Distant Shores

As the ceremony got underway, she stayed on the edges, not wanting to garner attention – she would be unwelcome, maybe chased off, were others to think she was trying to participate. Her brother came to give her a drink he had managed to smuggle out, but then he to left to join the revelries with a huge grin on his face. Thema watched him go before looking back at the assembling crowd.

The one she sought wasn't altogether hard to find. In comparison to the dusky brown bodies she was accustomed to, Erak, as she could only pronounce his name, was astoundingly pale in comparison. He sat on the outskirts of the semi-circle of elders. It was clear that he was uncomfortable as he looked over the growing number of women that were gathering for the first dance. Thema slipped back into the shadows.

****

Though Elrath had been expecting the festival, this type had been the furthest from his thoughts. Some of the elders had been insistent that he wear their local garb, so now he sat clad in nothing but a loincloth. They had offered to paint white strips across his cheeks, but the painter had lowered the paint bowl in embarrassment. Elrath had not blamed her. Instead he wore a light bracelet of beads on his right hand; the scarf always on the other. They gave him a cup, which he tasted, finding it to be an alcoholic beverage, if somewhat bland and mild. He drained it with one gulp and set it down; he noticed some of the councilmen looking in his direction and nodding to one another with approval.

The drums began to beat their rhythmic pulse into the dark night, and with whoops and howls, the women began to file before the great raging bonfire. Somewhere, a group of men began to chant, and occasionally the dancers whooped to some predetermined note in the music. The chant and beat were slow to start with, and the dancers moved accordingly, circling around the fire, their hips rolling like that of no woman Elrath had ever seen in the years of his life. He had already concluded that the ritual was meant to show the sensuality and the desirability of the women as a mate to potential partners.

Before the great bonfire the women where transformed into red-lined silhouettes of dark mystery. Their languid movement was something the elf was more used to and Elrath became entranced as he watched. He briefly looked over the dancers, not finding the headman's daughter. He absently wondered why she would not be present – she was beautiful over the others and he would have liked to see her dance.

That last thought startled him. Elven culture almost implied that humans were a lesser breed of elf, and some where extreme enough to imply that mating with humans was no better than coupling with a beast. Though not as extreme, these thoughts were always ingrained in the back of his mind when he dealt with humankind.

Nevertheless, for all of an elf's calm and stately aloofness, they are creatures of emotion; any scene of intensity, no matter how contrary to their teachings or culture, would elicit a response from them. And there was no lack of intensity in the scene unfolding before Elrath; the soft tinkling of gold bracelets, the rolling black buttocks peeking from beneath their skirts, the fluid motions of their dark brown breasts swaying – all hinting at unspoken desire and boundless pleasures of the flesh.

Elrath blinked. He was swaying and immediately realised the source of the motion and the pathways his mind was taking. The liquor he had quaffed earlier was now clouding his mind – despite its bland taste, it packed a potent kick. It was only now that he realised that the men at the gathering had lost themselves and were howling in approval, beating down on their shields.

Quickly he focused his mind, internalising himself as only an elf could. His giddiness began to subside, as did the aching need in his body, and would remain subdued so long as his concentration held. The elders and the braves were thoroughly distracted, for the tempo of the drums had reached a pitch and the chanters were ecstatic. The dancers had reached fever-pitch and now concentrated only on their hips, shaking them with breathtaking speed. Elrath doubted that any women of any other race, elf or human, could have done it. His concentration began to slip and he pulled his eyes away with difficulty. It was time to leave.

As he prepared to slip away, a soft hand was suddenly on his arm. His heart raced when he realised it washer. Thema as he recalled. A brown cloak was wrapped about her, as though she was ready for travel. Had she figured out his plan? For a moment, considered, then decided a guide might be advisable, and if she was prepared to see him off voluntarily, all the better.

****

4. Elrath and Thema

Thema had waited until the ritual had reached a high point. The hunger within her, that had started at the stream and remained unfulfilled, was now maddening. There could be no more waiting. Quietly she glided from the shadow of a nearby tree and went to his side. He did not notice her, and Thema wondered breathlessly whether dancers had enthralled him and his desire for their dark writhing forms was at its peak.

