Chapter Four

            “Lina-san.”

            She moaned a bit as he ground his hips against hers, driving her up against the wall. The room was pitch-black, save for a small sliver of light that sneaked in through the crack below the door, scattering its subtle essence across the floor. The darkness along with the intimate spacing between Lina and her lover made the room seem much smaller; it became harder to breathe. And as much as she tried to make out the shape of her lover in the dark, she could not. But the setting did not seem to bother him and his finely tuned senses, and it seemed like he could clearly see her body despite the obscurity; or maybe he just intuitively knew exactly the right places where his hands should go.

            Sweat trickled down the sides of her neck as she threw her head back and gasped for air. She lifted her knee and slid her thigh against the legs of her lover, who caught it in turn and pulled it up to the height of his waist. She squeaked ever so slightly at the sudden lack of flooring beneath her feet when he pulled her other leg forward as well, then continued their endeavors. As she neared her first climax, she kissed the lips of her lover in desperation, not knowing what else to do as her emotions began to flood. She was about to lose herself--she felt like she was teetering on the edge of existence and oblivion.

            As she steadied herself in preparation for orgasm, she caught a glint of her lover’s dark amethyst eyes against the pool of darkness. Her eyes shut tightly as she gasped his name: Xel-

            “--oss.”

            “Yes?”

            Her eyes widened. At first, she couldn’t figure out where she was or what was going on, but then her messy thoughts quickly started to fall into place. It was morning, and she had just woken up from a dream--

            Her face flushed an extremely bright red. No…I did…with Xelloss, she thought, clasping her hands to the sides of her face to hide her embarrassment. Then she added, “I hope no one heard anything I said.”

            “Heard what?”

            She jumped clear across the room, landing awkwardly on her rear. There Xelloss was, casually hovering in midair with a teacup in hand and his legs crossed. The smug grin on his face made Lina feel extremely insecure, and she once again turned beet red. “Y-you didn’t hear anything…did you?” she asked hesitantly.

            He paused to think for what seemed like hours to Lina, then replied, “Well, you were making odd noises in your sleep…”

            Lina stiffened. Oh, hell...

            “…that sounded a little like you had a bad stomach ache. I thought of waking you up, but then decided it would be best not to,” he concluded with a small chuckle, well aware of the sorceress’s terrible sleeping habits. She was impossible to rouse once she was asleep, and those who tried to do something about her often received bruised eyes like a certain little princess in the past.

            Lina loosened and exhaled a rather long sigh of relief as he finished his sentence. It was embarrassing enough to have had the dream in the first place--she didn’t need him knowing or teasing her about it. She got up and quickly excused herself from the room, hiding her pink blush behind her bangs. As she rubbed the sleepiness out of her eyes and cleaned herself up in the bathroom, her thoughts kept drifting back to the dream she had the night before. Was it really Xelloss whom she was sharing passionate exchanges with? He seemed a bit different somehow; or maybe it was she who saw him differently. She paused when it came time to fit her ring around her finger, but after a moment of deliberation she decided to put it on anyway. She felt insecure without it there.

            When she was done, she returned to the bedroom to quickly grab her belongings, ignoring the priest whose smile was far too large to mean nothing.

            It was a rather dreary, rainy day outside, and the mood set by the atmosphere literally sucked all the life out of Lina. She chewed on her biscuits at breakfast with little energy, for once eating more like a proper person because of the lethargy that she could not overcome. Xelloss sipped tea quietly, respecting her silence. He glanced around the room, noting the lack of customers and the lonely host who looked equally as bored. The young man was leaning against the bar as he wiped the glassware down with a white cloth, stifling a yawn here and there that managed to escape his lips. Indeed, it was an unbearably slow day.

