Forest of Dreams

Chapter thirteen

I woke with him behind me. His arm was wrapped around me, pressing his chest against my back. I looked back over my shoulder as I stretched out.

'Morning,' he said with a lazy smile and half closed eyes.

'Morning,' I replied, easing out of his hold so that I was lying on my back, looking up at him. He propped himself up on his elbow, his curls falling into his face. I reached up and pushed them back, out of his eyes.

'Kiss me,' I demanded. He leaned in and kissed my left cheek, then my right.

'No, kiss me properly,' I giggled, putting my fingers through his hair to manoeuvre his head and guide his mouth to mine.

'You didn't say where you wanted me to kiss you,' he teased, avoiding my mouth.

'I want you to kiss me on my lips.'

'I'm going to kiss every part of you. Your lips will have to wait their turn.' He kissed his way from my chin down to my neck. I tilted my head back inviting him to carry on as he lapped at the sensitive skin there. He dragged his lips across my skin down to my breasts, kissing them and caressing them both firmly with his hands. I writhed on the bed beneath him.

'Do you like being kissed here?' He asked. His voice was muffled as he didn't lift his mouth of my skin.

I moaned.

'You didn't answer,' he said as he licked and sucked my nipples.

'Yes,' I breathed, 'keep going, please.'

He moved down my stomach, kissing a line down from my chest to my belly button. He stopped there and glanced up at me, seeking my approval, then moved lower. He spread my thighs apart gently and ran his tongue between them. I moaned his name loudly as he focussed on my sensitive spot. He pulled my legs over his shoulders and put his hands on my hips, holding me in place while I arched my back and twisted the sheets in ecstasy. It didn't take long for me to scream his name. He moved back to my face then, kissing me on my lips, finally.

'Can I?' he asked, pulling back to look at me.

'Yes,' I said, breathlessly, still on the blissful fringe of my climax. He was inside me almost immediately, watching my face attentively. Then he moved slowly and forcefully, picking up the pace and groaning loudly into my neck. Feeling his warm breath on my skin and hearing his laboured breathing was sending me over the edge again. I gripped the back of his shoulders and panted his name repeatedly until I climaxed again with him.

___

I waited for Ayol at the fountain where he'd left me. We'd been to an apothecary to buy sorraweed, drinking the tea of it prevented pregnancy and I'd insisted we go to get some before doing anything else. He'd accompanied me inside then we'd wandered down the street to a circular junction where seven streets met. In the middle was a fountain, an effigy of Androveda, the God of Conquests. I waited there for him while he went to buy food for a picnic. I wanted to look at the elegant but crumbling fountain before he took me wherever we were going, he'd told me it was a surprise. I was admiring the back of it when I heard someone call my name. A female voice. I looked around, confused, but couldn't see anyone. I heard it again, louder this time. I followed the sound of it, heading down the street I thought it was coming from. I heard it a third time, luring me closer. There was an old woman, sitting on a step in front of a doorway ahead of me. It didn't seem like the clear, dulcet voice could be coming from her but there was no-one else around. I continued towards her. She turned and looked straight at me. I stopped in my tracks. She was blind. Her eyes had no pupils, they were just two balls of solid pale grey.

'Odella.' She said it sharply. She looked like a frail old woman but there was power in her voice.

I stayed frozen on the spot.