Hunting the Hunter Ch. 04

She grunted and swayed.

The warmth on her face disappeared and she felt a cold hardness against her back. She was throbbing...no, beating, like a drum, hard and fast. She was fire, burning. Ooohhh, but not in a good way, oh no, not good at all.

Hang on, hang on.

Warm again, but good warm. On her face and neck. "Good?" She asked softly.

"Enough. We have to get you out of here."

"Heal me."

"I can't."

"Heal me."

"Inanna, I can't. We can only heal ourselves."

"No. You can. Aina can. Just do it. Don't argue." She opened her eyes one more time. Still just shifty colours...and that pounding drum. What was she doing?

"Aina can?"

Ah, yes.

"Come on green. Lay it...on me."

"I...how? I've never..."

"Like you do for yourself, same thing... I mean. Damn, I...it..." She paused to breathe...but that made the drum pound louder in her ears. "ugh, same as...just, just transfer it out of you...think of me...instead. Think it. Send it out. You...just...have to, uh, want it enough. Right?" She fumbled for the warmth on her face and pressed it into her. "Focus."

She waited, and she listened to the drums, and she thought about the broken poem. And then she was warm. Warm in her face and neck. Warm in her shoulders and arms. Her arm popped in a funny way, and then there was pain. Pain everywhere. She cried out. Screamed. She had to, there was just so much of it, so much pain; In her arm, her chest, her head. Something warm and sticky was on her back, something stinging in her thigh. She vaguely recalled a sword wound and an arrow to match the sensations.

Her eyes snapped open. Her vision was still fuzzy, but only around the edges. Feric was looking down at her, his eyes looked drawn and grey, his hands weren't warm anymore, but they still held her face.

She blinked a few times, then lifted her arm. It still hurt, but it wasn't broken. Just bruised probably, maybe even the remains of a fracture. But better. Functional. Good enough. She grinned wearily at the worried face looming over hers.

"See? I'm always right."

He let out a little sigh.

She watched his worn out eyes as he gazed back down on her, his brow furrowed in concern.

"I hope you didn't over-stretch. How... I mean, how's your head? Dizzy? Vision?" She gave him a once over. Except for the worn out look, he seemed ok. Nothing broken or bleeding, that's what mattered.

He shook his head. "I'm fine, I'm alright. I'll live" He blinked and his fingers tensed against her face. His voice softened. "Thank you."

She nodded, and swallowed. "Right back at you." She took a deep breath. It didn't feel great, but she could do it without bursting into tears. Faaaantastic! She reached up and covered his hand with hers and closed her eyes, enjoying for a few moments the feel of his fingers on her skin and the divine joy of being able to breathe deeply. She felt his forehead come to rest against hers and a different kind of pain tightened her chest. She clenched her jaw and fought the urge to get all weepy and emotional.

"So...let's get this show on the road than shall we? The super-secret plans aren't going to steal themselves. Not that we've been very good thieves so far." He released her as she pushed forward and started making motions to get up.

"Come on, we have to get you to a proper healer." He reached for her again, holding her elbows and pulling her up against him. She chocked back another wave of emotion and forced her face into a wry grin, gingerly untangling herself from his protective arms, careful not to look him in the eye lest what she see there undo her entirely. She took a deep breath and collected herself.

"No, no, we've come this far, we need to see if we can find anything. Besides, I don't think we left anyone alive down here." She sighed and looked at the disaster in front of her, both happy she could actually see again, and disheartened at the sight. "Pretty damn impressive of us, I've got to say." Her voice shook slightly as an uncontrollable shudder, caused by her over-draw, jerked through her. She passed her eyes over the carnage and spotted a singed grey blue robe a few feet down the hall.

She tottered on her feet using the wall as support. "Oi." She groaned. "Feels like a chunk of my brain exploded." He stood with her, holding her shoulders to steady her, his face a mask of concern. 'Oh Serjo, you're such a dear.'

"Inanna, you're still hurt, if they come back..." She smiled through her head ache, which was a hell of a feat if she didn't say so herself, and patted his arm. Well at least the pain was keeping her too weak in the knees to go...well, weak in the knees, at his touch. Oh joy. If those were her two options now...'then someone, please, resurrect yourself and put me out of my misery.' Where was a necromancer when you needed them?

"I'll be O.K. , we'll just have to keep our collective heads down. Besides, if we leave now, there's no way we'll get back through here a second time. Right?"

He didn't look convinced, and shook his head. He looked around huffing out a frustrated sigh.