            Then Xelloss noticed something strange. Lina’s face seemed unnaturally flushed, and her eyes looked a bit droopy. He analyzed the situation, trying to determine what could be the problem. Had he been a little more familiar with human illnesses, he would have immediately surmised that Lina was suffering from a fever, and the most probable cause of that was the time she spent out in the rain the day before. But since he was not an expert on the matter, he figured it might be best to ask. “Are you feeling okay, Lina-san?”

            She answered him with a weak “Huh?” He blinked at her and made a worried face which she returned with a look of confusion. “What do you mean?” she asked as soon as a small chill seized her body.

            “Well…” He pointed at her plate. “You’re not eating.”

            She looked down. He was right--there was still food on her plate, and that in itself was abnormal. But when she gazed at the slices of turkey drowned in gravy alongside bread rolls and a serving of vegetables, she felt strangely sick to the stomach. Uncharacteristically, she pushed the plate away from her and said, “I don’t really have an appetite right now.”

            Now he knew something was wrong. “That’s really strange,” he said. “Can I do something--”

            It seemed that Lina had reached her limit, for in one moment she had begun to sway and in the next she was literally falling out of her chair; Xelloss quickly teleported to her side in that instant to catch her as she fell. The host was bereft of words as he watched this scene unfold, after which he rubbed his eyes a bit and convinced himself that he had just been seeing things. There’s no way that man could have teleported like that, he reassured himself.

            Xelloss was actually very concerned. He didn’t know what was wrong with her, but if it was severe enough to make her faint, he figured it must have been serious. He lifted her into his arms and rushed over to where the young man stood. “Excuse me, could you tell me what has happened to her?” he asked, holding up the weakly girl in his arms.

            The boy frowned slightly. “I’m not a doctor,” he said. “But there is one at the northwest corner of town. He goes by the name of Raddox, if you wish to seek him out.”

            Lina managed to gain a bit of conscious then. “That’s alright…just take me…to the room, please,” she told Xelloss, and closed her eyes again to rest. He seemed unpleased with her decision, but if that was what she wanted, he would deliver. He thanked the boy anyway and left behind a small tip in exchange for leaving a mess at their table, then took Lina back up the stairs to the room.

            This would be…the second time.

            Rather than struggle with the doorknob again, Xelloss teleported straight through the door with the weak sorceress in his arms. His paces became slower and smaller as he came closer to the bed. Lina was really warm; he could feel the heat she generated through his clothes. For some odd reason, he felt reluctant to put her down; he felt comfortable having her so near. He glanced down, wondering what he could do for the girl who looked like she was suffering so badly.

            And then the nonsense of the situation struck him. Why was he having these thoughts and feelings? He had never felt so possessed by anyone before--so completely obsessed and so deprived of control over his thoughts and feelings. He was robbed of them; she took hostage each and every one of them. But the worst part of it was that it wasn’t reciprocated. He wanted her to think of him and only him as he did of her. He wanted her to taste this intense longing he had for her--to belong solely and entirely to him. That had been the goal all along. But she remained bound by his past, and he, on the other hand, was not. He had never developed close ties with any single individual in the past--he had been wise enough not to. When did his game get turned back around on him?

            He set her down on the bed and pulled the covers up to her chin before starting out on his way. But he paused in mid-stride and turned back to face her. She was still fast asleep, though it was a troubled slumber; he could tell by the look on her face--those closely knit eyebrows and the slightly open mouth that huffed warm air. She pulled at the neck of her shirt as if she were suffocating.

            When Xelloss placed his hand on her forehead to brush back her sweat-soaked bangs, she seemed to relax ever so slightly in response to his touch. He blinked curiously, wondering whether it was just coincidence or if he had really been the cause of her ease. He removed his hand from that spot and pressed the backs of his fingers against her warm neck. Then he slipped a finger underneath the golden chain of her necklace and pulled the gem--his gem--out into view.

            He tapped it twice with his index finger, after which it began to glow a light blue hue. It generated waves of cool air that washed over her body, cooling her sweat-covered skin. He left her with this small spell, hoping it would help reduce the suffering she endured.

