by Ravyn Wilde
“Dream Walking. It’s an ability that was discovered years ago. It is rare; in fact, I think Mica is the only one known to have this ability. It allows him to enter another person’s dreams and direct what happens. If you are taken out in the rain, and you wake up, you are wet.”
Tala seethed. And I’ll just bet if he takes your clothes off, you wake up naked, she thought. Something brushed across her mind, disrupting her train of thought.
Tala.
Mica? What is he doing? He sounds hurt or lost. “Shalan, Mica just tried to contact me, but it’s not very strong. It feels as if he is in some kind of trouble.”
Shalan blanched. “By the Goddess, no! Tala, he was to use the portal to come from his brother’s home to the Selven Refuge. If something has gone wrong, he could be lost in the portal! Let me see if I can contact someone at Zelph,” Shalan tossed the words over her shoulder as she hurried away.
Tala was having a hard time concentrating. Mica was coming here? Why? Lost in the portal? Oh, Goddess! Tala closed her eyes and tried in vain to find a thread to Mica. They had communicated by mind only a few times, and that was when Tar and Nyssa had been in danger over a Setnon ago. Sending her mind out to search, she couldn’t find enough of him to hold, enough to send her thoughts to. It was as if he were scattered.
Shalan came quietly back into the room. Her face was drawn and sad. “Oh, Tala. What have I done? Mica was coming here because I had demanded it of him. He didn’t say that he had done a dangerous healing on Raj, and that he would need several more bi-nons to rest. He just stepped into the portal. Travel by portal is almost instantaneous. The fact that he isn’t here means he is lost somewhere in the dark void,” she surmised.
Tala didn’t bother to ask why Mica was coming. For now it wasn’t important. “Where is the portal? I feel vague impressions of him when I search, but they are fragmented and there is nothing I can focus on. Maybe if I can look into the portal I will be able to find a stronger link to him,” she said as she began to gather herself for the ordeal ahead.
“But, Tala, you can’t go into the portal! It requires special training you haven’t had yet,” Shalan protested.
“Shalan, my body won’t go into the portal. I’ll just try to send my mind to find Mica. It might work. As much as he makes me crazy, I will do everything I can to help him find a way back. Maybe if I just give him a focus point it will be enough to make the connection and get him moving to our side of the void.”
“Good thought. “ Shalan frowned; understanding probably better than Tala could at this moment. Mica said he and Tala were destined to be life mates. Even though they weren’t linked yet, Tala’s pull on Mica would be strong. “This way,” she said as they moved through the halls to the waiting portal.
Tala followed Shalan into a room off the main common area. She hadn’t noticed it before, but that was hardly surprising. The Refuge was a maze of rooms, both below and above ground. This room was small but like most rooms within the Refuge it was full of vibrant color. The walls were made of pink stone, a soft muted pink. There were pastel colored cushions laid out forming a pallet on the floor.
Shalan noticed Tala glancing at the low pallet. “Portal users are usually so tired after using them to travel and this is as far as they can make it until they have time to rest. You know not many have the ability or the strength to use them?”
“Yes. I know how hard it is. I have heard Mica and Tar talk about them often. I know Mica is one of the few who frequently use this mode of travel.” She ignored the little twinge of jealously that reminded her that he used the portal to come to the Refuge to train the priestesses. “How does it work?” Tala asked. She needed to have some understanding before going ahead.
“The crystals in front of this wall act as a doorway.” Shalan said, moving to stand in front of the two black crystals that were set on posts three feet apart. “The force field between the crystals is the door to a dark dimension that is nothing more than a void. Nothing exists there. With incredible focus you can move your body through the void to another door. A very simplistic explanation, but you get the idea. If you lose focus, you become part of the void. If you are lucky, there is a doorway nearby and you use it to escape. I am afraid Mica didn’t find another doorway, but has become part of the void. Tala. You may not be able to reach him,” she cautioned.
Tala closed her eyes and whispered, “If I don’t reach him, he is gone. Isn’t this what you are saying, Shalan?”
