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Drizzt gazed out at the open tundra stretching before Kelvin's Cairn, standing high above Bruenor's old home in Icewind Dale. He had battled monsters few would have dared even cross paths with and survived. His time in the Underdark wilderness, his strife with his own people, the drow, the adventures he and his friends had participated in... none of it struck as much pain and terror in his heart as what he felt he must do now.
He had barely returned with Catti-Brie from their adventures on the Sword Coast, had reunited his friend Wulfgar with her, then watched the young man march away, out of their lives and now... Now he felt he too must leave again. Bitterly, he realized this had begun long before their arrival back in the place he had dared call home, long before Jarlaxle had managed to steal Crenshinbon from them and allowed them to free his young barbarian friend.
After the incident with the sentient sword Khad'zhea in Mithril Hall, he and Catti-Brie had come to an understanding of a sort. Both had declared their feelings, but had agreed in light of the impending drow attack on the dwarven city such things must be set aside. They weathered the storm, losing friends and loved ones in the process and yet... And yet, they had called themselves victorious. In some ways, Drizzt supposed he and Catti-Brie should have stayed in Mithril Hall, helping those remaining to rebuild again, but the urge to seek their own ways in the world had proved stronger.
And yet... Berkthgar, Wulfgar's successor had initially pressed his suit once Catti-Brie had bested him. She had told the leader her heart still wasn't healed enough to make such a decision. Glad she had rejected the other man at first, Drizzt began to fear his own presence held her back from seeking a life companion. Since Wulfgar's loss and subsequent return, they'd all suffered, but Bruenor and Catti-Brie had seemed most affected. Drizzt held his own grief for his fallen and soul-lost friend deep inside, forcing himself to remain strong for the others.
In the struggle to survive the vicious attack from Menzobarranzen and the following journey to see the crystal shard destroyed, their sorrow for Wulfgar's apparent death had been pushed aside. Drizzt stared out sightlessly at the sere landscape below him, spirals of smoke curling in the distance over Ten Towns and wondered how Berkthgar would have fared with his wooing if Catti-Brie had not gone wayfaring.
The thought of her wedding such a blockhead pierced him, as did the thought of her with anyone, except perhaps Wulfgar. Such contemplations made him want to howl to the dusk sky how unfair it was for him... an unloved... no, that wasn't fair either, for he knew he was loved, just not in the manner he craved. For Regis, Bruenor, and yes, even Catti-Brie cared for him, had offered him a place at their sides as a dear friend.
The dark elf thought of others who had opened their hearts to him. Lady Alustriel of Silverywood, kind and wise, had hinted of feelings for him that went beyond simple (and not so simple) friendship and as grateful for those tender emotions Drizzt might be, he could not help the love he felt for the very human Catti-Brie. And because of that love, he knew he must leave the warmth and light of Icewind Dale.
But where to go? Where could a renegade dark elf seek sanctuary that he wouldn't be reviled, refused at the very best, attacked at the worst? He sighed and sank onto the stones, still warm from the summer sun, and contemplated the bleak future. Montolio had told him he needed to follow his heart. How Drizzt wished he could. For if he did he would press his own case with Bruenor's daughter, praying she might find him worthy of sharing her life with him. Too short, much too short. It still pained him to think of her growing old, but he had realized he wanted what little time she had to be with him.
He shook his head with self-derisive snort. Now who was being selfish? He had nothing to offer her but himself and his scimitars. The first had scant value on the surface or in the Underdark and the second she had only minimal need of since she had mastered 'Cutter' so well. Aching loneliness threatened to overwhelm him. A long and empty life seemed to extend before him. The time to leave had come and still he felt reluctant to go. Perhaps only the farewells held him back. He ground his teeth and scowled. If those good-byes proved so uncomfortable it might be best to just sneak away in the night, foregoing the wrenching of saying those final words.
His sensitive ears picked up the faint sound of footfalls, so quiet he knew only one human walked thusly. With an effort, he pulled himself straight and turned to greet the object of his miserable musings.
"Well met. The evening's beautiful, is it not?" He indicated the sky, darkening to indigo and sprinkled with points of silvery light.
