Page 16

16

Lovers Lost Now Found

RIV

I t took a while before Riv calmed down, helped by a cup of kahawa that élisa had brewed for him.

She brought it back to her chamber, where he half sat, slumped against the cushions along the boulder that formed the bulkhead.

élisa’s soul bled as her gaze raked over his drawn face. They were lovers lost, now found. But c ould their tormented souls ever heal?

His eyes were desolate and distant as he worked through his wretchedness.

Her heart twisted with sorrow as she leaned over and kissed the corner of his red-rimmed eyes, then joined him in the sprawling bedstead, lifting a lithe leg behind him, cradling his back on her chest as he drank.

She sang to him, sweet and husky, repeating the soft song she used to sing to him years ago. She hoped they’d cut through his malaise, like they’d done the first time they’d met, and heal his agony.

She stroked his back and shoulders until he sighed and relaxed into her embrace.

He was so precious, she thought. How she’d managed to live almost a lifetime without him was beyond her.

‘I’ve always wondered about that song. What do the words mean?’ Riv asked, his low rasp cutting through her thoughts. ‘You declined to share back then, fearing I’d find out where you were from.’

She gave him a wry smile. ‘It’s an old Katánian song of prayer to The Kuíla - the Sky Eagle, the giver of favorable wind and the preserver of life. It’s an invocation for healing, offspring, unity, and security. I’ll sing it to you in standard.’

Her voice then lifted into a velvety refrain.

‘We revere you, Kuíla, Our Eagle, Sun and Preserver:

He who buries flaying knives and spinning swords

Who restores the harsh lands and rugged soil

Who rebuilds the black-lava mountains and the white diamond plains.

You, Kuíla, Chief, the great healer indeed,

He who breathes forth men so that they may live.

Chief, receive this soul of your name,

Heal him with all your strength and might,

Sow the seeds of offspring in his loins that he may beget like bees,

Hold his K?st together that it be not cleft in the land,

Give him strength so that strangers may not come to possess his groves.’

‘So lyrical,’ Riv said when her voice fell away. ‘You sing it so well.’

‘ Sante .’

‘Beget like bees, though?’

élisa chuckled at his jesting.

‘It’s a potent blessing,’ she added. ‘Didn’t it lead to a son? Mayhaps you’ve many more in your quiver, Sableman.’

As Riv’s eyes smoldered at the promise, élisa continued. ‘On a serious note, the blessing works. The ache in your soul will ease soon because the Chief Preserver will not allow you to suffer any more.’

He raised a skeptical brow. ‘Is that right?’

‘Tis. Like I suffered with you as Ribau,’ she threw in to lighten the mood.

It worked.

Riv gave a bark of laughter. ‘Damn, he was my best guise yet. I put in sweat and tears trying to convince you I was him.’

‘My love, your smokescreen was so freakin’ infuriating,’ she teased. ‘And suss as all hell.’

His chest rumbled with amusement. ‘ Shiiit ! It was fun seeing how confused you were.’

‘Turns out my soul knew who you were all along.’

‘Payback, my heavenly sprite.’

‘Not fair. The years apart were torture enough,’ she quipped back.

He leaned back so his eyes found hers, sobering as he sought more truth. ‘How did you survive out here with Killen?’

‘We made do,’ she shrugged, letting her eyes fall to the dusky view outside. ‘I swapped some of my crown jewels for schills to start a small trade store at the foot of R?k Hill. When the nebula wasn’t quite so tempestuous, I was able to make clean runs to Neron N13 and some of the neighboring planetoids.’

‘Is that when you met Halima and her man at The Righteous Pegasus?’

élisa laughed. ‘ Naam . She traded with me. She liked the hops we produce here on Devansi. They make a good beer. She grew into a good friend over the years. She became very protective of me when I told her about my run from Noab. Heck, she even gave me the energy stun barrel I used on you to knock you out.’

‘About that,’ Riv said, knifing up straight. ‘ Fokk woman, it has the power of a million volts. Enough to kill a space whale.’

élisa buried her face in his back. ‘Please forgive me, my love, but I had no idea who you were and if you’d turn around and attack me if I didn’t hit you right the first time.’