She laid a trembling hand on his arm and marvelled at its soft texture. Yet beneath his skin, the muscles were hard and unyielding, and not at all soft. Thema repressed a shudder as she chanced to think as to how they might crush her in their firm embrace. She experienced a pang of disappointment when he turned about, his face calm and serene. Yet her breathing came in small breathless gasps, for she had never seen eyes that were green and flecked with gold.

Reaching down, she held his hand and gave a gentle pull. He looked back one last time at the crowd, and then got up. She guided him swiftly to outskirts of the village, looking back to ensure he was well. Evidently he mistook that glance and looked back, probably thinking they were not to be followed.

Thema looked down at the hand that enclosed hers; a hand she knew could crush her own; strong hands belonging to a warrior. Along that walk, she saw the acute differences between them – the lengthened ears, the green eyes and the flowing black hair. In the harsh light of the moon, his pale skin seemed even whiter, and looking at her hand in his, the contrast vivid. If they mated and there were children between them, how would they...

She suppressed a sharp yelp, as she stubbed her foot against a rock, but to her horror she began to pitch forward, overbalanced. His hand tightened instantly, and had she held on to a tree, its immovability would have been the same. She smiled sheepishly, her pounding heart suffocating her.

****

Looking at her apologetic smile, her teeth were brilliantly white, not like the faintly yellowed teeth of northerners. Elrath smiled back. She quickly turned away and resumed her guidance. They were going in the wrong direction to be heading towards the bay. Perhaps she was heading for supplies, or maybe avoiding sentries. He looked around, but was certain there was no one about.

Instead he saw a lighted hut up ahead – her home? Why so far from the village? Was she not the headman's daughter?

Pulling aside the door flap, she offered him entrance. Her breasts brushed heavily against him as he entered; his concentration broke and he was dazed as the full effects of subdued intoxication and lust, combined with the heat inside the hut, rose back up to choke him. He was barely aware that she set him to lounge upon a heavy pile of soft furs. Almost like an automaton, he did as she guided him to. Then she left to go outside, leaving him a moment to gather his thoughts.

Elrath was almost startled to see that he was seated upon the pile. A vague premonition played over him, and, despite himself, his manhood stirred in anticipation. He was only grateful that it was not altogether noticeable, and could be passed for a crumple on his loincloth.

****

Standing in the cold night air, Thema was trying to gather her courage. She had gently brushed her breasts against him, hoping to excite his interest, but the sudden naked desire in his eyes was more than she had expected. She settled him in place and quickly stepped outside, her heart racing wildly.

Leaning against the side of the hut, she tried to steady herself. She turned her head as though she would look through the walls to see him. A moment in her life she had though would never come was here and she could not lose it now. He was not the man she had even dreamed of having, but she came to a realisation that now, instead, she had a man she wanted with an intensity she hadn't thought possible. Superstitiously, she looked at the stars, thinking that the gods must have kept her for this day. Thema swept back the skin flap, entered, and secured it behind her.

He shifted somewhat when she closed the opening. His face was calm again and it irritated her. She knew he wanted her – she had seen it plainly on his face a moment ago. She wanted to see it again, the proof that she was really a woman. She didn't think she could bear thethoughtof him not wanting her. She had considered that he might not even be human; his eyes, those ears, the paleness of his skin that defied the elements and the punishing sun...

Those did not matter. In her eyes, he was a man that desired her as a woman, and that was all she had ever asked that he would be. The differences between them only served to excite her and offer her the promise of lover she would not tire of. She shivered in anticipation. She turned her back to him and slowly let loose the blanket about her, displaying the glory of her naked body to him. She had sweated under the blanket and her body was oiled – the low light of the fire highlighted her every curve and contour in lustful detail. The gold circlets on her body, stunning against the dark ebony of her body, jingled softly as they clashed together.