Shalan shook her head in denial. “What I am saying, Tala, is that I know of no one lost in the void who has been found and brought back through the doorway. If you can’t find him in a brief search, get out. There is the possibility that even without your body, you could be lost in the dark dimension along with Mica,” she said.
Tala opened her eyes and looked sadly at Shalan. Nodding her understanding to the High Priestess, she realized she wouldn’t care. She had been fooling herself in running from Mica. She wasn’t sure it would be worth the effort to go on without him. Not that she would let herself disappear in the void. But she knew if she didn’t fight to find him, losing him could kill her. Tala was sure it was a feeling close to the broken bond of linked Zylans. If one link mate died, the other followed. Life was unbearable without the other half of their soul. Tala had to remind herself strongly that she and Mica were not link mates.
Bringing herself back to the problem at hand, Tala spoke to Shalan, “I will lay on the pallet. I don’t want to be too close to the doorway. I will first try to just concentrate on Mica with my mind. We have communicated telepathically before and maybe just being close to the doorway will help me find a conduit to him. If that doesn’t work, I will try ‘far sight’ and see if I can find him that way.” Tala walked to the scattered cushions to lie down. Closing her eyes, she began to concentrate on Mica. It wasn’t working; after several minons she still had nothing. She couldn’t sense a thread of thought or anything that would take her to Mica.
Tala went deep into herself. Projecting her mind out and away from her body moving slowly towards the portal.
Shalan closed her eyes apprehensively. Tala’s body had just vanished. She had projected. Had probably gone into the portal to try and find Mica. She prayed to the Goddess that both would return safely and well.
Going gradually into the darkness, Tala hesitated. Cold. The feeling coming from the portal was deep cold and empty space. Mentally she searched for a spark of something that wasn’t just the icy shadows that surrounded her. She felt as if she were sinking into thick ooze. The darkness had a heavy feel to it. She had to concentrate on keeping the pieces of her mind together. She worked at not allowing them to wander off on their own.
Time lost all meaning. Tala felt as if the miasma within the dark void was trying to soak up everything she had become. No. Pulling back she struggled to reconnect with her body. She moved along the invisible strings that bound her to a physical existence. Suddenly a flash of lighter mist passed beside her. Reaching out with her mind, Tala connected with it. Mica. Not physically Mica, but a thought that had been his. Tala latched on to that thought and fought to bring it back with her through the Selven portal.
Shalan heaved a sigh of relief. Tala was back.
Reconnected with her body, Tala carefully nurtured the connection she had found to Mica and amplified her need. Focus, Mica. Focus and come to me. She screamed silently for him in her mind.
Suddenly he was before her. “Tala,” he mumbled as he crumpled slowly to the floor.
Shalan turned to offer Tala congratulations on a job well done but she was already fast asleep. Shaking her head, Shalan went to find another Goddess to help move the two into the privacy of Tala’s chamber. Somehow she knew that Mica wasn’t going to wait any longer to claim Tala; the second he regained consciousness, the claiming would be done.
Chapter 10
Tala came back to awareness first. Turning, she saw Mica lying beside her on the bed in her own chamber. Frowning, she tried to d
ecide if this was another of her dreams. They’d never slept before, but…
Then she remembered. The portal. Mica had been lost and she had gone searching for him. It had worked. Well good. Now she needed to get away before he woke up. She wasn’t up to concealing her feelings from him at this point. She needed to think about what his use of Dream Walking might mean. Had Mica used it with her? Perhaps even more importantly than if he had Dream Walked with her, was—why? If she weren’t his mate, why would he torture her with shared dreams? She wanted to first regroup and ask Shalan more questions.
Tala eased carefully up off the bed and started to move away.
Mica’s hand reached out to grab her wrist and stop her. “Tala, I would like to speak with you for a moment.” He swung carefully around to sit beside her. Moving hesitantly, as if he wasn’t quite sure that his body would cooperate.