            Lina felt remarkably better when she woke up later in the day as the sun began to set. Her fever had gone down, and now she was only dealing with bodily pains and stiffness. As she tossed the sheets off her body to get up, she grimaced. Her body was so caked with sweat that her clothes stuck to her, and she felt gross from head to toe. “I need a bath,” she stated as she hopped off the bed and tossed her cape and gloves onto the chair, noting how sore her body felt. She turned towards the bathroom, paused as her brain processed, and turned back around to see what was on the desk in front of her. A small bag was set there with a small note: “For Lina-san.” She flipped the scrap of paper over to look for a sender and saw the message, “That’s a secret!” scribbled there. She giggled slightly into the back of her hand. That’s not much of a secret, she thought, but she was charmed nonetheless.

            Lina unraveled the bag, allowing its contents to form a small pile on top of the cloth that bound it. It was a white powder, which Lina assumed was probably medicine he had acquired from the local doctor. Against my orders, she thought, but she was still grateful to him for it.

            She dipped her finger in the fine powder and licked a bit of it off, pursing her lips at the bitter taste. It’s medicine, alright. She hated taking medicine, but since he already got it for her she would take advantage of it. Speaking of Xelloss…

            “…where is he?” she wondered aloud as she turned to scan the room. There was no sign of the trickster priest, or anything to indicate when he had last been in the room. She shrugged. It wasn’t a big deal; he was free to come and go whenever he wished. It’s not like I… She paused midway through her thought and made a face. “It’s not like I miss him or anything when he’s not around,” she muttered adamantly as she pouted.

            She blushed and fidgeted for a moment before leaving the room, walking quickly as though she intended to outrun the embarrassment that stuck to her like an annoying little flea.

            Lina returned from her bath to find the fireplace already lit. She blinked at this, wondering who did it and when, but quickly assumed it was Xelloss since no one else would have known her current location. She glanced over to the window for him but only found that it had been opened and exited, letting some of the cold night air in. She shivered and quickly took refuge near the fire, rubbing her arms to provide some feeble warmth.

            As she spent more time next to the fire, the heat of the flames began to warm her chilled body. Soon enough, the tenseness of her muscles began to melt away. Lina folded her arms atop her knees and gently rested her head in the nest of her arms. There was no warmer spot in the room than the area right next to the fire, and her natural dislike of the cold was only worsened by the greater sensitivity to it caused by her fever. It felt like needles were being driven into her feet when she walked across the icy wooden floorboards. She let go of a heavy sigh and tilted her head slightly as she closed her eyes, losing herself to a Zen-like state.

            Xelloss slipped in through the window to find her in this moment of peace, gazing into the fire with an absent look to her eyes. A small smile played upon his lips as he tiptoed across the room to her, careful not to bring his presence to her awareness. It would be more fun if he could catch her by surprise. He came upon her from behind and wrapped his arms around her small frame, resting his chin atop her narrow shoulder as he hugged her. She stiffened at first, startled by his sudden approach and the warm breath that tingled against her ear. The sensation made her shiver ever so slightly, something that she knew Xelloss noticed, but instead of teasing her, he simply held her more tightly. She blinked a couple of times, a bit surprised by his silent and uncharacteristically passive behavior, before relaxing into his embrace. She was a bit tired because of her cold, after all, and he was fairly warm and cozy to snuggle up against. There was no reason not to accept his kind and inviting gesture.

            She closed her eyes for several minutes, basking in his warmth and allowing her muscles to relax. She felt so comfortable that she didn’t even budge when she felt something brush against her chest. Glancing down with drowsy eyelids, she saw that Xelloss was observing the necklace he had given her a while ago.

            “I see you still wear it, Lina-san,” he noted cheerily.

            “Un,” she murmured in response, nodding her head ever so slightly. She reached up with her own hand and took the gem from his fingers, lifting it up to where they would both have a better view of it. It looked particularly mesmerizing against a background of fire; the amethyst was well complemented when licked by flames of red.