"Oh, don't be such a baby. Don't tell me that was your first near death experience? What are you, some kind of rank amateur?" She grinned as hard as her mind and body would let her without either shattering. Frankly she was in a mood to feel sorry for herself, but she knew he couldn't take it just now. He looked ready to toss her over his shoulder and march her to the nearest priest. Which, under other circumstances, might be charming as hell...but they had a work to do. She'd mope later, on her own time. Maybe he'd want to comfort her, the old fashion way...right, not with her luck. Her grin threatened to falter, but she was a stalwart soldier.

"We better move then."

"Good man." She slapped his shoulder, harder that she should have, because they both winced, and she pulled out of his hands with an apologetic grimace.

He shifted, though it seemed slower than usual, like he had when he was injured, as though it took more effort. He made his way to the door they'd been aiming at before all hell broke loose and looked back at her over his shoulder.

"Hold on a minute." She called. He paused and waited as she pushed herself off the wall, willing her legs to keep her standing. Her head swam a little, but she made it to the bluish robe and ignored the wide staring eyes and contorted death mask that belonged to it as she went through the pockets.

"Aha!"

She found a wax paper package and opened it revealing small roundish disks. They were brittle and dry to the touch. Ugh. It looked really, really healthy. She screwed up her nose as she bit into it and made a face. Flax cookies with dehydrated bits of what she could only assume were once blueberries, at least in a former life. It was worse than it looked, there was something odd and bitter underneath, something plant like, something not really meant to be eaten. She pulled out her water, which sadly was still quite warm from her little imitation of a bomb, and washed it down as best she could before snapping the lid on her skin closed with a pop, and thrusting another cookie in her mouth. God was this mage a masochist or something? Hadn't they ever heard of honey?

In the poor dead bastard's defence, it seemed to be doing the trick. The fuzz on the edge of her vision seemed to be dispersing, and her legs had stopped wobbling, or at least the wobble had been reduced to a mild muscular spasm of some kind. She even felt the first distant sizzles of fire in her blood. Potent stuff these cookies. Too bad they tasted like the wrong end of a rough night. She walked up to Feric and returned his quizzical look with a cocked brow and a shrug, then gestured to the door.

"Awer ouu." She muttered through the hunk o' sawdust still crammed between her teeth. She just couldn't bring herself to start chewing. Ugh.

**

He was livid.

He looked up at Inanna who was giving the stump next to him a fixed glare from across the tiny glade. The look in her eye was so intense he shifted away from the hunk of wood, imagining it might burst into flames at any second. They sat in the dark in silence, both of them mulling over their thoughts with clouded expressions on their faces. There was no fire as she was concerned about attracting attention. He had to agree though it worried him knowing she was still recovering from her wounds. He wanted to take her to a healer, but she insisted it would lead the hunters back to them. She was right, but he didn't like it. He had even tried again to help her heal with his own powers, but exhaustion and inexperience made him barely more than useless.

And all of that for an Initial. A God damned initial. He sighed. Then growled. Then paced.

"What's wrong Serjo?"

The calm caress of her voice washed over him, settling the hairs on his neck, and he paused to look up at her as she stood from her crouch, turning her gaze to the darkness.

"Did you scent something?"

She turned back to him, and he responded in the negative. She rubbed her hands against the tops of her thighs and cast her eyes into the darkness one more time before coming to his side and sitting on the stump. She propped one naked heel on it and laid her cheek against her knee, turning her head to look at him. She smiled a tired smile. She was only wearing pants and the wrap again, having removed the torn and bloodstained layers of leather and silk in order to tend to the wounds not completely closed by his attempt to heal her. He had been a little stunned to find he could, but then when every one of the pride could heal themselves, there was no need to learn to heal others.

From this angle he could see remains of the sword wound she'd taken in the back. It had gone deep, and despite his efforts, and a vial of whatever she'd fed him found in a store room, had only just stopped seeping. He was amazed she'd found the strength to drag herself over to him, never mind get up on her knees and force feed him potions.

He padded over to her, the urge to be near her easily overwhelming his perpetual caution. Everything else just seemed to cease mattering. She was injured. His mate was injured. He needed to be reassured that she was going to be ok. She watched him and lifted her head. As he neared her the scent of her filled his mouth. To hell with it, he could care less right now. He needed this. Needed her.

He reared his head gently, brushing her shoulder and face with his cheek. She wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face against it, squeezing and caressing him back. Apparently he wasn't the only one in need of comfort. She kept her face buried against his neck, breathing slowly.

"I know I'm supposed to be cut off and everything, but I can think of a better way to...assure each other of our mutual good health." He lifted his head from her lap to regard her. Her face was soft, open, and gentle. He was more than tempted.