“Mica, not now. I can’t talk to you right now but I am glad you’re okay. I’m not sure I understand what happened but I can’t discuss it either. I am serious about joining the Selven. It’s time for me to go, “ Tala babbled the words in a panic as she pulled her arm away from Mica’s grasp. By the moons, how he always managed to irritate her!
“Tala, stop. Give me a minion here. Let me thank you for saving me from the portal. I was too depleted to attempt its use. I would also like to explain to you why I think you joining with the Selven would be a mistake. Then if you still want to go, I will understand. Just give me a little time with you. Explain your reasoning and then give me a chance.” Mica snorted to himself silently. He knew he wouldn’t let her go anywhere. In a few minons, she would—at long last—be his.
“I don’t need your thanks, Mica. You will really listen as to why I want to join?” Tala asked tentatively.
“If you will give me an equal chance to explain why I think it is a mistake,” he responded seriously.
Tala worried her lower lip between her teeth, unconsciously making Mica’s cock harden and reach towards her.
Mica willed his body to calm, only a short time now before all the waiting would be over. Again reaching for Tala’s arm, he turned her to him. “I promise I won’t bite,” he murmured. Not at first anyway, he thought to himself.
Mica sat patiently and listened as Tala explained why she felt she needed to join the Selven. After he thought he had been patient long enough he interrupted, “All right. I think I understand why you feel you must take Selven vows. But you are overlooking one thing, Tala…” so saying, he stood and moved to where Tala had been pacing and motioning wildly along with her explanation. Gently he placed his hands on her shoulders and turned her to face him. “Come. Sit with me and let me explain my problem with this decision.” Using his healing power in order to soothe her, Mica led Tala to the reclining couch. Seating her on the couch before him, he knelt in front of her. Meeting her gaze, he gently pushed his mind into hers, drawing away any need she had to move or run from him. She was quiet, acquiescing. He knew this wouldn’t last for long.
“What you don’t realize is…this,” Mica said as he whisked their clothes away with a thought. “I call upon the links buried within your body, Tala. The links that call to mine.” So saying, he placed his finger on her right nipple. Rubbing it lightly with feathering strokes that brought it to a hard bud, he then moved to do the same to the left.
“No!” Tala exclaimed. Moving her wide-eyed stare to the long fingers that were touching her intimately, she groaned at the sight. She couldn’t move. Oh! Goddess! She could feel her body respond. Could feel the sensual tug at both her breasts and the reaction it pulled from the rest of her body. The twisting sensation and clawing hunger that had to signify the links rising within her. Tala struggled hard to move. She wanted to get far away from Mica. She didn’t believe this! After all these life cycles, why now?
Mica stilled her ineffective struggles with a thought. Lifting her arms over her head, he draped her back against the low arm of the couch, carefully shifting her towards him to allow him full access to her naked body. Moving up, he teased her mouth with his tongue. Whispering against her lips, “You are mine, Tala. Mine! My Link Mate! I have known this for too many life cycles and can no longer wait to claim what is mine. I tried to be patient, my only thought to give you time to accept the idea of having a mate. I can wait no longer. I, and only I, have the power to call the Companion Links from your body. I do so now.”
Mica bent to claim her mouth in a passionate, seemingly endless kiss. Unaware that he still held Tala’s hands in his own, he stretched over her body. Shifting, he pressed his hard length fully against hers, molding her lush body against his from their fingertips to their toes. His mouth met hers and claimed what would now belong to him forever. The hardness of his shaft pressed against the hot core of her, their legs already entangled. He opened his links and strove to release hers.
Tala burned. The pleasure-pain of the links initiation screamed throughout her aching body. She tried to move, to force him away. Pressed unconditionally into the couch by Mica’s length, all she could manage was to writhe and moan into the heat of his searching mouth. Her mind was at war. She didn’t want this! Oh, by the moons she wanted so much more!
Mica slowly released Tala’s mouth and moved to delicately kiss and lave a trail down her cheek and along her chin. He reveled in the feel of her gloriously naked body writhing beneath his own. She was finally to be his. His body demanded that he take her at once. He wanted her now. Hard and fast. He had to call on all his mental training to calm the raging beast inside him. Tala was untried, completely new to passion except through their Dream Walks and the somewhat chaste schooling of the Nubes. He would tutor her carefully, bringing every flicker of need to a rich fire she could never hope to escape. Would never want to escape.
