Author's Note: I decided my ten-year-old Magnavox went on the blink last week while I was
watching "Paradise Found." This is what actually happened after Xena
impaled that Aden guy and everything starts to melt. This is strictly for fans
of bondage, whippage and kick-assage. And sex, consensual or otherwise.)
****
Gabrielle sighed. She considered throwing up and decided against it. Her forehead
rested heavily on her knees, and her arms were clasped around her ankles. She
wasnt even sure how her body had gotten into this position, but it would
do for now. Until she could lift her head, and see where she was, without her
vision shimmering into waves of light.
"Gabrielle? Look at me."
Well, shimmering waves be damned. Gabrielles head came up fast, and she
almost fell over with the vertigo that accompanied the movement. The bard braced
herself quickly with one hand and blinked rapidly, trying to bring Xena into
focus.
She had to look up. Xena was right in front of her, chained by the wrists to
a standing wooden frame. Rusted manacles kept her arms raised and spread tightly
between two splintered posts. She wore a tattered brown shirt and breeches,
and her dark hair was tangled around her flushed face. She was studying Gabrielle
with an intensity that unnerved her. She looked more closely, and saw that the
warriors extraordinary eyes were shining with tears. Alarmed, the young
woman scrambled, awkwardly, to her feet.
"Hey, go slow." Xenas voice was soothing.
Wise advice. Gabrielle swayed, and had to catch herself on Xenas shoulders
or she would have fallen. She shook her blond hair out of her eyes, and looked
around, dazed.
They were in some kind of prison cell, obviously, a large one, but Gabrielle
had no idea where, or how theyd gotten there. The air was musty and slightly
cold, and three torches on the walls provided the only murky light. In addition
to the standing frame, there was a low stone platform, with manacles and chains
at all four corners, in the center of the chamber. There were tattered furs
piled against one wall. It was a shadowy, grim little cell, and the bard shuddered
convulsively.
"Are you all right?" Gabrielle asked, shaken. "Am I all right?"
"Well both be fine," Xena answered firmly. "Tell me what
you remember."
"Wow." Gabrielle rubbed a hand across her eyes. "Aden. You,
screaming -- at me, I think. Aden, dead, and melting . . . "
"Slowly," Xena reminded her, and her voice was gentle.
"Things started to fade." Gabrielle looked up at Xena. "And
then I saw you, here."
"Thats it?" the warrior asked. "Thats all?"
"Thats all."
"Good."
"Xena, whats happening?" Gabrielle looked up at Xenas
wrists, and winced at the pinching grip of the rusted manacles. "How do
I get you out of this?"
"Theres a key in your cleavage."
"What?" Gabrielle looked automatically down at her breasts, then
up at Xena again as she felt the cold, metal shape between them. She snuck her
hand into her top and withdrew a small silver key. "How did this get here?"
"You put it there." Xenas blue eyes were shadowed and worried.
Gabrielle stared at the key, and her fingers trembled. Then she remembered
the light tingling that still filled her belly, and she turned her back to Xena
quickly. Shed been aware of the sensation ever since she awoke, but until
now its undeniable source hadnt entered her conscious mind. A small thrill
of horror went through Gabrielle. "Xena. Somethings been . . . inside
me."
Xena said nothing, and Gabrielle faced her again. She made an effort to control
her voice, but it still shook. "Look, I have nerve endings! I know Ive
been touched. Recently. You know what happened, Xena, I can see it in your eyes.
Tell me."
"You did it yourself, Gabrielle," Xena said carefully. "I know
you dont remember, but Im afraid you will, soon. You need to be
ready, because I dont think its -- "
"Thats enough." Suddenly Gabrielle didnt want to hear
any more. "Were getting out of here. You can explain later."
She stood on her toes and inserted the key in the manacle holding Xenas
right wrist.
"Theres something you should -- "
"Later, Xena," Gabrielle snapped. She couldnt explain her sudden
sense of urgency, but it was strong. "We're not safe here, I know it."
She succeeded in freeing Xenas other wrist, and the warriors left
arm dropped to her side. Her tall form swayed a little, and Gabrielles
hands braced her shoulders quickly. She saw Xena wince.
"What?" Gabrielle asked softly, releasing her. "Are you hurt?"
She glanced down, and saw a smear of blood across her inner wrist. She looked
at the top of Xenas shoulder, and saw the bleeding welt capping it. "Hey
-- "
"Gabrielle, you need to listen to me." Xena swallowed, and looked
down into her lovers troubled green eyes. "Aden fed off your purity,
your goodness, it was like food to him. Do you understand?"
"Yes," Gabrielle whispered.
"And the same power brought out everything in me thats still corrupt
and ruthless. Yes?"
Gabrielle nodded.
"But -- Gabrielle -- no one is without those qualities." Xenas
eyes sharpened with the need to make the bard understand. "No one is simply
pure, or totally evil. Its the human condition, isnt it? We all
struggle with demons, no matter how loving our hearts."