"Aye, tis that, Drizzt," Catti-Brie agreed, cocking her head to give him a quizzical look. "What troubles ye, my friend?"
She came to stand beside him, tucking an arm into his and pressing close, her face turned to his with concern written plainly on her lovely features. Pretending was never an option with Catti-Brie, for she seemed to read him like an open book, no matter how he tried to hide from her... or himself.
"Thinking of moving on. Though it saddens my heart, perhaps it's best I seek another place to lay my head." He patted her hand, relishing the warmth of it as it lay on his skin.
The sparkle left her eyes and she seemed to shrink against him for a moment before she responded. "I... I was thinkin' ye'd found yer home here. But I guess there's too many sad memories here fer ye to stay."
"No, no, that's not why, Catti-Brie. It's just..." He paused, not knowing how to tell a lie without lying. "I have to go. You know I have traveled so much in my life it doesn't seem right somehow to settle in one place too long." With a shrug, he tried to smile and failed miserably.
Catti-Brie's eyes narrowed as she studied his face and he found himself unable to meet her look. His arm grew cold where her hand had rested, far too briefly.
"Then I'm supposin' tis me that's drivin' ye away," she told him, her voice tight.
Drizzt didn't like the sound of it or the rigid way she held herself, as if she had become brittle and ready to break. "Now, Catti-Brie, that's not the truth of it--"
"Oh, no? Don't ye think I'm knowing ye've been lookin' for a home since ye came to the surface? That Alustriel's offered Silverymoon to ye and ye didn't take her up on the offer." Her arms hugged her body, though the air still held some warmth. "Bruenor's said ye've always a place here and... and..." She shuddered and turned away, her voice thick with tears. "Regis tol' me ye'd planned on bein' here for a long time. At least 'til I'm gone. So I figger if ye've changed yer mind it's gotta be me that's done it."
Her melancholy mood worried him. Only after Wulfgar's apparent death had she seemed so fragile and then he'd felt certain she would not break, that she would move on and hold the inner strength she had in abundance. Indeed, she proven stronger than the doughty dwarven king, her adopted father, Bruenor, following Drizzt into the drow stronghold of Menzobarranzen when he'd foolishly thought to single handedly stop the drow from attacking Mithril Hall. But now... Now she seemed more vulnerable since the man she loved had once more turned away, seeking his inner peace.
"I'll return if I can, Catti-Brie. You know I will," he reassured her.
She didn't reply, refused to look at him and it hurt deeply that he could cause her such distress. Against his better judgement, he moved closer, coming to stand directly behind her until he could feel the warmth of her body on his own.
"Why're ye doin' this, Drizzt? We need ye... I need ye," she choked out, then furiously dashed something from her face.
He took her shoulders, gently turning her to face him, then brushed the lingering traces of wetness from her cheeks. She caught his hand, her own fingers curling about his to hold it in place as she brought the palm to her mouth. The unexpected move gave the dark elf pause. Especially when her lips lingered on the sensitive flesh for few moments. An involuntary shudder passed through him and he closed his eyes to shut out the sight of her lovely face.
"Does the sight of me face trouble ye so? Is that why ye must leave?" she whispered, releasing his hand as if it burned her.
"No! To me you are lovelier than even the fair lady of Silverymoon... You're my Catti-Brie, the friend who championed me in Icewind Dale when none would. We've shared so much. How could you think such a thing?" He pulled on his calm, forcing himself to bank the fires that burned in his heart and his body. "I told you I love you. Nothing has changed."
"Nothing?" Her lips thinned as she eyed him and he could almost see the wheels turning in her mind. "Then perhaps the time's still not aright for us."
She made as if to move past him, but he couldn't let her go this way, angry, hurting and certainly believing he would flee because of her. True it might be, but he hated allowing her to think she'd driven him away. He stepped to block her, forcing her to twist and turn until she made a frustrated sound and stood there, tapping her foot in aggravation.
"Move aside, Drizzt or methinks I'll do somethin' I'll regret," she growled.
He held his hand out with a shrug. "I'll not let you go like this, Catti-Brie. We've much to speak of, but this is not the place, nor the time."
"Then let me go," she hissed.