Moving his mouth slowly down her neck, he found the hollow at the base of her shoulders, sucking gently, then nipping. Tala’s hips jumped. She moaned as if in torment. Oh, please. She called silently.
Mica continued his downward exploration, reveling in the taste of her. Licking, marking her with his mouth, he hesitated a whisper away from her nipple. Reaching out with his tongue, he lapped across the crest, wet it, and then let the breath from his words tease across her skin. “By my mouth, I call to the links under your flesh, they respond to me.” Locking his lips to her nipple, he then pulled it deeply into his mouth. He could feel the links move beneath her skin, feel the first of the chain break through. Lovingly he played with the first pieces by laving in and around them with his hot tongue.
Tala screamed, hips pumping, an involuntary burst of lust and desire surging through her body. More! She didn’t know if she said it out loud or just demanded it in her mind. The links within both nipples burst through, shocking her with the amount of sharp need that pulsed through her. Nothing could stop this, nor did she want it stopped. She needed nothing more than Mica pounding into her. Now!
Mica had no intention of ending the exquisite pleasure of drawing the links, by just slamming his engorged penis into her. The more he tasted of Tala, the more he wanted. Taking what seemed to her like bi-nons, he moved his seeking mouth over every inch of her body, completely ignoring the throbbing need he had created between her thighs. He licked and laved, sucked and teased her elbow, her toes, and across her stomach.
“Please. Please. Please. Oh, please,” she was nearly incoherent as she begged him without shame.
Mica finally moved to settle his magical mouth over the black triangle at her thighs. Spreading her legs wide to give him unrestricted access, he used his hands to pull the lips of her vulva farther apart. She was dripping, melting in front of him. The spicy, fiery scent of her arousal called to him and he bent, whispering, “And now, I call to the links within your sweet cunt. That they show themselves so all the planet will know you belong to me.”
The delicate gold link chains burst through the skin at Tala’s clit, causing her to scream long and loud in ecstasy. Mica licked her from back to front and then in reverse. Twi
rling her clit, he used hard little thrusts with his tongue to push into her passage. He used his tongue to play with the newly released chains that marked her as his. The long slow licks and fast flickers made her spiral and burst over and over into small pieces. “No more, please,” she gasped while struggling to push him away.
Mica let her fall. Watched over her as she tried to pull herself together. Just as she managed to draw a normal breath, he initiated the links’ vibration for the first time and sent her immediately back to a hard peak. He moved to position the tip of his rock hard penis that now revealed its own gold chains, at her wet, sensitive channel. “Who is your link mate, Tala? Who owns this?” he growled forcibly. He had reverted to primal male, assuredly staking his claim.
Tala stared up at him, crazed with lust. The links were vibrating and amplified the hunger for what Mica had between his legs, to an unbearable degree. She would promise him anything to get it. “You. I belong to you. Oh, Goddess!”
“Mine!” With that Mica buried himself to the balls within Tala. Locking the links together at the same time. The rush of pleasure completely robbed Tala of her virgin’s pain and sent her spiraling out of control and soaring off into a cloud of satisfaction.
It wasn’t over. The links merged between two Zylans created a madness that was only beginning. For three bi-nons the insatiable hunger of the chains would lock them together in passion. Even in sleep, the subtle vibrations would keep them constantly aroused.
Chapter 11
Much later, Mica woke with a sleeping Tala plastered on top of his body. He smiled. Evidently he had worn her out through the night. Shifting, he realized that he was still rock hard. The links continuously pulled at him, demanding that he satisfy their insatiable hunger. He would gladly bend to their demands. Deciding he and Tala could both bathe and take care of the urgent sexual demands of his body at the same time, he rolled Tala gently to his side. Picking her up, his stomach growled. All the demands of his body, he thought.