"Xena -- "
Xena lay a cold fingertip on Gabrielles lips to silence her. "Youre
not exempt from that mortal law, Gabrielle, you know that. Adens palace
brought out the best in you. This place -- " Xena nodded at the cell with
loathing, "feeds off whatever darkness is yours."
Gabrielle stared up at Xena, and her eyes filled with foreboding. She took
a step backwards, and nearly stumbled. She looked down, and saw a strip of dark
leather beneath her foot. Gabrielle bent, and picked it up. It was Xenas
bullwhip. And it wasnt just one smear of red on Gabrielles inner
wrist -- the hand that held the whips shaft was sticky with blood. Gabrielle
looked up at Xena again, and then silently walked around behind her.
The warriors brown shirt was torn, ripped in half. The smooth planes
of her back and shoulders were striped with lashmarks, some still seeping blood.
Gabrielle stood still, her eyes dull with disbelief. Then she lifted her hand,
and with one finger, gently touched one of the abraded welts, because she couldnt
believe it was real. She stared at the blood on her fingertip, and then the
world swam away.
_____ *** _____
"You know, payback is a lot sweeter than I thought it would be." Gabrielles
fingers snarled in the worn cloth of the warriors shirt, and she ripped
it open with a gusting sigh of satisfaction. She lifted the tattered halves
over the tops of Xenas shoulders and spread them wide, baring the sculpted,
muscular curves of her back. She ran her palms feverishly over the warm skin,
and laughed aloud when Xena shuddered beneath her touch. She snatched the coiled
bullwhip from the ground and backed up several steps, snapping it out with relish.
"Gabrielle, be careful with that thing, its no toy," Xena said
evenly. "You can take an eye out with it if -- "
"An eye for an eye." The bard coiled the whip in her hand, her green
eyes shining with a fierce light. She shook her hair out of her eyes impatiently,
to clear her vision. If Xena could have seen Gabrielles face at that moment,
she would have recognized the high blush of arousal. "I dont think
we have to take things that far, Xena, you havent killed me yet. Not for
lack of trying, to quote my daughter."
Gabrielle clenched her tongue between her lips and took careful aim. She sent
the bullwhip out in a fast arc, and it cracked across Xenas broad shoulders.
Until that moment, Xena hadnt really believed Gabrielle would strike her,
in spite of the screaming of her internal alarms. The quick, burning pain caught
her by surprise, and she surged against the manacles gripping her wrists.
The blond woman almost cried out with pleasure, but she stifled the urge and
brought the whip carefully back over her shoulder again. "You taught me
pretty well, Xena, Ive learned a lot from you. Youve kept this whipping
thing to yourself, for the most part, but Ive watched you do it often
enough to get the general idea." She threw the whip forward again, and
it snapped against Xenas lower back, this time drawing blood.
"Gabrielle." The loved name emerged as a guttural sigh. "Try
to think. You dont want to do this."
"Honey, Ive wanted to do something like this for years," Gabrielle
protested. She was beginning to breathe faster. "You think youre
the only one carrying a grudge over past wrongs, Xena? Want me to list them?"
Xenas eyes clenched shut as the whip snaked over the top of her left
shoulder, leaving a thin line of fire. "I probably remember them better
than you, Gabrielle."
"Somehow, I doubt it." The hectic color seeped out of Gabrielles
face, and her mouth hardened with anger. "You hang on to power more tightly
now than you ever did as the Destroyer of Nations, Xena. Youve held Hope
against my throat like a dagger, ever since she killed Solan, and you still
do it today. You were so wrapped up in your own pain that it never occurred
to you that -- that losing that beautiful little boy hurt me, too." The
whip sang out again.
"And with all the talking weve done, all those bathetic verses in
Illusia, youve never once mentioned the fact that you watched Dahak rape
me." Gabrielle grimaced and threw the lash forward, then hissed with gratification
as it striped the long planes of Xenas back. The dry, explosive cracking
of the seasoned leather was an aural aphrodisiac. "Ive told myself
ever since that you stopped him as soon as you could, Xena. But that doesnt
change the fact that you allowed a demon to spawn with the woman you claim to
love, and promised to protect -- "
"All right, that passes best." Xena found she was capable of anger
in this treacherous place, but it wasnt the destructive rage that filled
her in Adens realm. Oddly for her, other emotions were proving far more
distracting.
She had told herself repeatedly, since Gabrielle picked up the whip, not to
listen to what the bard said. But her gut still heard her, and accepted the
truth in her partners charges. Part of Xena withered with sadness. "Im
not sure whats happening to us, Gabrielle, but I am sure that talking
to you is not going to accomplish much now." Xena heard the small grunt
of effort behind her, and she braced herself to absorb another sizzling strike
across her shoulders. Blood was beginning to trickle down her back.
