Dark Eros

7

Eyes of blue stared at her in the mounting darkness, hunger in them, sadness in them. What was she to do? How was she to appease this beast?

He was a great lion and she was merely a gazelle. He was stalking her in the tall grass, crouching on his mighty hinges, his claws extended, his teeth bared. She sensed him, peered through the tall greenery for him but saw nothing, confusion clouding her senses. Was there nothing there? Was she merely guessing at nothing? Being deceived by her own fear and paranoia?

Then she heard a growl, the sound of crunching grass growing near. But she could not run, it was too late, she was pounced on. And then she screamed, her cries ignored, for she was the prey of a predator, a meal for a starving creature.

She awoke in a sweat, her breast rising and falling rapidly. Her eyes widened as she looked around her, realizing that her surroundings were not familiar, panic rose in her chest like bile. The feel of skin brushing along her own knocked her back down to earth and she tensed, turning to stare openly at Fumnaya. He slept peacefully beside her, one of his muscular arms thrown over her waist, holding her close to his naked chest.

There was an innocence to his sleeping form. His lips were parted slightly, his breathing even. His lashes fluttered calmly with every deep breath. Even his smooth dark brown skin had a different kind of solace to its glow.

As she watched him she could not help but wonder if he would be her demise. She had had many dreams before, many that lamented about the future to come but none as mind boggling as the one's that pertained to this man. She could not decipher them. She could not comprehend them. Each dream left her more confused than the last.

His eyes, the sadness there. The void growing there. How was she to fix it? How was she to fill it, to wipe away such building sadness with happiness? She had not the slightest answer or clue.

He shifted in his slumber, his hold on her tightening, as if even in his dreams he were claiming her. Her heart began to pound once more in her chest when her mind exploded with images of the night. He had taken her over and over, until she had fallen asleep from pure exhaustion. He had been dominating in his need for bodily pleasure, trying to bend her to his will through his touch.

And she had submitted, she shuddered at the memory. Her body had betrayed her, her mind had gone blank under his ministrations. She could not deny him. And the very truth of that frightened her more than anything. To be taken over by such carnal, animalistic lust was nothing short of terrifying. His need was so consuming, so never ending...

How could she not fear him for it?

How could anyone endure it?

She shook off her thoughts deciding to move from his embrace. She searched the disarray of blankets for her dress, finding it bunched up in a pile no longer on the bed. She slowly grabbed for his arm, lifting it as much as she could. With much effort she twisted out of his hold, rolling away. But her actions did nothing but wake him from his slumber.

He stayed silent, choosing to watch what she did instead. She crawled as far from him as she could before reaching for her dress. The thought of her hiding her body had him reacting. He sat up, reaching an arm out to stop her. She jumped at him touch, jerking to look at him with wide eyes. She fell back onto her bottom, leaning on her hands for support.

He noticed the immediate fear in her eyes and frowned his displeasure. "I have told you, and I do not like to repeat myself. You need not fear me."

"But I can not help my fear." She whispered, still gazing upon him wide eyed.

His frown only grew. "What have you to fear? Have I shown you my hand? Do I threaten you?"

Her chest began to rise rapidly and she moved back an inch before she could stop herself. He reached out and grabbed her by the ankle, pulling her toward him. She shrieked, finding herself once more privy to his demands. Once he had her near him he took hold of her upper arm and yank her against his chest.

"Answer me."

She was much too busy staring into his eyes, lost, virtually lost in their conflicted depths. And there she saw what had plagued her dreams. A sensual, erotic, almost tangible melancholy met her with cold hands, and a tight clutch. She tensed, turning away, trying to pry his large hand from her arm. "You." She said with a trembling voice.

"I fear you. I fear what you feel, the enormity of your passion. I fear your need of me for I do not know how to appease you, how to soothe the beast in you!"

She became frantic in her words, earnestly trying to pull away from him. He grew frustrated and took hold of her other arm, pulling back against him, shaking her in his haste. "Are you a fool to passion, Ife? To lust? Have you really never known desire?"

"I was not raised to dwell on such things. I was not bred to fall victim to such fervency..."

"You deny yourself." He stated as if a fact.

"I do not!"

"You do and you think I am crazed because I embrace it. Because I am not a coward to it."

She grit her teeth, trying once more to pull herself from his hold. "Are you not crazed with your lust?"

He yanked her closer still, wrapping his arms around her. "Perhaps I am crazed for you. I will not deny the pleasure I find in you, with you and when I gaze upon you. But I am first a man, a man who has found nothing but idleness with life. The world is seemingly in my hands, I want for nothing, do not ask anything but still I find no satisfaction in it."

She stayed silent.

"Who would I be if not who I really am? A man who denies himself nothing. It is not often that I feel such urgent, exigent need for something...someone. I crave you, Ife."

"I had no wish to be claimed! I had no wish to be embraced!"

"I am a prince, one day to be a king. You should be pleased with my want for you."

"You will destroy me with the strength of your feelings! I will burn underneath your sentiment! I do not care what you are! I have known what I was meant for all my life, that I must use my gift to heal, to aid but I do not know how to aid you! I do not know how to please you!"

He hugged her tighter, one of his hands smoothing along her skin, wrapping around the back of her neck. He leaned toward her, his lips hovering over hers. "You please me. You need not guess. If you are to turn to ash beneath my passion then so you must."

The gleam in his eyes suddenly returned and shook her head, her fists pounding at his bare chest. "I will not be held again!"

But it was too late, his kiss had already begun, and it was more volatile, more explosive than the last.