With a glance at the now star laden sky, Drizzt closed the distance between them. "Not yet. I've something to give you before you go back inside."
Her eyebrows rose as if to say, 'And what would you give me here?' A look of interest replaced the aggrieved one for whenever he'd given her anything the gift usually not only held magic, but emotion as well. Only this time, what he had to give was nothing material.
Before he could change his mind, remind himself how foolish and foolhardy such an action would most likely prove, he pulled her into his arms and pressed his lips to hers. Not the first kiss he'd taken, but the first she would remember. He waited for her to push away, to protest, to stiffen, to show any sign of her distaste for his touch. Instead, she returned his embrace, pressing closer against him than when the sword had taken possession of her. But this time 'Cutter' did not hang at her side and only Catti-Brie responded to him.
He shivered with need, a need strong enough to rival the one he'd felt when he'd decided to leave Menzobarranzen and the Underdark for the surface. The need that had driven him to seek a place he could call home where his ideals of right and wrong would be understood and he could live by his code of honor without fearing for his life every day. All this and more Catti-Brie embodied. Though he would outlive her several times over, he knew he'd found his soul mate, the one who understood him and all his troubles.
It took all his strength to break the kiss, to hold her closely and feel her so near and yet so far away. Neither spoke, just clung to each other as if in terrible fear that when they let go the other would disappear. He felt her hands stroking his back, his neck and tangling in his hair.
Her locks brushed his arms and hands, sensitizing them until he wanted to scream with the need to... To what? His dearest Catti-Brie deserved so much more than a quick tumble in the dirt here outside her home. Wulfgar had promised to marry her, had sacrificed himself to the Abyss saving not only her life, but also those of his friends. She needed the security of marriage with the freedom to be the strong woman she had become.
The young barbarian had barely touched her except for a few stolen embraces, the last ending in disaster. This much Drizzt felt certain of and regretted the outcome... Wulfgar's departure, leaving a hurting Catti-Brie behind. As for Drizzt's own experience... He sighed, realizing that despite his longer life, he had no other actual knowledge of lovemaking than the twisted version of it he'd observed in Menzobarrazen.
"Drizzt?" Catti-Brie's muffled voice questioned him and when she pulled away a bit, he let her loose, not even allowing his hands to linger on the swells of her hips. Her deep blue eyes held a troubled look, her lips appeared fuller, both he suspected, a result of the kiss.
"I... I'm sorry, Catti-Brie," he managed.
"Sorry for the kiss? Did I do it so badly then?" she demanded.
He groaned and raked a hand through his hair. "I'm no good at this, dearest. It's not you, but I that have the trouble."
She cocked her head again, giving him a puzzled look. "But I kissed ye back. Tis not as though I didn't want it." Her face reddened, but she continued to search his face. "Were ye thinkin' something like the last time happened?"
With a vigorous shake of his head, he struggled to find the right words. But nothing came. Nothing that would ease his heart or his mind. He'd been a fool. Raising her hopes.
"It can't be, dearest Catti-Brie. Neither Bruenor nor any of those in your clan or Ten Towns would stand for this. I would have you to wife if it were possible, but--"
"What?" she nearly shouted. "Would ya be puttin' me father and our friends in the same boat with the fools in Nesme? After all ye've done for 'em?"
Fires of outrage lit her eyes and Drizzt could only smile at her defense of both himself and those they both loved. Still, it would not serve either of them well if he followed his heart in this. So he reached out to her once again, taking her face between his hands, the fairness of her skin contrasting starkly with his own ebony flesh.
"You know it's not that. If we were to wed, then many would not ally with Bruenor. I would be selfish to take you to wife for it would only end up hurting you and your father terribly," he admitted, his hands dropping away from her.
Catti-Brie's eyes glittered in the faint starlight. "What of me? What about me own wants Drizzt Do' Urden? Already there's been a man I loved taken from me, not once, but twice. Will another leave fer his noble reasons?" Her fingers came up to graze his lips, taking his breath away. "I love ye, ye durned fool. And so does me father and if yer thinkin' Wulfgar'd object, ya got it all wrong. Sure'n he got all jealous before the Abyss, but he'd sooner see ye have me than that meathead Berkthgar or any other in Ten Towns."