"Gabrielle, you've got all night." It could have been high noon as
far as Xena could tell, but her she tried to make her tone reasonable. "Its
not going to hurt you to slow down for a moment and try to focus -- " Xenas
words cut off, abruptly, as the stinging warmth of Gabrielles hand on
her lower back told her that her lover was right behind her.
"You didnt even hear me, Xena, did you," Gabrielle said softly.
"Too full of your own words to listen to mine, as usual." Her fingers
tickled over the bleeding stripe that curled around Xenas side as she
ducked beneath her raised arm and straightened in front of her. She stood very
close to the chained warrior, her breasts brushing her shirt.
The difference in their heights was more vivid when they faced each other.
Gabrielle threw the whip aside and looked up into the crystal blue eyes above
her, and for a moment her predatory smile faltered. She knew there would be
no fear in Xenas gaze, but she hadnt expected the compassion she
saw there, or the tenderness in her features. The warrior was hurting, she had
to be, but little of her suffering showed on her face. Gabrielles own
expression darkened. She felt cheated.
Xena released a muffled exclamation when Gabrielles hand clenched the
back of her neck, and her head was pulled down into an abrupt, heated kiss.
The bards tongue darted into her mouth and ravaged it, guttural sounds
emerging from her slender throat. When she finally released her, Xena had tears
in her eyes. Gabrielle stared up at her again as one fell, unnoticed, down the
side of her face.
The bards hands rose and rested on Xenas hair, then moved gently,
brushing the wild tresses off her damp forehead, stroking her cheek, curling
around her neck to massage the tight muscles there, sliding forward again to
cup her face. Xenas eyes closed, and more tears fell. This touch was so
familiar, and so dear.
"It's ironic that the one thing thats always worked between us,
every time without fail, even with glorious success, is bed." Gabrielle
stroked Xenas forehead, her beautiful green eyes thoughtful. "I mean,
youd think physical passion would be the first thing to go. Wouldnt
you?"
Xenas eyes opened again as Gabrielles tongue rested just below
the strong line of her jaw, and then skated slowly down her taut throat. Gabrielle
lifted her head and smiled. "But even when things were worst between us,
Xena, you could look at me with those candlelit eyes, and Id go wet where
I stood."
Keeping her own gaze locked on Xena, Gabrielle stepped back and lowered herself
to the cold stone floor of the cell. She rested back on her elbows, her dark
eyebrows quirking playfully up at the chained warrior. "Youve always
wanted to watch me pleasure myself, havent you? Even before we got physical,
when I was just a green kid. And Ive never agreed to it. Its probably
the least savage thing youve asked of me, Xena, and the only thing Ive
refused you."
"Dont change your mind now," Xena interrupted sharply. She
pulled futilely at the cold circlets of iron squeezing her wrists as Gabrielle
began to unlace her green top -- this could be worse than the whipping, if the
bard remembered it. Ardent she might be in the privacy of their blankets, but
Gabrielle carried a dignified but stubborn strain of modesty that was rare in
a woman from a small village. "Listen to me, Gabrielle. I cant help
you with this, no more than you could help me in Adens palace. Youre
going to have to stop yourself."
"Then I guess youll have to watch me be raped again," Gabrielle
said softly, spreading the halves of her top wide to bare her large breasts.
She lay back on the stone, smiling slightly at Xenas fierce glower above
her. The bard wiggled both hands beneath the waistline of her skirt, and wormed
them down between her legs. She parted her knees, and covered her naked, pulsing
vulva with both hands. Merely touching herself sent the trembling in her sizzling
higher, and Gabrielle closed her eyes as her lips formed a loose oh.
"Gabrielle, youre only hurting yourself." Xena felt some of
her old rage returning, and she blessed the clarity it brought with it. "Look,
the loss of your blood innocence was one of the hardest things Ive ever
had to bear, but it was far worse for you. And youre doing it again --
youre throwing away something you hold precious, because it feeds this
-- ravenous anger inside you." Xena heard a note of pleading enter her
voice and she hated it, but she had to finish. "Youd cut off your
hand before youd hurt me, Bri. Youd bash yourself senseless -- "
"Maybe youre right." Gabrielle closed her eyes and her head
turned on the stone. Her tongue snaked out and licked her upper lip as her hands
worked, busily, beneath her skirt. Her naked breasts bulged between her constricted
arms, the nipples red and swollen now. "But a girls got to have some
recreation, doesnt she? Shut up and let me enjoy this, Xena, Ill
worry about the state of my immortal soul later." Gabrielle gasped and
bucked up slightly, then renewed the vigor of her rubbing.
"Do you know what Im thinking about, warrior princess?" The
blond woman purred, her eyes glistening with heat as she stared at Xenas
face. But not heat alone -- Gabrielles eyes were filling with tears, and
her voice seemed strained. "Im picturing that whip across your back.