He placed a hand over his chest in mock drama. ‘My heart is still in spasms.’

‘Let me soothe it,’ his woman whispered, running her hands over his muscled trunk while their lips met for a long, gentle kiss.

When they parted, Riv leaned back again, nuzzling her neck.

‘Have you always lived on this hill?’

‘ Nada , we eked out an existence in the same tree hollow we slept in a few nights ago. Soon, however, the monks of R?k Hill, who’d traded often with me, offered us a home and helped me build my store at the base of the rise.’

élisa paused for a moment. ‘They were kind to us. They also guided me in understanding more about Killen and how he was changing. At a very early age, I think four, he began to show signs that the hawkstone was melding to him. In a new way than it had to past regents. He was seeing visions and making statements that were so persuasive I was sure he was no normal Kíríga in waiting.’

‘He knows this?’

‘Oh yes, I’ve told him about Katánē, of the K?str?l hawks and his people. He believes he’s been given a mission and convinced me to go along.’

‘What does he know that you don’t?’

‘He found one of the few books I brought from Katánopolis that showed how my people were once people of dignity. In the old days, they waged no war and gave honey for milk. They only raided when driven to the brink of starvation and even then just to acquire sustenance. They only took a small percentage of livestock as legitimate plunder. The convention also regulated what was to be seized. Spears, swords, and weapons were considered battle trophies. Food, herds, and supplies were not beads, cloth, salt, or trading items. They were sacrosanct; no damage to them was allowed. Now -’

Her voice trailed off.

‘Now what?’

‘Now they kill at will, only for glory. But Killen is convinced the age of marauding has come to an end. And if what Noab said is anything to go by, he may be right.’

élisa paused, leaning her cheek against his shoulder as her arms embraced him from the front. ‘You understand why I had to do what I did?’

He took a deep breath. ‘ Naam , I do.’

‘So, my Sableman, do you forgive me?’

There was a short silence.

Riv’s lips twitched. ‘I forgave you the moment you laughed at my sad joke that first night at the hollow.’

She turned her head to kiss his skin. ‘ Sante, my beloved.’

‘Am I? Your love still?’

‘My one true love, the only one with the keys to my soul that perceived you even when you were in disguise. My heart has always been yours.’

He lifted the hand she’d placed over his chest and trailed kisses along it. ‘And you are mine. For eternity. If you ever leave me now, I’ll throw myself off the deepest fissures on this land and let the wild animals pick my bones apart.’

She shook her forehead against his shoulder blade. ‘So dramatic.’

‘I mean it, woman,’ his voice was graveled and hard-edged. ‘Life will have no meaning without you.’

She tightened her arms around him. ‘It won’t be easy, but I vow to stay on this path with you no matter the twists and turns.’

They sat there for a while until Riv stirred. ‘How do we move forward?’

‘I’ve thought about this. We need Killen healed first. That will take a trip back to Kumē—the first Katánian settlement on a moon that circles the planet. Our ancestors founded it, where we can still find the faithful. Those who practice peace. They also have healers who can lift this curse off Killen’s sight and heal mine. Will you still take us where we need to go?’

He turned his head. ‘Of course, my love. Whatever it takes to not let you out of my grasp again.’

Her single visible eye clouded over with sadness. ‘About that. Our son is convinced we are not coming back to Devansi. He believes he is needed on Katánē, in the citadel itself. The problem is that my father will not allow another regent to exist alongside himself. He’ll see Killen as a challenge. One that has to be destroyed.’

Riv leaned in and stroked her face. ‘Let’s cross that bridge when we get there. Let’s make up for lost time before our son returns from his wandering.’

‘How now? Indulge me …’

‘My pleasure, silver angel.’

He proceeded to show her how.

They spent the next day and the following reacquainting themselves with each other.

Feeling their bodies, whispering sweet nothings, making love, trying to make up for the years lost between them, hidden away in their secret haven.

Watching the sun dance on the horizon, talking, kissing, drinking, and losing themselves in bliss.

They took long walks in the fissured plains and sat on the fringe of the escarpment that stretched for miles behind her home.