She chuckled at the thought of the blustering barbarian chieftain and his reaction to her refusal. Her mirth lasted only a short moment, then she grew serious again. "Don't leave me, Drizzt. And if ye won't do it for me, then do it for me father and the others. We all need ye here, not galavantin' 'round the world, trying ta save it and getting' yerself inta heaps of trouble. 'Sides," she told him. "Where else ye gonna find a place like this? A place that'll accept ye fer who ye are and not what ye are."
Her words weighed heavily on him as they often did. He'd never been able to fool her, to hide himself from her. Always, she could see deeply into his soul, to the things he tried to keep from the world and from himself. How could he bear to leave her? Yet, how could he bear to watch her grow old and die? So he tried to push it aside, praying somehow he would make the right decision.
"Come," he urged her, turning back toward the cave's entrance. "The night air has grown chill and the others will wonder at our absence."
For a moment he thought Catti-Brie would object, but in a few breaths she joined him and together they entered the light and warmth of Bruenor's hall. As Drizzt followed her through the winding passageways, he knew he must go soon or he would never leave. As she frequently did, Catti-Brie seemed to sense his distress yet once again and pulled him into one of the darkened niches carved into the rough stone.
He could have pushed her away, but he had no desire to hurt her... physically or emotionally. So he remained pressed against the wall as she leaned into him, her gaze peering into his soul as if she would join it if she could. They remained so for a long moment until the sound of footsteps forced her away. With a disgusted sound, the young woman flung away and stomped off toward her quarters.
The dark elf battled his desire to follow her, to comfort her and reassure her he would indeed see her again. But he knew better than to heed that call. Instead, he made his way to the dining hall and immersed himself in food and drink and the companionship of his other friends. Of Wulfgar's abrupt departure, Drizzt could only wonder that the man had yet again broken so many hearts. Perhaps one day he might return, once he had put to rest the demons he carried with him. Until then, Drizzt felt it best he moved on and put temptation far beyond his reach.
That night he began packing, ready to leave well before the dawn. The halls resounded with the sound of snoring dwarves and he began to wonder if he alone remained awake. He picked up the figure of his feline friend and contemplated calling her to the Material Plane for the sole reason that he needed company before his departure. At last, he decided to let Guenhwyvar remain in her world, pushed the smooth carving into his pack and lay back for a few hours of rest.
Much later that night he awoke to the nearly noiseless squeak of his door opening and lay still, his hands gripping his weapons. A stealthy tread on the stone floor assured him no dwarf approached, yet the very fact he heard it assured him none of his dark brethren had come for him. He shifted his eyes to the infravision spectrum and relaxed his fingers from his scimitars.
Some imp of mischief prompted him to close his eyes, turn his head away and pretend sleep. Soft breath and the touch of gentle lips on his cheek made it nearly impossible to maintain that pretense. When those very lips lingered there, then moved to his mouth he could not bite back the gasp. She stood abruptly and in his enhanced vision he could see the telltale heat of her embarrassment.
"Tis not the sword this time, Drizzt. I'll not let you go without... without giving you this." In the dim light he could see her determined expression.
"Catti-Brie--"
Her fingers pressed against his lips, stopping any protest. "No. I've lied. Tis not just for you, but fer meself as well." She knelt beside his bed, laying her head on his chest. "I've wanted this fer nearly as long as I can remember knowin' ye. Even when I was too young to really understand how you made me feel."
She heaved a great sigh and then continued. "Yer like a part of me. Like a bit o' me soul that's refused ta stay inside me." Her voice lowered until he could barely hear her, even with his acute ears. "I want ya ta love me, Drizzt Do' Urden and I'm not meanin' in just the spiritual, honorable sense ya always insist on."
He wrestled with his baser instincts, his heart pounding. Much as he tried, his body responded to her words as much as his soul responded to her call. Warmth, kindness, intuition, wisdom beyond her years, insight into the spirits of those around her, all this and more made up his dear Catti-Brie. And here she knelt, offering herself to him without thought of the repercussions possible.
"Catti-Brie, I... This is not wise. For one so discerning as yourself, can you not see the consequences if we allow this to happen?"