            Lina sucked in a breath of air as she felt his lips brush against the nape of her neck. Her eyes could have been deceived, but the flames seemed to dance more wildly as he worked his way across her shoulder, stretching the neck of her shirt as he came nearer to the end. She felt his other hand working at the buttons of her silky white pajamas, undoing first the top one, then the second. Her shirt easily slid off her shoulder then, held up only by the curve of her elbow as her skin became exposed to the air.

            He kissed her shoulder blade, nibbling ever so slightly at the little sensitive spot in the center of her back. Lina twitched, dropping her arm as an uncontrollable quake rippled through her body. Her shirt slipped further, but she quickly caught it before she became uncomfortably exposed. He paused, then reached up with his hands to massage her shoulders, loosening her sudden tension there.

            She liked the skilled movements of his fingers, and to encourage him she lifted her hair, twisting it up to get it out of his way. She held it up with her hand for a while before Xelloss stopped his task in order to lower her hand, sweetly planting a kiss on the back of it as her hair unraveled and settled back in place. He smiled. It was like her hair itself was the fire that complemented his crystalline amethyst eyes. Compared to the fire that was burning, her hair ignited a much hotter flame in the core of his being.

            He meticulously parted her hair into two halves, tossing each side over her shoulders to expose the smooth skin on her back. He leaned in, but instead of kissing her sweet skin he left puffs of his breath at spots he passed. He knew the trick was to keep her wanting and expecting more. She’d break much more easily that way.

            The other sleeve suddenly fell off of her left shoulder, and Xelloss sincerely wondered whether it occurred on its own or if Lina had discreetly done it herself. Whatever may have been the case, a large mischievous grin emerged on his face, and he sneaked his arms around her waist.  She jumped a bit, obviously not expecting to find his hands there, and managed to turn her head ever so slightly before he blew a breath of cold air across the back of her neck, making goose bumps rise on her skin.

            “Ah,” she cried ever so slightly in response, a sound that Xelloss found to be particularly cute. He chuckled and rubbed his nose against the side of her neck, then ran his tongue across her bumpy, supple skin. She closed her eyes and leaned against him as his hands gradually climbed upward, molding her skin and coming to a halt just below her breasts. Then, carefully, he slid up and took both into his hands, massaging them gently as he kissed up and down her neck.

            Lina could feel something rising from deep within herself. It was a strange feeling--something that she had never felt before. Was it related to the same beast that surfaced every time they kissed? In a way, it was, but in many other ways it wasn’t. It, too, wanted more, but at the same time, it was not nearly as bold or confident as the other being. This one, instead, felt a little timid.

            He tugged a bit at her shirt, attempting to slip it up over her head, but she resisted, keeping her arms pressed tightly against her sides as a sort of buffer zone. After a while, he lifted the back of her shirt up and kissed down her spinal cord, sending a series of sharp jolts up and down her body. For just a brief second, she let her guard down, and he once again attempted to take her shirt from her.

            “No!”

            She pushed away from him then, putting distance between them. As her eyes fell upon him, her breath caught in her throat. He looked so confused--so lost. Her throat ran dry as she was struck with the realization that she hadn’t meant what she did, but she didn’t know what to do to fix the situation at hand. And that look on his face--it reminded her of the searching look she saw when she first discovered that his master was dead, and she felt distraught to once again find that his eyes did not reflect her in his amethyst depths. He had gone somewhere else--somewhere far away.

            She leaned forward and reached out to touch him, but he immediately flinched and pulled away. “Xelloss,” she whispered, feeling extremely disheartened by what was happening. He turned to look at her then, but the look he gave her was alien to her; the usual gleam in his eyes was missing.

            He quickly pulled on his usual grinning façade. “Hm? What is it, Lina-san?” he asked. When she didn’t respond, he stood up and turned to the window. “Then, please excuse me.”