They returned home to make love some more, then sat up in her bed talking for hours.

élisa resisted discussing the past, not wanting to stir up their pain and angst.

He made her change her mind. ‘It’ll give me peace, angel.’

Her heart softened, and she shared the misery that had almost destroyed her, her retelling hesitant, wounded.

‘This last year was my worst. I came so close to giving up hope that I’d be free of my father’s hunters. That Killen and I would find healing and restore our sight. That I would be free. I didn’t even want to hope about ever reuniting with you. It was so far-fetched and out of reach that I knew I’d break if I even thought of you. Killen sensed that I was sliding into darkness, despair, and depression. So he went on a walkabout and sought the hawkstone’s wisdom. Which led to Ribau, to you.’

She took his hand and kissed the inside of his palm.

‘Hearing there was some hope, that someone out there could be the catalyst for a new future, was the only thread I held onto to stay sane. That it was you, my love, is a gift beyond anything I could ever have dreamed of.’

His soul broke as she outlined her loneliness, and he held her as she cried for all the years she’d walked alone and bore the burden of her secrecy and survival by herself.

‘It was meant to be,’ he rasped. ‘Our stars were always seeking each other, slightly misaligned, until our son pointed us to each other. For that, I’ll be forever grateful.’

When his woman quieted down, Riv asked about her father. ‘Is he the monster he’s painted as?’

‘The Tempest Light isn’t all ogre. I even remember moments when he was approachable. But he was sucked into believing in the lie of Katánē’s dominance. He got drunk with power and greed. As did most of his elder council members. In thrall to worn-out ideologies and prejudices, they’ve ruled our people by fear and division. They force conflict and marauding on us and abuse the tenets of our old ways while poisoning the minds of the young, who paid the ultimate price. I refused to be a part of that war industry machine.’

He asked her about the rest of her family.

‘My brother was a waiting K?str?l in Arms. I’m sure he has risen to great things. From what I know, my younger sister is still in Katánē, married by now, and juggling a k?st of hawklings.’

She shared everything he asked her about, but there were some parts she couldn’t bring herself to tell him about. Those that hurt her the most - her father’s ruthless hunt for her and the crippling anxiety of imagining his crushing fury.

These were the aspects she didn’t want to talk about out loud. Ones that were too painful even to remember.

Sensing her moroseness, Riv turned their conversation to his past. He told her about the Sable Riders and how they’d transformed their experiences with the crats into using their meta-skills for good.

‘Kage can cloak himself with the same stealth ‘noids as on our ships. Xion has super speed and reflexes. Zane is a psionic mastermind at syllogising, computing, and mathematising. And, Ki’Remi, whom you haven’t met yet, has heightened senses such as exceptional vision, touch, and hearing, and the ability to manipulate matter, making him a great medic.’

He told her how the Riders now dominated business, politics, and arms in Pegasi and gave away their profits to those in need.

‘That’s admirable.’

Riv shrugged. ‘It’s the right thing to do.’

‘I’ll tell you the right thing to do now.’

His eyes blazed as he cottoned on to the mischief in her eyes.

She leapt from the bed and danced away from his reaching hands.

‘Hey!’

élisa shot him a come hither look and took off. The silver robe she wore billowed about her lithe, muscled legs as she disappeared toward the side of the house.

With a gruff laugh, the Rider gave chase.

He just managed to glimpse her outside the rock house, taking long leaps over the stepped spine of the house.

He followed, moving higher until he found her at the apex of the roof, her cloak now open, revealing her sinewed, nude beauty.

She stood looking out at the enchanting view of the desert night sky. He took a stealthy step, sliding his hands to the curve of her waist and pulling her hard to his nakedness.

She gave a small laugh before twisting out of his clasp. ‘Let me show you something.’

Nabbing his hand, she walked to the back of the roof, where the house met the gigantic boulder it was built around.

Riv’s eyes widened at the sight of a deep pool cut into the home’s vault, filled with pure water trickling from a crack in the boulders above it. An overhang of lush green desert bushes turned the unexpected space into an oasis.

‘Welcome to bliss.’

She let her robe fall and stepped into the cool depths.