Im remembering the way you jerked when I really hurt you, Xena, it was
the most erotic thing -- Ive ever -- "
Xena closed her eyes and lowered her head as Gabrielle climaxed, convulsing
on the stone floor. The girls long, drawn out gasping finally quieted,
but not until tears had filled Xenas eyes again, and coursed down her
face.
When it was quiet, Xena opened her eyes and looked down at Gabrielle, and her
eyes widened. The bard was sitting before her, tying her top properly closed
and adjusting her skirt, her eyes remote and blank. Then she rested her head
on her knees and clasped her arms around her legs. Gabrielle sighed.
____ *** ____
Gabrielle screamed. It was a roar of such fury and hatred it terrified her,
as much as it would have if shed heard it in a dark cave. She felt arms
restraining her, and she fought them, hard, in instinctive panic to be free.
Gabrielle was seated, leaning back against a surface that yielded when she threw
herself against it. Some part of her knew Xena held her, and that small comfort
reached her, and allowed the bard to thrash out her horror in the safety of
those strong, loving arms.
"Stop this." Xenas voice was tight. "I am not letting
go, Gabrielle, you know I wont, now dont make me hurt -- "
"Xena," Gabrielle gasped, and then she was crying so hard she couldnt
speak.
Xena heard the fear in the young womans sobs, and her body went limp
with relief. "Youre back," she sighed. "Thank the gods."
Gabrielle wept like a bereft child, for a long time. She sagged in Xenas
arms, her head falling back against the warriors chest, tears streaming
unchecked down her face. She made no effort to stifle her sobs, which echoed
their bleak desolation around the implacable walls of the cell.
"All right," Xena murmured, finally. She never interrupted a womans
tears unless she had to, but she wasnt sure how much time they had. She
hugged the bard. "Try to focus, Bri."
"I cant," Gabrielle wept.
"Sure you can." Xena smiled through her exhaustion, and rested her
head back against the stone wall. "Ive seen you focus in a runaway
chariot, on a sinking ship, on the lip of a lava pit. This cell is candy, Gabrielle."
Gabrielle hitched a half-laugh through her sobs. She quieted, gradually, until
she lay limp and spent against Xena. The tall warrior rocked her, and Gabrielles
eyes fluttered closed.
"Dont drop off on me," Xena warned softly.
"I think sleep sounds good," Gabrielle mumbled. "Just a few
minutes, Xena, okay, Im really, really tired -- "
"No youre not." Xena shook Gabrielle, a small shake, but not
a gentle one. "Gabrielle, dont escape into sleep, thats a cowards
choice, and youll never be that." She waited, until she felt the
bards ribcage expand with her deep sigh, and her blond head nod in resignation.
"Good," she said, more kindly.
"You can let me go, Xena." Gabrielles voice was regretful.
"No, you sit tight for a moment. This time -- "
Gabrielles eyes shut, quickly, as she remembered. "Gods -- Xena,
your back. We need to find -- "
"Gabrielle, youre not listening!"
And instantly Gabrielle was four years younger, scared to death that shed
pissed off the warrior princess badly enough this time that shed send
her home. That had been the worst possible charge Xena could make against her,
in those early days, sponge that Gabrielle was for everything around her. She
lay still and alert in Xenas unyielding embrace.
"Gabrielle, part of you still hates me for what Dahak did to you. For
Hope, and for Lao Ma." Xena waited, and finally Gabrielle spoke.
"Is that it? Are you finished, I can speak now?" The young womans
tone was clipped.
"Yes."
"Why you are bringing this up now, Xena, I have no idea. This just doesnt
seem like the right environment for relationship counseling." Gabrielle's
head turned on Xena's breast. "Look, weve both been through the wringer,
and we have to figure out -- "
"Thats what were doing," Xena cut in, calmly. "Weve
both tried to exorcise the . . . more painful feelings weve had for each
other, and for the most part, we have. Illusia helped, but mostly its
been time. Working together and waking up together, seasons of just trading
off footrubs after a long day."
"Youre right," Gabrielle admitted quietly.
"But those tragedies are every bit as much a part of our history together
as our happier times." Xena felt weak tears filling her eyes -- not honest
tears of love or grief, these were of cheap sentiment, and she blinked them
away with impatience. She was just so ungodly tired. "Look, you know Im
no good with these stupid sensitive chats. But the point is -- while weve
forgiven each other, we havent forgotten. Neither of us, Gabrielle."
"Uh, Xena, Im getting really scared, here." Gabrielle frowned,
the skin of her upper arms rising in goose bumps. "I know I whipped you.
What else have I done?"
Xena nodded. "Fair enough, Ill just say it. This place is bringing
all your hatred up to the surface, Gabrielle. You kind of -- phase out, or something,
when it happens, because I dont think your conscious mind allows you to
hate me when were awake. Its happened twice, now. This is going
to be hard to hear, Bri, but when youre in the grip of this thing, you
turn into some kind of sexual lunatic, and you try to beat the holy hell out
of me."