"Then yer refusin' me?" she ground out, her voice thick with the tears glimmering in her eyes.
"No," he protested against his better judgement. "Just making certain you understand what this could mean for us both."
"Oh, shut up, ye gabby thing and kiss me," she muttered and launched herself onto the bed beside him.
He caught her in his arms, then set aside his weapons on the rack above his bed. Her sweet weight pressed against him, making him tingle and throb with such intensity as he'd never known before. He turned to face her, settling into her warmth with the determination to treat her as she deserved. The feel of Drizzt enfolding her in his arms gave Catti-Brie no little food for thought. The times Wulfgar and she had experimented had been short and tinged with impatience as he insisted they wait for their wedding to finish what they'd begun. Those episodes had left both aching and unfulfilled, though technically neither remained virgin.
Despite her initial joy at his return, his tormented soul had not allowed her to approach closer than an occasional touch of his face or hand before he retreated into the horror he'd lived through all those years. Until she had offered herself in the hopes of burying that very torment. Instead of helping, she knew it had pushed him further away.
They'd had made love, or at least had started to, and she'd believed that perhaps he might allow her back into his life. But as he neared completion, Wulfgar's memories had painted her face with something from the past and made him strike out. Before he'd gone this time he'd not said a word and she wasn't so certain she could ever take him back, not still tortured with memories of the Abyss and its minions.
Truly, she had felt as though he'd wrenched her heart from her breast, though a part of her understood why he must seek his way alone. Oddly enough, she had let him go without the thought of following him on his quest. The memories of her trek to the Underdark to stand beside her friend, her dearest Drizzt pushed into her mind and she could not deny that even then she held him close to her heart. Oh, it wasn't as if she didn't love Wulfgar, even Drizzt and her father cared for the barbarian. And if he'd stayed and tried to make a go of it, she'd have given it her all to make it work.
But he hadn't and a tiny part of her felt glad. Felt relieved that she wouldn't have to choose, wouldn't have to pretend only friendship with the person who had meant so much to her for so long. His warm breath puffed on her face as he remained silent. Was he waiting for her to make the first move? How silly, since she'd practically thrown herself at him. She chanced a glance into his eyes and caught her breath at the fires in his lavender eyes. Any doubts as to his wanting her fled at the heat there.
With her breasts pressed against his chest, her hips cradled in his, he could not claim she did not affect him. From those few times she and Wulfgar had lain close like this she recognized what she felt stirring against her. A liquid heat pooled between her legs and instinct bade her move closer to what would relieve the ache. She opened them, drawing one over his thigh to put that needy part nearer him.
"By all that's holy, Catti-Brie, if you don't' stop... I won't be able to," he managed, his hips shifting against hers.
"Mmmm... don't' want ta stop. Feels good Too many clothes," she managed, trying to wriggle out of her own, then turning to his.
Her fingers fumbled with the belt and breeches he wore, trembling with nervousness and desire all rolled into one. Gently, he laid his hands over hers to still them, then bracketed her face.
"Slowly, love," he cautioned her with a tiny, rueful smile and began to untie her nightgown's laces.
He pushed the thin material from her shoulders, then gazed on her freed breasts before he put his mouth on the tender skin above her nipples.
"So lovely," he murmured, then took the puckered skin between his lips, grazing the sensitive flesh with his tongue and teeth.
Catti-Brie moaned and thrashed about, wanting desperately to touch him in return. Her hand sought and found what she looked for. Beneath his open breeches, engorged, hot flesh met her fingers and jumped at her touch.
"Gods!" he cried in a strangled voice.
She released him at once, fearing she had hurt him. "I... I'm sorry," she began.
"Don't apologize, love. It's just..." He paused and even in the near dark she could sense his discomfort. "I've never done this before."
Catti-Brie couldn't help the grin that spread over her face. "I'm not so far behind ya in that. We'll learn together. Let me touch ye. Let me do to ye what ye've done to meself."
He nodded, then lay back to allow her to explore his body. She turned away for a moment, finding a candle and flint to make enough light for her to see. At the flare of the flame, Drizzt made a pained sound and she glanced over her shoulder to see him with an arm flung across his eyes...