Leaning into a hidden shelf under the surface, she produced two bottles of the delicious beer she and Killen brewed.

‘May I tempt you?’

Her smile was so beguiling that Riv felt his knees weaken.

‘I’m so past tempted, my angel,’ he murmured. Pulling off his loose pants, he strode to the edge of the water and slid in.

He slipped his body behind her own, took the proffered bottle, and cracked it open.

She twisted around to face him as they toasted each other.

‘Lips, love.’

She offered her mouth to him, and they kissed with abandon until Riv bucked against her, his cock throbbing along her enticing ass.

She gave him a mock side-eye. ‘Can I at least finish my beer?’

‘You can. But be warned, I’m in the mood to ravish you.’

She turned back to face the view, a night sky alive with celestial bodies, meteors, and wild colors streaking across the expanse.

‘This is where I watch the heavens from. Where I imagined you on the other side of the galaxy.’

Riv huffed into her hair. ‘I studied the stars every chance, imagining where you were. To be here with you and seeing this is blowing my mind.’

‘This is the way we find our way back, to us, to love.’

They kissed again, long and slow, his hands dancing in her silver locks before his lips trailed down her neck.

To where her koya met her nape.

Riv extended his tongue and did something he’d never done. He licked the shaft of one and then bucked as élisa gave a small scream.

‘You OK, angel?’

Her eyes flew open, and she pushed her head back to look up at him. ‘Again,’ she urged, ‘more.’

He laughed as he perceived the desire in her lilac-hot eyes.

He bent to her neck once more and lashed her plumed shafts with a good licking as she writhed in the water.

‘No more,’ she whispered. ‘I can’t take any more.’

His lips turned up into a fierce, self-satisfied grin and pulled back. ‘What’s it like?’

‘Like a wild ride across a coast of pure pleasure that’s almost painful with the amount of rapture it gives all up and down my spine.’

He stroked one of the feather-soft plumes trailing over her breast. ‘Can you remove them at will?’

She nodded. ‘ Naam . They activate at a thought to unsheathe their blades and track to targets I guide with my mind. However, we Katánē are trained only to use them when in extreme danger or when in battle.’

The Rider’s eyes twinkled. ‘So I should respect them?’

‘You should fokkin ’ revere them,’ élisa growled at him. ‘They can turn from soft plumes to razor-sharp sabers in seconds.’

He chuckled at her fierceness, stroking one of them with care as she purred against him before his eyes returned to the horizon.

A burst of color across the firmament caught his eye. ‘What’s that?’

‘It’s the nebula’s aurora. It dominates the sky to the south. Its coloration has become wilder in recent months. Killen says it portends a reckoning.’

‘Let’s not think of that right now,’ Riv murmured. ‘For now, let’s live in this stunning moment we’ve been gifted.’

élisa leaned back with a sigh. ‘You always spoke like a sage old man, Sable.’

‘And you adored me for it.’

‘I still do.’

They laughed as the night deepened. Before them, thousands of colored glowing spheres hummed to life and flitted across the plains.

‘What are they?’ the Rider asked.

‘Giant light moths. Beautiful from afar, a pest when near. They’ve decimated many of my small plants in our rock garden. They have a hankering for synna berries. Only when I found a transparent plex filament net on one of my trading trips could I cover my fruits and herbs and keep them away.’

Riv took a swig of his drink, savoring its incredible deliciousness. ‘The ones in the beer?’

‘ Naam . Gardening in this tough environment gave me something to focus on. I also didn’t realise that it was giving me much-needed healing.’

The water felt like warm bliss around his limbs.

She leaned into his nakedness, into his throbbing length, and he sighed, reaching forward to cup her breasts as liquid lapped against them.

He set aside his beer on the rock behind him and turned her to face him. Running his hands over her body, he pulled her close to his heated, diamond-hard muscles and pulsing member.

She arched back as his lips kissed and sucked her nipples.

‘Mmm.’

Her moan electrified him as she reached up, holding his head to her chest, her mounds thrusting toward him.

His lips covered her skin, kissing and sucking, licking the nipple. She held his head close to her as she throbbed and pulsed.

‘ Naam ,’ she hissed, her body shaking, her knees weakening.