Elrath seemed startled, but she did not miss the fire in the back of his eyes. She had her own version of the marriage dance that she would use for him. Her back still to him, she cupped her breasts and drew hands down over chest, down the soft curve of her stomach, across her thighs, bending over slightly as she reached down for her knees, offering him a tempting view. She waited and heard his breathing deepen.

Thema turned about with calculated slowness, presenting him with a view of the dark twin orbs of her breasts, perfect in their contours and heavy in their femininity. Her nipples were already stiff from her arousal. She tweaked them between her fingers to emphasise them, and a shudder went through her body. She began to dance for him, not a dance of enticement, but a dance of mating filled with all the powerful eroticism born of naked desire.

His arousal was obvious and undeniable, the flimsy material of his loincloth no longer able to conceal it. She felt wicked pride that she could interest a man of another race, who should rightfully not desire another outside his own kind. She wondered with shameful desire what it was that might now be causing him such excitement. Was it the seductive rolling undulation of her abundant backside? Perhaps the proud swell of her heavy breasts? Maybe it was the dark triangular bush at the base of her thighs proving her ascent to womanhood? Could it have simply been the darkness of her skin when contrasted against his own? Thema could have no idea that they had all contributed.

The fire was burning low when she finally completed her dance of want. Elrath was covered with a faint sheen of sweat and was breathing through his mouth. Thema was no better, if not more so. She approached him with swaying hips, her eyes more like those of a hungry she-panther. She knelt at his feet and began to crawl towards him until her quivering lips were only inches from his, and she could feel the heat of his breath. She half-closed her eyes and went forward tentatively. And he met with her.

They kissed slowly at first, feeling the texture of each others lips, then finally opening their mouths and allowing their tongues to express their hunger. Sexual frustration and lowered inhibitions were taking their toll on Elrath and he reached up for her and brought her down to his side, before rolling onto her, drinking the nectar of her full lips once again. One hand ran down his back, gently scratching him with her nails, whilst the other stroked and twirled his silky hair which she found so fascinating.

Both of them were sweating heavily, and the oil on Thema's body caused them to glide over one another. Never in his life had Elrath sweated so profusely, even in the heat of battle. His erection grew hard until prodded proudly against her, with only the loincloth to prevent contact. They were now both of one mind, and needed only to be of one body. The both reached for the intruding cloth and pulled it from around him, tossing it way like an unwanted rag.

Thema felt his hardness press against her thigh, firm and soft at the same time. She had a brief image ofthatraider thrusting his monstrous veined member at her, but it was unrelated and unimportant and she expunged the thought from her mind effortlessly. She looked down on his body lying between her legs. He showered her face and neck with kisses until she was panting from his efforts.

All the while Elrath attempted to claim her. He had never felt so clumsy in his entire life, thrusting recklessly, the urgency of his need making him careless.It was her fault for doing this to him.He renewed his efforts. Then he found the entrance to her, pausing on the threshold. Her hands which were caressing his back and the soft moans from her mouth were stilled. They were pressed too closely together to see the act of penetration, but the image of him plunging his pale shaft into her dark cave suddenly took him. Nor was he alone in that thought.

Elrath jerked as Thema thrust her hips to meet him, the slick warmth of her body resisting his intruding length, yet offering no real resistance at all. They were one. For a few breathless moments, that seemed so much longer, they remained motionless against each other, like two intertwined statues of ebony and ivory melded together. Her nails dug into his shoulders, as did her teeth, but with his manhood in her vise-like grip, Elrath barely noticed.

The movement of her hips beneath him prompted Elrath to move again, though he did so mechanically at first. The lust that had clouded his mind had subsided for the moment, leaving him with the realisation that he was coupling with a human; one of dark skin and thus unlike him or his kind in everyway. Having invited the coupling, Thema was less preoccupied with such thoughts, and they were only a small part of them, serving only to fuel her excitement, not guilt. Meanwhile, Elrath had lifted himself with his arms, looking down upon that soft dark body that had driven him to this moment.