"Please, warn me before you do that. I'd been using my night vision," he explained as he squinted against the sudden light until he could adjust to it.
"Sorry. Just wantin' ta see all 'a ye. After all, ye have an advantage I don't lessen I'm wearin' me amulet," she told him before she turned back to face him completely.
The sight before her nearly took her breath away. She'd seen him with his shirt off before and had admired the compact muscles of his torso, so different from Wulfgar's heavy ones. Now she allowed her eyes to drift down his abdomen to the open trousers. Ebony skin against ebony skin, his male member lay on the thick bush of white hair. It throbbed with his heartbeat, a tiny drop of moisture glistening at its tip.
"Do I frighten you?" he asked at her continued silence.
She shook her head, beyond words and moved closer, dipping her head to press a kiss on the swollen head. Somehow it reminded her of a mushroom with a thick stalk. Silly, she thought. Would it fit? Would it hurt as much as the first time? If she'd been thinking right she'd have asked Strumpet about it, but then again, the dwarven cleric might have required answers to some uncomfortable questions.
At the touch of her lips on it, Drizzt stiffened but made no protest. Curious, Catti-Brie opened her mouth and took the head between her lips. His hips moved, sliding it deeper then back out again. She ran her tongue around the place where the head and the shaft met and he rewarded her with a groan and clutched the bedsheets.
His excitement built hers as well. Each sound of pleasure he made, each involuntary shudder and movement of his hips increased the wetness and ache between her own legs. She wanted him, wanted that part of Drizzt she labored over at the moment to fill her. With a final lick, she rose and moved between his legs to observe him and contemplate her next move.
He looked as if he'd fought a hard battle. A fine sheen of sweat beaded on his body, his eyes squeezed shut with a look of concentration she seen rarely, even when he'd fought, his breathing came labored as he strained toward her.
She reached down to pull her gown over her head, tossing it into a corner, then went for his breeches, working them over his narrow hips. Once off, the trousers joined her nightgown and Catti-Brie decided she'd waited long enough for the feel of his flesh... all of it... against hers.
Beginning with his feet, she ran her hands over his legs, up his thighs, massaging and circling the sac and the shaft on her journey of exploration. His skin twitched and contracted with the caress and his back arched as she slid up his body to lay atop him.
That part of her that begged for fulfillment lay in direct contact with his swollen manhood, pressing against it until the sweet ache threatened to overwhelm her. Still, he allowed her to set the pace. He opened his eyes, gazing at her with such passion she knew she had breached all his defenses.
"I want you, Catti-Brie. Are still certain this is what you want?" he asked, his melodious voice filled with need and yet with caring for her.
"Aye, Drizzt, tis what I've been wantin' for so long. Love me... now, please," she begged him.
Some deep instinct bade her sit back on him, feel the tip of him press against her most intimate part. And her flesh began to yield, little by little. As he moved against her, his flesh slid more deeply into her until he met resistance.
"Oh!" she gasped, then slapped a hand over her mouth in fear he'd stop and he justified those fears.
Immediately, he stopped and pulled her off of him.
"I've injured you," he muttered, a shamed look on his face.
"No, tis not pain I felt, just... Just a fullness. It's been months since... since..." She faltered to a stop, remembering the last time she had allowed herself this. "Please, love don't stop now," she asked, willing to take a bit of pain with her pleasure.
"Only a brute would hurt you, Catti-Brie. I... I know enough that it shouldn't hurt."
She huffed for a moment, wracking her brain for an argument he'd accept. A sigh gusted from her. "Well, yer knowin' I'm no longer a virgin. Maybe it's supposed ta be a bit uncomfortable after a long time and then go away after that. 'Sides, twasn't all that bad. I just wasn't expectin' the way ya feel inside me."
He didn't say anything and she knew he wasn't convinced. Well, she wasn't about ready to let it end like this. She curled against him, pressing soft kisses against his neck and jaw while snuggling into his side, her leg thrown across his thighs. The stretching sensation had gone with his withdrawal, but the ache had returned and she desperately wanted him to finish what he'd begun.