Gabrielle sat up, and this time Xena let her, her arms dropping woodenly to
her sides. Gabrielle pivoted and looked up at her lover, and the blood fell
out of her face in an alarming rush. She made a soft, strangled sound, and her
fingers rose to touch the ugly, glowering bruise darkening below Xenas
left eye. Then Gabrielles gaze moved over the rest of Xenas battered
face, to the firm, exposed breasts -- the warriors shirt was torn open
in front as well, now. The paleness of her breasts was covered with angry scratches,
and more bruises, ominous ones, were emerging on Xenas ribs.
Even if Xena had been at her best, she might not have been able to keep Gabrielle
beside her. The girl lunged back, away from the seated warrior, and got to her
feet so quickly she was a blur. She whirled and ran to the far wall of the cell,
and her hands ran over the rough rock surface feverishly.
"Where do you imagine youre going?" Xena called, reasonably.
"Away from you." Gabrielle threw Xena a look of fear as she darted
to the next wall. "This could happen again, right? Couldnt it? Any
minute I could black out, and then I wake up, and youre dead?"
"Youre not going to kill me, Gabrielle."
"Youre bloody right about that," Gabrielle yelled, slapping
both hands against the doorless wall in a surge of frustration. There was no
way out.
"Gabrielle, get back here." Xena cranked an arm wearily at her.
"No way, Xena, not for at least two weeks."
"Look," the warrior said, and grimaced in disgust. "Ive
got a few cracked ribs. Thats not as bad as broken, but I still would
appreciate a lift, and its embarrassing enough to ask for it once."
Gabrielle stared at Xena, then whispered a curse. She started to run to her,
but then stopped herself. "Wait. Youre going to have some kind of
warning before I zone out again. Right?"
"IF you zone out again. Who knows?" Xena shrugged, then regretted
it. "I didnt the first two times. Come on."
"Then I dont think I should come any -- "
"Gabrielle, I may not be in top form," Xena said, with fragile patience,
"but I think I can manage throwing you across the room if you -- "
"You didnt last time." Gabrielle folded her arms and her green
eyes narrowed. "Id gotten you out of those manacles, I remember that
clearly. I could never best you in a fight, Xena, any kind of fight." She
looked down at herself. "Theres hardly a mark on me. Why didnt
you defend yourself?"
"Damn it, Gabrielle." Xenas pride wouldnt allow a third
entreaty. She threw her elbow against the wall and heaved herself upright. It
was a terribly ungraceful movement, and costly as well. Xena sank against the
wall in a flood of weakness.
"Hey, I was just asking." Strong arms were around the warriors
waist, and the low voice near her throat was calm. "It's all right, Ive
got you. Where are we going, Xe."
Xena forced her eyes open, and managed to nod at the altar of stone that stood
at the center of the cell. It was waist-high and wide, made of coarse granite.
Gabrielle eased Xena onto it carefully, but then stopped her before she could
lie flat. "Whoops. No way your backs touching this." She lifted
her hand from Xenas arm, then looked at her sharply. "You steady?"
"Sure," Xena mumbled. She was already feeling foolish about the near-faint.
Heras tits, shed had arrowheads carved out of her raw flesh without
the benefit of so much as a swallow of wine, and now she let a few tender ribs
fold her?
"What are you mumbling?" Gabrielle was back, frowning as she tossed
a thick fur over the rough stone. She smoothed it in place, then took Xenas
arms at the elbows. "Okay, get horizontal, please."
Xena did. The stinging in her back sang higher when her raw back touched the
fur, but not beyond bearing.
Gabrielle brushed Xenas hair off her forehead. "Does lying flat
hurt?"
"Not appreciably more than standing upright," Xena answered, her
blue eyes drifting closed.
"Hey, my turn to keep you from falling asleep." Gabrielle started
to squeeze Xenas hand, but then noticed the red and abraded knuckles,
and cradled it gently in her own instead. "Xena, Im so sorry about
this." The words seemed wildly inadequate. "I hate seeing you hurt,
I really do. I always have."
Xena softened. "I know you do, kid. Rage brings the most horrible associations,
doesnt it?" She shivered, more in dread than in pain. "The things
I saw myself do to you, in Adens den . . . "
"But you stopped yourself from acting them out." Gabrielle moved
Xenas arm and touched her side, very carefully, feeling for any sign of
fracture.
"I wouldnt have, if wed stayed longer. I was going to leave
before I hurt you."
Gabrielles hands went still for a moment, then continued their gentle
probing. "You were going to just take off, werent you?" She
smiled, lifelessly. "You werent going to say goodbye."
"Gabrielle." Xena winced at a brief twinge as Gabrielle pressed again.
"Sorry," she whispered.
