who your parents were, how you'll die or anything like that.”
“Well what kind of fun is that? I wouldn't mind knowing if I'm going to drown in a vat of wine bobbing for apples, because according to the whole hedonism thing, 'why not' can be used to justify just about anything.”
“It's unsettling how quick mortals jump to questions of their own mortality rather than enjoying what they have. . .” Aee said with a serious glance. “But lusting after elixirs, accolades and monuments that will render them immortal is something they do quite well.”
“Doesn't seem like anyone's made that work so far.” Leslie said.
“Nope!” Isira chirped.
“Don't be so sure.” The sphinx cast a sidelong glance at her and sipped his drink. He continued to regard Leslie, adding: “But even if you could wear the skin of immortality, do you really think anyone would recognize what you began as?”
At a glance Isira gave Her paladin a smile.
She could ask any question her mind could conjure up, hold the keys to the universe and the secrets of her own new found faith-- even the origins of her own goddess, and yet the sickening truth of it was that anything she learned was only going to fuck up the beauty she'd come to see in Isira. . . Knowing made cynics of believers and she wasn't going to be any different.
Leslie considered it for a second, “You know what I always wanted to know? I wanted to know the trick to a good pot pie. I make them and the crust is always too thick, the ingredients don't cook right.”
The two immortals looked at her oddly for nearly a full beat before Isira picked up a crystal decanter and refilled their drinks, downing Hers without a moment's hesitation or grace. Without waiting for Aee to divulge his secrets, the goddess stepped around the bar and took Her paladin's hand, leading her out into the middle of the chamber as music started to fill the air. In no time at all Isira had Her fingers intertwined with Leslie's; chest to chest and eye, She lead them through the steps of a slow but intricate dance.
Isira's 'breath' was gentle across Her paladin's ear, a sultry purr that dared anyone to ignore it. “If I had it in me, I would give you the stars and a sky of your own to hold them, but they would be a pale imitation of your spirit.”
“I'm not drunk enough for that kind of talk, you know? I--”
“Am here because of what I've already given you.”
Leslie looked away, vaguely ashamed. “Maybe not just because of that. . . Keiter can be kind of persuasive.”
“Mmmmrrrrrrrrrr.” Isira sighed against her ear. “You've no idea how right you are-- you both remind me of people I've not seen for quite some time. But I suppose diamonds shine brightest in the night.”
Knowing better than to step on whatever good will she'd built up, Leslie hesitantly drew back, “They only shine if they have something to reflect off of. You know, I'm here for the long haul, I don't need to know everything, but if this is going to be a give and take relationship, I wouldn't mind a little giving.”
That seemed to catch the goddess a little by surprise. Her attention lingered on Leslie before She smiled gently. “Do you really want to know what I have in mind, then?”
“I'm scared to ask.”
Isira nipped her ear, “Join us.”
“J- Join you?”
“Mmmmmmhmmm.”
“Y- You mean--”
“I do.”
Leslie started to look to the sphinx but she was stopped by a deep, sensual kiss that prickled every fiber of her being-- an explosion of electric passion rippled through her and before she knew what was happening she felt arms pulling her up, keeping her from falling, as her body trembled. She was so overcome she couldn't even lift her hands to hug the woman. Never in her life had she felt something so tender and powerful at once, Isira's fingers trailed her paladin's spine making it bristle with new energies no human was meant to experience. She could have turned Leslie into anything in that moment and she'd hav
e begged for more, but with every touch Isira only brought relief to her aches and pains and a powerful newness to her being. As if to accent Her total control, she reached down and cupped Leslie's ass, pulling her into the kiss that seemed to go on for eternity.
Leslie worked up the strength to breathe, to brace her hands against her goddess's chest, taking her rightfully submissive role to heart for the first time in decades. She was accepted, she was cared for. . . She was loved.
When the kiss broke, Leslie whimpered.
The goddess didn't bat an eye, She didn't wait for a reply, She didn't even give Her mortal a chance to object. She turned to Aee and threw her arms wide. “Come now! What good is a celebration without some dancing?!”
Sure, Leslie didn't know how to dance and she more often than not wound up stepping on Isira's toes-- usually because she was entranced by Her movements, but even with that being the case she found time to relax, time to laugh and somehow she found herself wondering why she'd ever doubted that this had been the course her life was meant to take. From bitter, angry failure to smiling, laughing failure.
Maybe it wasn't so bad. . .
In their loneliness they had all found something the other possessed-- Isira's warmth and quick laughs fed into Aee's capricious games where he would tease one or both of them with some weird riddle or anecdote which then kicked off Leslie to make poorly timed and usually vulgar jokes about the answers. They were the strangest of friends, but there was no question that that was exactly what they were. Their dancing lasted for hours until Leslie couldn't keep up any more and had to sit down.
Aee plodded over to her lazily and nudged her with his wing. “Don't give up so easily, She'll run you into the ground before you know it.”
“I get the feeling She does that to a lot of people.”