            She lunged forward and grasped his cape, pressing herself up against his back. For some reason, she felt that if she let him go now, she wouldn’t see him again. When he refused to turn around, she got the sinking feeling that she had been right. Burying her face into his back, she softly whispered, “Stay.”

            Lina took his hesitation as a good sign. Working quickly, she slipped her arms around his abdomen and definitively repeated once more, “Stay.”

            He turned around then with a questioning look on his face. She smiled at him, reassuring him that he could give her his trust, and slowly he began to smile back. Her face turned a bit pink then. Damn it, she cursed, unable to sort out the mess of emotions she was feeling. But if nothing else, she knew that she didn’t want him to leave.

            Though Lina did not quite understand the pushing force behind her actions, she moved forward without paying it too much thought. Capturing his gaze with her own look of ardor, she slipped the glove off his hand and threw it aside as she caressed his soft skin with her own hands. He watched her as she lowered her head and took his index finger into her mouth, sucking on it gently as she ran her tongue along its length. She could feel his breath catch, and with a satisfied grin she licked the tip of his middle finger, enjoying the sweet taste of his skin.

            Xelloss suddenly jerked his hand back and grabbed hers, pulling her forward. With a smirk on his face, he brushed his lips across the center of her palm, pausing to savor the blush and surprise that emerged on her face, then began to suck on a sensitive area in the center of her palm. She couldn’t quite discern whether the feeling was pleasurable or unbearable--it was somewhere in between--and she instinctively took a step back. He followed her closely, the pair behaving as though following the steps of a dance as Lina unintentionally backed herself into a wall. Then he stopped kissing her hand and pressed the back of it against his cheek, opening his eyes to gaze upon her as his breaths became heavier, and the purple depths of his eyes became mysteriously deeper.

            Lina could hardly breathe as he closed in on her, staring her down with an intense look. It was clear from the predatory look in his eyes that something else had taken over, and this was no longer the calm and composed Xelloss she was so accustomed to seeing. Xelloss himself couldn’t clearly understand it--why or when his desire to possess her had gotten so out of hand. He only knew one thing: he had to have her, right now.

            The passionate kiss stole Lina’s breath away, and she had to gasp for air when Xelloss pulled back for a brief break. He kissed her again, aggressively probing his way into her mouth with his tongue, seeking out a mate. Lina slipped a hand around his neck and pulled him closer, returning his passion with her own as they both slipped down the wall, sinking to the ground. At that point in time, she could already feel her body temperature rising in anticipation as he reached around her and up the back of her shirt, tracing a line up her spine and massaging her tender skin along the way with his fingers.

            She gasped again and shifted against his weight, urging him for more. Though he took the process very slowly, his hands eventually found their way back to her breasts. He took caution in feeling them, waiting for a sign of approval before he began to fondle each one tenderly. Then he slowly unfastened one button after another as he kissed his way down the side of her neck to her collarbone, then down the center of her bosom until he came to her exposed breast. He first gingerly kissed the tip of it, raising the level of Lina’s desire by breathing warm air across the surface of her skin. Then he took her breast into his mouth and mouthed it gently as his other hand continued to knead her rosy skin. Lina’s face flushed a warm shade of pink as she enjoyed his sweet pampering. He never once chided her for having small breasts, and she appreciated it more than he would ever know.

            She gasped as he suddenly slid a hand down her pants and rubbed her gently, teasing. Her intake of air was interrupted when he enclosed her lips with his own, unleashing a series of kisses on those plump, red lips. She opened her legs a bit, expecting more to come, but was sorely disappointed when he didn’t deliver. In an act of frustration, she bit his bottom lip, hoping that it would encourage him to continue.

She was right. He obeyed her will and slipped a finger on up inside of her. The feeling was so pleasurable that a shiver shot up through her body, and she slid her fingers through his hair as she moaned against his lips. But again he wouldn’t deliver quite fully, and he rubbed her for only a moment longer before pulling out.