"Gabrielle," Xena repeated, her voice strained. "I was losing
it, fast. I couldnt risk a -- an emotional farewell scene with you. Youd
have tried to talk me out of leaving, you know that. What if youd made
me angry?"
"Okay," Gabrielle said softly, and brought her hand to Xenas
forehead. "Okay, Im sorry, youre right. Im glad you did
what you had to do to take care of us, it worked. At least, it got us out of
there." She looked around the murky cell, and the desolation in her lovely
features pulled at Xenas heart.
"Gabrielle, I hate to inflict deja vu on either of us, but this is going
to get worse before it gets better."
"What do you mean?" Gabrielle looked down at Xena, troubled, (and
suddenly her lover was sailing across the cell. She crashed, horribly, against
the far wall.)
"Hey! Gabrielle!" Xena struggled into a seated position on the altar,
grimacing at the searing pain in her side. The bard had gone stark white. Her
lips were parted, and her eyes were fixed and staring. Xena gripped the bards
shoulders and shook her, one quick, authoritative snap.
Gabrielle started violently, and caught herself on the altar. Xena steadied
her, ducking to try to see her eyes through the blond hair. Gabrielle looked
at her with horrified wonder -- Xena was obviously right in front of her, not
crumpled against the far wall.
The bard began to shudder. "Xena, is it starting again?"
"Tell me what you saw," Xena coached gently.
"I thought Id just kicked you." Gabrielle swallowed; her throat
was dry as papyrus. "You went flying against a wall."
"Could you see yourself?"
"No."
"Then it wasnt a vision. It was a - flash, backwards, into the past."
Xena nodded, satisfied with the concept. "A flashback. That trip into the
wall, that did happen, that was this." Xena tapped her bruised side.
"Ah, gods," Gabrielle moaned, "will I see everything that happened?"
"I dont know."
"Does this mean Im about to black out again?"
"Your guess is as good as mine."
"Xena!" Gabrielle clenched Xenas upper arms. "I am going
to nerve-pinch you!"
"Gabrielle, I honestly dont know," Xena apologized, trying
not to smile. "Im not being enigmatic, I promise. But just in case,
listen fast."
"Okay."
"You trounced me awhile ago fair and square. I wasnt taking any
punishment I could have stopped. Believe me," Xena emphasized, dryly. "Look,
for some reason, this place is making me weak as hell. Its not bloodloss,
its not shock, I dont care what it is, the upshot of all this is
I can hardly make a fist."
(Gabrielles fists where joined, her fingers intertwined, when they pounded
into Xenas face in a roundhouse swing. The warrior spun with an odd grace
and fell.)
"Stay with me," Xena yelled, shaking her.
"Okay," Gabrielle yelled back. She opened her eyes and clenched Xenas
arms again. "Xena, you have to knock me out. Come on. Nerve-pinch me, or
just deck me, hurry."
Xena grabbed her fingers back -- Gabrielle was trying to jam them into her
own throat -- and took the bard's hands. "I have a better idea, okay? Do
you trust me?"
"Always."
"Then get horizontal."
"Xena -- " Gabrielle tried to stop the tall warrior when she shifted
off the stone slab, but Xena's hands settled on either side of her waist and
lifted her, with effort, onto the altar.
"That yoga stuff is sure paying off, Gabrielle. Im trying to distract
you with flattery. Lay down."
Gabrielle did. She heard the rustle of irons.
"Hand up here, please." Xena stood at the head of the altar, snapping
her fingers. Gabrielle extended her left hand to the upper corner of the rough
stone square, and Xena slipped the manacle over the slender wrist.
(Gabrielle gleefully ground a fistful of dry, scratching straw into Xenas
bleeding back, and the warrior gasped with pain.)
"Xena, please hurry!"
Xena had the bards left ankle manacled, then her right. She moved swiftly
up toward the front of the altar, but stopped when Gabrielles right hand
snaked out and smacked against her injured ribs.
___ *** ___
Gabrielle had her down and she was all over her, swarming over Xenas
body like a predatory cat. She clawed her shirt open, and her nails scratched
hard and fast over the cool, firm globes of Xenas naked breasts. Xena
hissed, and managed to grab the bards wrists.
"You dont like this, Xena?" Gabrielles greedy eyes were
inches from Xenas as she easily freed her hands. "I thought this
would be your favorite part."
"Damn you, Gabrielle," Xena gasped. The bards knee caught her
right in the stomach, and she folded, breathless.
Gabrielle pushed the warriors shoulders flat again, and then she finished
snatching her trousers down around her knees. She jerked the tall womans
knees apart, and her hand plowed up into her with shocking suddenness, her wrist
twisting with relish. "By the gods, Xena, youre so wet for me,"
Gabrielle breathed. "I guess that little sex show earlier wasnt just
for my benefit, after all."