Her persistence paid off. First, he turned his face to her, allowing her to kiss him and then he began returning it, his hands then seeking her waist, pulling her closer, rocking her body against his. His hips began to strain against hers until he pulled her under him and settled between her legs. He kissed her lips, her neck, her breasts, then moved down to her belly. Chills and fire trailed wherever he went, his tongue working magic on its way. Then, he returned the favor she'd given him earlier, tasting her as if she were a feast.
His mouth found the sensitive spot and gently suckled and tongued it until she nearly cried out, making little noises of need that seemed to drive him on. She moved her hips against the pressure of his mouth until that no longer sufficed.
"Ay, Drizzt, yer makin' me mad. I need ye and ye tease me unmerciful. Take me. Take me, now," she begged yet again, needing the feel of him inside her to finish this.
His mane of white hair framed his intent face as he did as she asked, moving up over her body and sliding into place. The blunt head of his erection pressed against her opening, slipping in, meeting resistance for a moment, then pushing on past the last barrier.
She held back her cry, biting her lip and waiting for the fullness to seem less. When she stiffened involuntarily, he stopped, but she wouldn't allow him to withdraw again and held him close with her legs against his buttocks. Time seemed to stand still. Their breathing sounded harsh in the quiet.
"I'm fine," she managed at last and flexed her hips experimentally. No discomfort, just a sense of welcome wholeness as if she had waited for this all her life.
He pushed up onto his arms and studied her face. She gave him a slight smile, then rotated her hips again, increasing the pressure and friction. With that, he took her cue and began again to move rhythmically inside her.
The world narrowed for them both to these sensations. Pounding hearts, flesh sliding against flesh, flesh sliding in and out of flesh, enveloping and being enveloped, the call of need for sharing this, for mating, indeed, for being so close that the partners no longer cared where one started and the other ended.
Catti-Brie felt the pleasurable sensations build in her belly and between her legs until she thought she might die. Somewhere in her subconscious she knew she made little cries, but it made no difference for soon the pleasure built to such a level her entire body arched, pressing against the instrument of her delight, clenching around it and beckoning her lover to join her.
Indeed, the sounds she made excited Drizzt, for he sensed her nearing fulfillment and none too soon. As her inner muscles tightened around him, he allowed his iron will to slip and the sensual haze to overwhelm him. Her cry of release drove him to frenzy and within moments he joined her, feeling unimaginable spasms pouring his seed into her. Exhausted, he hung on his forearms above her, trying not to smother her with his full weight.
She reached up to brush his hair behind his ears, lingering on the pointed tips, then moving to his mouth. One fingertip brushed his lips, then she pushed up to kiss him.
"I love ye, Drizzt. With all me heart and soul. And if'n ye still must go, I'll understand. Just never doubt ye're the one I've always loved."
He searched her face, then rolled to his side and pulled her close. "I know you loved Wulfgar and would have wed him. Now..."
She sighed, knowing he spoke the truth, yet only a part of it. "Tis true I loved him, yet never was he for lettin' me be me. Even later... After he came back, not only were his devils too much for the likes of me, he couldn't seem to understand I needed ta be free to make me own mistakes."
Like lovin' a drow elf as well as a barbarian, she thought. For though she might have denied it before, she could no longer. Even when she'd been ready to wed Wulfgar, she'd loved Drizzt as well. Oh, she could pretend it had only been as a friend, but she couldn't lie to herself. And with the barbarian's jealousy, it could have led to terrible consequences. Never did she want to see the two at each other's throats and now she feared if Wulfgar ever came back such might happen. Heaven only knew what Bruenor would think.
Neither of the lovers said anything further, but Catti-Brie knew she had come to a turning point in her life. If Drizzt insisted on leaving she just might persist in going after him. But if he planned on following Wulfgar, she knew it would most likely cause nothing but trouble.
Yet how could she let him just leave? She didn't just want him once, one night of loving and then nothing for the rest of her life. He'd outlive her several lifetimes over, but she had only one short one and she fully intended to make the most of it. As she cuddled against Drizzt's side, she almost prayed she'd conceived. If she couldn't have him, at least she might have a part of him. That's all for now, friends. If you're interested in reading more about Drizzt and Cattie-Brie being together, please let me know. |