Lina made a slight whining sound, to which he chuckled and playfully kissed her lips. He kissed her again, sweeter this time, then slipped an arm under her legs and carried her over to the bed. As she lay down, a realization suddenly swept through her. Oh shit, I’m really gonna sleep with Xelloss. She paused when he kissed her. Oh, what the hell.

He took her hand and kissed its palm again, sucking on it gently like he had just a bit before. She watched him, mesmerized, as he kissed his way up her arm to her neck. She wrapped her arms around him as he nipped her with his mouth in the same tender spot again and again, then slid his hands up her shirt and pulled it over her head. Then he smiled at her, kissed her on the nose, and pulled her pants down. As he did so, Lina took the liberty of pulling her undergarments off and tossed them aside, adding to the growing pile of clothing on the ground beside her bed. Seeing that she was the only one naked, she reached up to unfasten his cloak for him, then proceeded to pull him down into a feverish kiss. He kissed her back before moving aside to pull off the rest of his clothing as Lina watched him, finally feeling the dreamy, romantic sensation robbing her of her senses.

He returned to her with a fervent kiss, running his hands up and down the sides of her arms, then up her back, down the outsides of her legs, and up the insides of her thighs. He paused there, kneading her supple skin gently, annoying her and arousing her all the same. He cupped her in his hand, and she prepared for insertion, but instead he broke away from the kiss and lowered his head.

She moaned rather loudly as pleasure seared throughout her body in the form of a small spasm. Feeling a bit embarrassed by the extent of her reaction, she covered her mouth with one hand as the other one clung desperately to the bed sheets. But Xelloss was quick to respond, and he pulled her hand away, insisting, “I want to hear you, Lina-san.”

Her face flushed red, but the pleasure far outweighed the shame it was worth. Never would she have imagined that ecstasy felt so good; it was far beyond her wildest expectations. She had waited years to share this sort of moment with someone; someone she never would have speculated to be Xelloss. He rose back up, kissed her on the forehead, then the nose, then the lips. Each one oddly made her turn pinker; he was being so sweet to her, and she suddenly felt shy about it. Then he gently pushed her legs apart, slipped down, and entered her.

Lina felt something between pleasure and pain (or pleasure from pain) as he stretched her for the first time. He started with a slow, steady rhythm, but Lina quickly grew impatient. She turned her head and bit his ear, biting hard enough to cause him some pain, knowing he would respond.

And he did. She felt him shiver, pause, then thrust more aggressively. She cried out--more out of surprise than from pain. She began to pant as he quickened his pace, an irregular breathing pattern that was interrupted only by the occasional moan.

She desperately clung to him as they both approached climax. Hers came out in the form of a sound, and his came soon after. Though he was silent, she could feel a spasm ripple in his shoulders, followed by the appearance of goosebumps on his skin, and that was when she knew that he had come. He paused briefly before pulling out of her, falling to her side as they both fought to catch their breath, deed done.

            He wrapped his arms around her and snuggled up against her body, head resting on her chest like a child. Lina placed a hand gently on his head and ran her fingers through his soft hair, cuddling him gently. His silence bothered her. “Xelloss?”

            “Yes, Lina-san?” he purred.

            “…Nevermind,” she answered, and he resumed being silently content with her tightly wound his arms. The happiness in his voice was somewhat befuddling, but Lina dismissed it from her mind. She closed her eyes. She couldn’t figure out what she was feeling at the time, but she was feeling something, and that bothered her.

            She covered her face with the back of her hand, blotting out the light so that she could get some much-needed sleep. But that wasn’t the only reason for hiding her eyes--she was so close to tears, for she was holding one man while her thoughts were occupied with another.

            She opened her eyes halfway, pondering the ring that remained fastened around her finger until fatigue took a firm hold on her and sent her off into a world of dreams.

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