Never Love Too Hard

Jude - Chapter 1

The sweet wind is blowing through my loose hair, cool against my burning skin. Cardan is seated behind me on the ragwort steed. His warmth presses against my back, and I can feel his wildly joyful smile directed at my tousled head. The twilight sky and forest trees equally blur past, the sound of summer-night cicadas like a chorus of small violins. 

"Jude," is the only thing Cardan says, as if savoring the taste of my name on his tongue. The wind stops whizzing past, and for a second, it feels like the world is still shooting by. Cardan jumps off the horse, offering me his hand with a mocking bow. His rakishly beautiful face glances up at me, lips pursed into a smirk. I roll my eyes at him, taking his hand with the joking politeness of one of the noble ladies constantly battling for his attention. Dismounting the ragwort horse, it crumbles, disappearing like sugar in a cup of hot tea. Cardan folds my hand into his, leading me to somewhere, it seems.

"Cardan, where are we going?" I ask, turning to look at him. 

"You'll see, you'll see." I follow after him into the forest, going deeper and deeper. Minutes later, a clearing seems to materialize in front of my eyes. A crystalline pond, surrounded by enormously tall trees, willows whispering over the edges. The pond from years ago. I glance at Cardan, my suspicions confirmed with the softness in his eyes. "You remember this place?" he asks.

"Of course I do. You pushed me into this very pond. How could I forget it? But-" Cardan doesn't even let me finish.

"That was when-when I felt that spark of love enter me. As you hauled yourself back onto shore, proud and unforgiving, chin held high, toting Taryn behind you." 

"You fell in love of me because I was wet and dirty?" I prodded him with my finger.

"To be fair, you looked quite nice with algae in your hair," he added. The same hair that he was fingering now, the dark brown strands struggling to stay in the neat plait I had braided hours earlier.  He motioned to the glistening, moonlit water. "You gonna get in?" His fingers were deftly unbuttoning his fine shirt. I tilted my head at him, a feline movement.

"What else would I be doing?" I threw my light dress over my head, soaking in Cardan's raw gaze against my naked body. I shook my hair from it's bindings. The small scrap of leather fluttered to the ground. I waded into the water, crisp and cool. Cardan was already in the water, black hair dripping with enchanted mist, golden eyes glowing like the the full moon above us. But, at the last moment, my rationality returned to me. "Uhm- Cardan? Aren't there nixies in this pond?" I asked, backing out of the water as quickly as possible. From the shore, little lights, eyes, started blinking on in the water. Cardan threw his head back, and laughed, the genuine sound echoing through the clearing. The little lantern eyes blinked simultaneously. "Cardan!" I protested, crossing my arms over my bare chest.

"Relax, Jude. They won't hurt you. I recall telling you that sometime before," he said, still laughing. I rolled my eyes, swimming silently across the sea of lights. I splashed him, just as he doubled over, still laughing. Chuckles quickly turned to sputters.

"You don't have to laugh that hard, you know. That was years ago," I pouted. Cardan just wiped the water from his face, taking me in his arms. I could still feel him smirking behind me. My feet floated in the bottomless water, so clear, but with no current speeding it along. It was more like a mirror, reflecting every shooting star of the sky. I laid my head back onto Cardan's shoulder. His red-hot lips brushed against the nape of my neck, sending lightning down to my toes. I made a low noise down in my throat, unintentionally arching slightly into his touch. His lips didn't leave my body, sending trails of electricity down my arms, down my spine.

"You like that, don't you, Jude," he murmured, voice unbearably full of sensual promise. My only answer was a hand on his hard cock. "Shit-Jude-"I laughed, stroking the velvet-soft skin. His breathing turned into shallow pants as I caressed him, fingernails grazing the tip. "Ah-ah-Jude-Jude...Jude!" Cardan repeated my name over and over. His hand reached into my hair, bringing my lips to his. Lips parting, I ran my tongue across his teeth, tasting him. I could still feel his tongue forming my name, under mine, and I almost climaxed at the thought. His other hand circled the burning-hot place between my legs, plunging a finger into the wetness. My fingers scrabbled for purchase, digging into Cardan's muscled back. His fingers circled again, this time taunting as my body and mind screamed for pleasure. 

"Cardan!" I almost scream-pleaded, begging for the feeling of him filling the emptiness between my legs. His hand grazed over my opening one more time, swiftly plunging in two fingers this time. But that wasn't enough. "I need-need-" I panted, my mind shattered. He smiled, showing sharp teeth. His hand cupped my breast, biting down as it spilled down the sides of his long-fingered hand. Cardan sheathed himself inside me as he squeezed my aching breast, sucking on the nipple. I tightened on him as he slid out, pushing back in to the hilt, so hard that it hit that spot inside me. My inner muscles tightened as he did so, the pleasure showering down in starbursts of burning fire as I screamed, the sound echoing off the empty forest. Cardan roared, holding himself inside me. I flopped onto his chest, utterly spent. 

"Jude-" was all Cardan said, as I felt him spilling inside of me. Bliss was the only thing on my mind. Not only from the sex, but from being with the person who loved me most, his seed spilling into me.