“And they smile all the way to the grave,” he said lightly. “But She almost never allows one to speak for Her. You're the fifth I've met, She must think quite highly of you.”
Leslie balked, “Five?! I thought the gods wanted minions.” When the sphinx looked at her she smiled. “I think we all know that this relationship is one of convenience-- not that there's anything wrong with it, I mean I'm out of the house, right?”
The sphinx's dark eyes lingered on her for a moment before a small grin split his lips. “Housewife turned--”
“No, no not exactly. It's a long story. . .”
“We have time.”
The two of them stewed in the silence for several more moments before she mustered her voice. “That's my way of saying I don't want to talk about it. Besides, can't you read minds or something?”
“If I could do you think I'd tell you? People's sovereignty is their own unless they willingly give it away.”
Leslie eyed the creature, pursed her lips and leaned towards him so she could whisper. “You said you've met five like me before? What were they like?”
“Snobs. I had to hold some of them because they were hassling my guests! Calling me a monster and thinking themselves beyond reproach!”
“So is that why you're keeping me here?”
“Who said I was?” They looked to one another. “I wanted to show you something--”
“And have my company.”
“That has been a very pleasant benefit, yes!” His gaze turned back to Isira. “You're free to leave whenever you wish.”
“Wait, really?”
“Of course.” He glanced at her sidelong. “The gods deal in souls, the Cherubs in pacts and I? I deal in magic. . . .you belong with your goddess, not here.”
Leslie looked at Isira who seemed too entranced in Her dancing to notice the glare. She quickly caught herself and hid her expression but the irritation lingered in the back of her mind. “All this for a--” Isira's presence crushed her voice in her throat-- they shared a brief glance when the goddess rolled Her body, turning away. In the next instant she could speak again. “--pot pie recipe.” Leslie finished.
“Here I thought you were just being obsequious, you really want a good recipe? ”
Leslie sighed and draped her arm around Aee's shoulders, leaning against him as they watched Isira dance. “Sometimes the simple things in life are the most enjoyable, it's like asking a blind woman if she'd like to see the sun for what it is instead of just feeling it. . .”
He drew in a long breath. “You can admit your fear, there's nothing wrong with it.”
She chuckled ruefully. “You know, in all this mess I haven't even had time to be afraid--” Leslie's voice died when he looked at her. His features were narrowly focused but intent, eying her as if she were an oddity rather than the other way around. His ageless wisdom hid no secrets as to what was really on his mind at that moment; she still tried to play the part of clueless mortal until he leaned in to kiss her.
In all her life she never thought she'd be heading into such a strange place, but his exotic, primal musk was intoxicating. His broad tongue swept over her lips with a subtle bumpy texture that wasn't quite rough as it was tactile. Curious, Leslie leaned into it, sampling the strange flavor of the immortal as her confidence grew. With each new touch they explored one another, he curious and surprisingly timid and Leslie a bit more curious and nowhere near as shy about seeing where things could go.
It had been loneliness that isolated her from the world and it'd been Isira-- indirectly-- that brought her back into it. Why shouldn't she explore? Leslie cupped the sphinx's cheeks and savored the rush of shame that warmed her; one by one her reservations fell away and she gradually eased herself into the lead. Their mouths were hot and humid, tongues teasing one another and their shared breath growing hotter with every passing second.
This was insane. It was stupid. But gods was it exciting. Leslie surged forward and stole the sphinx's breath, assaulting his mouth with her tongue as her passion welled inside, spurred on by the creature's gentle nature and the lurid thoughts that spiraled through her mind. What could they do? What would they find acceptable? Isira was supposed to ensure he said 'the magic word,' but. . .
Couldn't she?
Leslie broke the kiss, panting and staring at the sphinx with glazed eyes. Could she really do that? Her gaze flit over his sharp eastern features; wrapped in skin of dark almond with a handsome, proud expression and a chest she could easily have imagined licking peppermint oil from? Even his lion-like body was proud and strong-- everything she wasn't. But in his eyes was a rare kind of certainty, he was someone who had nothing to hide from the world and wore his power as a trophy rather than a hammer.
Aee turned his head down slightly and looked at her through his bangs. A subtle smile played across his lips and he inhaled her scent deeply, purring all the while. “That was not the reaction I expected.”
“Y-” she huffed. “Yeah?”
“You're blushing.”
“Well, maybe you bring it out in me.”
Isira sauntered over lazily and crouched down beside him, nuzzling into his mane. “And here I thought it was just me.” She cooed across his ear. The response was a content sigh from the creature as his eyes closed-- Isira meanwhile edged close enough to make eye contact with Leslie and smiled. In a soft purr, She added: “Maybe there's room for this to work. . .”
Aee paused to consider for a moment. “Maybe.”
“Mmmmhm.” She said unapologetically. “But never you-- never what She stood for. I've come to appreciate the finer points of what She does, and even if I'm proven right in the end, I don't want to be.” She sighed and hugged him close, drawing him to Her chest. “But how frequently do the things we want come to be, hm?”
Dragon (S)Layers: The Paladin Gambit Page 11