Xena couldnt deny her arousal, it would be futile. Her passion was intricately
connected to Gabrielles body, and it had been for four years. She had
watched that body change from that of a teenager into the lovely curves of a
young woman, at the brink of her first lasting beauty. Xena believed she would
never tell Gabrielle of the other fantasies shed had in Adens realm.
Gabrielle naked and screaming, writhing under Xenas whip, impaled by it,
Xenas white teeth chewing her swollen pink nipples --
"You cant help yourself, can you." Gabrielle sounded almost
sympathetic as she fucked the warrior, relentlessly. "Look at yourself,
Xena. Youre just lying there, with your arms and legs splayed and limp,
while your little sidekick ravages you." Gabrielle laughed and tossed her
long, damp hair over her shoulder, her green eyes sparkling cruelly down at
Xena, and in that moment she was a goddess.
"You could kick me into the next county if you wanted, Xena, but I think
youre having too much fun." Gabrielles teeth touched her lower
lip as her narrowed hand punched in especially deep, relishing Xenas helpless
groaning. The bard resumed her pistoning motion, the muscles of her slender
forearm strong as wire from years of stavework.
"Youre wrong," Xena moaned, her dark head tossing on the stone
floor. "I would stop you, if I could. Gabrielle, youre taking my
strength. Its you, draining me."
"Its me reaming you, Xena." Gabrielle bent over Xena, pinning
her with her intense gaze. Her voice grew lighter and became a musical sing-song
as she worked her. "Im reaming you, Xena, Im reaming you .
. . Im reaming you, Xena."
Xenas hips began to jerk with the force of Gabrielles surging thrusts
deep in her cunt. But her true nature -- one of them -- began to assert itself,
with what was left of Xenas strength. The tall warrior made herself lie
still. The torchlight shone off the full curves of her wet body as the fucking
continued, the light bouncing off her with the percussion of Gabrielles
twisting penetration. Xena could smell herself, and she could hear the copious
sloshing noises the bard was drawing from her vagina.
Xenas austerely beautiful face assumed the implacable expression she
would have worn if she were watching the fatal descent of a sword toward her
breast. She looked up at Gabrielle with something like pity, on the brink of
explosion, her body rigid but still. "Why are you crying, Gabrielle?"
Gabrielle didnt answer, and the tears were shaken quickly and angrily
from her eyes. Instead she bent, lowered her mouth to Xenas mound, and
snarled like a bacchae as she chewed her clit.
Xena came, titanically. She let out a full-throated roar that Gabrielle, and
most other lovers, had never even heard. Her fists, at her sides, squeezed shut
with tendon-straining force, and she lifted her body inches from the ground,
her weight, and Gabrielles, on her heels and the backs of her shoulders.
There was time, when Xena could think again, to pull up her trousers; the shirt
was a fatality, but she left its tatters over her bruised shoulders. Gabrielle
just sat there, with that spooky blankness in her eyes, even when Xena took
her in her arms. The warrior wrapped her securely in her embrace, checked her
breathing, and then rested her own head against the stone wall of the cell.
Please, she thought, just a few moments of rest.
Thats when Gabrielles awakening scream almost lifted the top of
her head off.
___ *** ___
The bard didnt scream this time. She came to groggily, aware that Xena
was stripping her, ripping the remnants of her clothing off. Gabrielle opened
her eyes, and looked down the length of her chained, naked body -- and then
she wasnt sure she was awake at all. She almost hoped not, she hoped she
was still in the nightmare. Because Gabrielle was consumed with the most scathing
rage she had ever known.
"Youve wanted to take me since the day we met, Xena." Gabrielles
voice trembled with fury as Xena climbed painfully up onto the altar. "Like
this. Youve wanted to chain me down and force -- "
"Looks like my wish is about to be granted," Xena panted. She looked
down at the spread-eagled young woman, her full breasts bouncing as she struggled
to free her wrists. She began to lower herself over her, then straightened quickly
as Gabrielles head shot up, her teeth snapping at Xenas pale face.
"Whoa, the bacchais back. All right, Gabrielle." Xenas
piercing blue eyes zeroed in on the bards bulging nipples. "Im
not especially limber, right now, so Ill concentrate on your more vulnerable
assets."
Xena latched on to a nipple and began to suck. She swirled the engorged nub
between her full lips, chewed it lightly, and then not lightly at all. Gabrielle
gasped beneath her, her back arching sharply. Xena raised her head and looked
into the searing green eyes. "I love you, Gabrielle."
"Tartarus take you, witch!" Gabrielle screamed, the tendons in her
neck standing out.
"I love you," Xena repeated softly, and lowered her head again. She
took most of the girls left breast into her mouth, and flattened the nipple
with a strong tongue, scrubbing it with long, dragging strokes. Xena growled
as she feasted, a deep-chested feline rumbling.