She sagged against him, her head to his chest.

‘You make me feel so good,’ she said, her breath warm on his skin.

‘I was designed to make you feel good,’ he stroked her cheek. ‘From how we fit together to how we’re drawn to each other.’

She crawled onto his lap, smiling.

She looked into his eyes and kissed him, her tongue entering his mouth.

‘No wonder all these years I felt like I was walking with a limp, Riv Sable,’ she said, kissing him. ‘Missing the very essence and half of me.’

He touched her, running his fingers over her body, tracing circles over her skin, moving ever lower until he slipped them to the apex of her enticing ass cheeks. She moaned at his stroke and touch, biting her lip.

She reached between her thighs, rubbing her supple wetness on his erection.

Riv gasped, his face contorting with pleasure.

élisa kissed him, sucking his lower lip.

‘I want to taste you.’

His mouth curled. With a mighty heave of his arms, he sat on the water’s edge.

She swum between his legs and took his throbbing length into her mouth.

Riv groaned, leaning back, lifting one thigh to give her unrestricted access while resting his hands on the rock beside him.

élisa’s lips and tongue worked on his shaft, making him gasp and shudder.

‘ Naam , woman.’ He encouraged her, lifting his hips to slide in and out of her sweet, soft, suckling mouth.

She held his pulsating member between her lips, sucking him, her tongue lapping the underside of his shaft.

Riv panted as she worked the head with her suction, her tongue caressing the tip.

He groaned, his back arching.

She caressed his heavy balls, making them tighten, working his heated flesh at the same time.

Riv gasped, ‘Oh, élisa.’

She kept on torturing him, holding his shaft inside her cheek, taking him deep into her mouth.

‘Oh, Sweet Eden, woman,’ he moaned, his body shaking, his thighs quivering.

With a guttural cry, he convulsed, pumping his hips as thick spurts of silver jetted from his tip, filling her mouth.

élisa moaned, welcoming his essence.

She didn’t stop stroking and squeezing his length, giving him jolts of pleasure until he was wrecked. He slumped back, body slack against the rock.

His muscled chest heaved as he reached a hand to stroke her face. ‘Woman, I love you so much.

She pulled away from him, smiling. Standing up in the pool, élisa wrapped her arms around his neck.

She kissed him, her mouth sweet and sensual.

‘I never stopped loving you, my Sableman,’ she murmured.

Riv held her close, kissing her, his hands on her back, running them all over her, still energized and hard for her.

‘I can’t get enough of you,’ he groaned as desire hit all over again. ‘élisa, I need you again.’

She touched his face, caressing it, her lips against his. ‘We’re making up for lost years of lovemaking, and I’m here for it.’

She sank back into the pool and spread her thighs, her hips tilted. He surged forward, stroking her mound.

Moaning, her hips thrust forward as Riv slid one thick finger into her pussy, working it.

élisa gasped, jerking. ‘Oh, yes,’ she moaned, her hips rolling.

He slid a second digit into her, driving it deep into her, caressing her sensitive walls.

She sobbed, moving her hips in a wanton dance, ‘Riv, more.’

His white-irised eyes flashing, he added a third finger, thrusting, filling her deep.

Riv massaged and kneaded her aching flesh, undoing her.

She exclaimed, and he shot her a self-satisfied half smile on his luscious lips as she shuddered in ecstasy, her waist bucking.

Riv slid his fingers from her quivering slit and licked them.

She wrapped her arms around his shoulders, her mouth bound to his. ‘Riv. Make love to me.

‘Whatever the KiaMalkia wants.’

With a rumble of his chest, he glided his throbbing turgidity into her, filling her.

élisa gasped, her waist thrusting, her pelvis writhing.

He curved in and out of her, his hardness moving deep inside her.

Riv panted, ‘Oh, woman, you’re my paradise.’

She hugged him, thighs tightening on Riv’s hips, holding him closer.

His diamond-hard cock drove deeper into her, panting, body shaking, legs shuddering.

Her body trembled as she came hard, her lower half pumping, seeking relief and pleasure at the same time.

He, too, fell against her, his soul flying, his heart ascending with her.