Thema looked down between them and Elrath followed her gaze. They watched him thrust into her. Elrath could not doubt the situation much longer. She stroked her hands over his shoulder, but Elrath took her hand away, pinning it above her head. Despite his true intentions of stopping her, the act of force excited Thema even more and she offered her other arm for him to hold down. Stretched out as she was beneath him, her legs spread, dark body glistening, the maddening fires of desire rose to claim him once again.

Holding both her wrists with one hand, his other hand stroking her thighs, Elrath began to thrust in earnest. Thema's entire body was rocked from his efforts, and she threw her head back, closing her eyes, as he placed his mouth on her breasts and began to suck on her nipples. She strained at his imprisoning hands, not making any real effort to break free, yet knowing she could not have even had she tried, and secretly delighting at desire she inspired in him.

When he freed her hands, she looked at him through long lashes. He supported his body with both hands and was now driving himself deeply – she felt his touch in her deepest recesses, and groaned audibly. But she looked in his eyes, and saw the conflict there. As much as she wanted to feel the strength of his body and his will to claim her, she could not allow him to doubt. Clamping herself against him, she clutched at him and rolled over, shifting until he was seated against the furs. His surprise at her actions almost made her want to laugh. She kissed him deeply instead, whilst her hips began to grind against him.

She pulled her mouth away from his, a thin line of saliva still connecting them. He was sweating as much as she was – their movements against each other were noisy and wet. A single bead of sweat rolled down his face to hang on his chin and she reached down to suck at it. In reaction, he placed his hands on her breasts. They were too large to encompass in one hand alone, and the oil and sweat of her body made them silky as well as soft. Thema reached up to hold his hands against her, guiding him to her nipples, groaning and arching her back as he pinched and tweaked them.

Elrath looked over her with fascination. He was not shy of women, nor was he lacking for their attentions, but the elves had their way of wooing and lovemaking – years of courting and, once consented to, intimacy that lasted for hours at a time, with their bodies always against one another – the act of which was unlike the intense and primal lust of this coupling that he had been drawn into and threatened to drive him mad. He had never wanted to find release so badly. Her groans and whimpers, the spasms of her body, her frenzied kisses and scratching nails were all stretching him beyond his limits.

Thema already knew that she belonged to him, and he to her, even if he didn't already know it. There was only want and curiosity left in his eyes, both of which she was willing to satisfy. Suddenly he stiffened and grunted beneath and she prepared herself to receive him, but it was not so. Was he still holding back? The light of the moon had shifted, and the passage of time had been fairly substantial. Was it normal for his kind to have lasted so long? She had spied on couples before; their pairings seemed brief in comparison. Though fascinated, she felt close to exhaustion. She wanted to be claimed by him so that she could surrender herself. She had to have him.

Stopping for a moment to catch her breath and call the last of her strength, she looked him in the eyes, and then turned around without releasing him. Raising herself slightly, she looked at him over the dark curve of her shoulder, hoping the sight of her best asset was to his liking. She turned back so that he could not see her secret smile, having seen him staring at her large dark cheeks and the length of his pale manhood that seemed to disappear between them. She glanced down between her legs for a view of the same, reaching to tease his heavy sacs with her nails, tracing patterns of greed and lust until her squirmed.

Tensing her muscles about him, Thema began; her thighs rocking and seductive black buttocks rolling on him. She looked down to watch him penetrate her, watching his engorged rod disappear into her bush to split the lips of her sex and drive into the hot moist places within. She almost could not believe it was her. Griping at his legs for support, she began to ride him with greater ardour. The sounds of her backside as it slapped wetly against his firm abdomen filled the room and they sweated in the heat and humidity of the room, even as the occasional gusts of wind from the night chilled them.

A feral groan escaped her lips as she felt his hands suddenly on her waist, his fingers digging into her dark flesh. He drew her down hard, even as he drove his waist upward to meet her. Thema dug her nails into his skin. They were both lost to the act now. Racing towards their shared destinies, they began to work with greater ferocity and their moans, sobs, gasps and grunts drowned out the crackling of the fire.