She spent a long time on the bards large breasts; she knew their tips
were exquisitely sensitive. Xena could make Gabrielles nipples rise and
harden just by using a certain tone of voice, even if they were merely discussing
the supplies they needed. The warrior knew this body well, and knew what to
do to it.
Gabrielles thrashing became an undulant dance, her head turning more
sensuously on the stone altar as Xenas mouth took each nipple in turn,
in pitiless and thorough repetition. The bards gold-red hair fanned out
on either side of her sweating face as her arousal coursed higher, but her expression
was still contorted with anger.
"Y-you call this love," Gabrielle sobbed, as Xenas lips moved
from between her wet breasts, down the center of her body. She kissed the small
birthmark on Gabrielles waist, and her tongue dipped briefly into her
navel.
"I do," Xena whispered, moving lower. "This is my love, Gabrielle,
forcing you, taking you. I will always love you. And Ill always have darkness,
and the need to take you is part of that."
The injured warrior shifted, stiffly, until she knelt between Gabrielles
wide-spread legs. She winced the sweat out of her eyes. "Youll always
have darkness too, my love. Just a little, just this much. Its my darkness
that takes you -- its yours, that wants me too so badly."
Xena let out a quivering breath as her mouth settled between the moist lips
of the bards splayed cunt. She sucked, gently, on the tip of her clit.
Gabrielle groaned, enormously, and twisted, forcing Xena to hold her hips down
with her aching arms.
The warrior lifted her dark head. "Gabrielle, I love you with all of my
heart."
Xena began to feed.
Only Xena knew each quivering nerve ending in the vulnerable, wet cunt before
her. No other lover could ever pleasure Gabrielle with her mouth with such mastery,
such sweet, searing intensity. And even through her irrational rage, Gabrielle
knew the warrior was making love to her. Her moaning became a continuous, breathless
chant, and then it turned into grunting, as Xena slicked her swollen clit between
her teeth again, and nibbled it rapidly.
"Xena . . . . " the bards voice was thready and weak. "Xena,
please . . . h-help me."
Xena sucked her, hard. And Gabrielle crested with an abandoned ecstacy, writhing
in delirious pleasure on the stone altar. Her hips ground deeply into the fur
beneath them, rooting, digging, as Xena held on, humming into her cunt now.
The walls of the cell melted around them.
___ *** ___
Xena lay curled on her side, her cheek resting on something soft. She lifted
her head, groggily, and was rewarded with a face full of bare bard bosom.
"Behave yourself," Gabrielle murmured. She tapped Xenas head
gently. "Down."
Xena relaxed into Gabrielles lap again, gratefully. She heard water being
wrung from a cloth.
"Were safe. Were back in the cave." Gabrielle patted
the wet cloth very lightly against the whipmark capping Xenas shoulder.
"I was hoping I could take care of the worst of these while you were still
out."
Neither of them spoke for a time, while Gabrielle tenderly washed the warriors
striped back. She kept her free hand in Xenas thick hair, tickling her
scalp gently. It was a comfortable and healing silence.
"Xena."
"Hmm."
"Back there. You said I was draining you, making you weak. Do you remember?"
"Yeah." Xena sighed. "Im not sure, Gabrielle, I just know
that rage can -- use up all the air in a room. That spell you were under seemed
to suck the energy out of me, somehow."
"I think it was more than that." Gabrielle rinsed the cloth again.
"I doubt you would have gotten so weak if it had been anyone else, attacking
you. The fact that it was me . . . . " the bard paused. "It's so horrible
to be hurt by someone you love."
Xena said nothing, remembering Argos terrible gallop toward the cliffs,
Gabrielles helpless body dragging on the ground, her ankles snarled in
Xenas bullwhip. She opened her eyes, and stared into the empty space in
front of her.
"Xena, Im so glad its over." Gabrielle shivered. "It
might take us both a long time to get over what happened in that cell, but at
least well never have to go through anything like it again." The
fingers holding the cloth to Xenas back were cold.
Xena was silent. Hatred could prove as resilient as love. And it was far more
insidious, if it was suppressed. She would have to watch her young partner carefully,
very carefully, for awhile.
"I think youre staunched," Gabrielle sighed finally, and helped
Xena sit up.
Xena pushed a hand through her dark hair to clear her eyes, and saw that Gabrielles
face was streaked with fresh tears. Her eyebrows rose in concern, but Gabrielle
just smiled and shook her head. "Hey, my eyes leak sometimes, its
got nothing to do with me."
Xena smiled back, and brushed her thumb gently beneath Gabrielles eye
to catch a tear. "You feel up to wrapping some ribs?"
"If you are." Gabrielle looked down at the thunderhead bruise on
Xenas side, and her eyes darkened. "Its going to hurt, Xe."
"Im not worried." Xena lifted Gabrielles hand and kissed
it, gently. "Like I said, Gabrielle, youve got the hands of a poet."
********* End ********
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