She didn't wait for an answer but slid to her knees in front of him, mimicking their positions on their first night together by the waterfall as she smoothed her hands over his head and neck, nuzzling his cheek with her own. He let out an involuntary purr and nuzzled her back, flicking the length of her ear with the tip of his tongue, his growling purr mounting when he felt her shiver in response. Sensitive elven ears. He smiled to himself and nestled his muzzle against her neck and shoulder, flicking her warm salty skin with a tender lap before brushing lightly down her shoulder over the bruises and scratches. She whimpered, an almost inaudibly sound, unconscious, he knew, and he looked back up to her. She gave him a small smile.

"It was broken." She raised her other arm to run her fingers over her ribs. She fingered open the knot holding her wrap and loosened it, letting it slide from her body. He was only momentarily distracted by the vision of her bared breasts. Far more immediate was the sight just below her right breast, a broad pool of blue black against her dark grey skin. "I broke one of these too. It's alright now though...just bruised."She touched it carefully, her eyes looking down to assess the damage. The sight made his heart ache that much more.

He pressed against her again, careful not to get too near her bruised side, rubbing his cheek against her left breast, catching one soft nipple with his tongue, feeling it harden instantly in response. She gasped and curled her fingers into the short fur behind his ears. He took it as encouragement and rubbed a little harder, tickling the skin of her neck with his whiskers. She laughed softly, then groaned. A small hand slapped his shoulder lightly. He growled back playfully.

"Don't make me laugh," she murmured against his ear, "it hurts."

He pulled away a little and she grinned at him, cupping his face and kissing his bridge of his nose and between his eyes. He gave a mild head toss in his own expression of amusement. She chuckled again.

"I told you to stop that." She gave him a mock pout, then blinked when he pulled away and turned from her. She frowned at his retreating back, getting to her feet confused by his sudden change in attitude.

"Feric? I was only teasing..." He turned back to look at her over his shoulder, his eyes gleaming. And what have we here, was that mischief they were gleaming with? "I'll be damned" she whispered to herself with a smile and followed him in to the darkness, her wrap forgotten, wearing only her clinging leather pants and a mischievous grin of her own.

She narrowed her eyes and peered into the darkness. All around her loomed huge boulders skirted with long waving grass. The overcast sky turned everything into shifting shadows, dark shapes in the night. Even so she was amazed that 400 pounds of muscle could vanish so easily before her. She stepped forward cautiously, her skin tingling with excitement, goose bumping despite the warm humidity that hung in the summer air. Her ears perked at a sound, a rustle, out of place among the hum of crickets and peace beetles. The air was heavy with impending rain and windless...something was moving out there.

It came again and she whirled to the right, dropping naturally into a ready stance, instincts taking over, her aches and pains forgotten as her adrenaline surged. She listened hard for another movement. Something brushed the back of her thighs and she bit back a cry, whirling and finding the space behind her empty again. Her heart pounded in her chest and she twisted her head about the grass with a grin. Sneaky kitty. She caught a shadow move in the corner of her eye and pretended to ignore it, scanning the darkness under the overhand of a nearby boulder instead, silently sidestepping her way toward the initial movement. She thought for a moment she could make out a denser shadow hidden in the tall grass. She licked her lips and lunged toward it. It darted away to the right and she grinned turning to the left. That ought to mess him up.

She tore around the side of a sloping boulder and climbed atop the craggy thing peering out over the edge for her quarry. She chuckled silently to herself. Looks like he was taking her prey analogy literally. Well that was ok by her, so long as he was still willing to play once he got caught.

There. He was crouched low under a boulder across from hers, no doubt waiting for her to come out from behind it. She waited, breathing as quietly as her excitement allowed her, and gazed down at his patient figure. Finally he slunk forward, vanishing intermittently in the shadows, until he was almost under her. She wondered if he'd seen her already and was toying with her...it was a low enough ledge that she was on after all. She decided to risk it and dropped from the rock. He saw her coming too late, and fell into a crouch beneath her.

She wrapped her arms and legs tightly around him, letting her fingers dig into his fur like the claws of a mountain lion jumping a deer. He snarled and dropped his front to shake her off. She slid forward on his back, feeling the bunch and ripple of his massive body beneath her, straining between her thighs and causing a shiver of desire and fear to course through her. Not the least of all because of the memory of last night's activities which were still oh-so fresh in her mind.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face there as well, clinging for dear life. He reared up and she let out a small squeal, but didn't let go, her arms still tight around the corded muscle of his neck. He landed again and stood there, his body tense and legs splayed defiantly. She wriggled forward again and brushed his ear with her mouth.

"Does this mean I win? What's my prize Serjo?"

Feric suppressed a shudder at the husky sound of her voice whispering in his ear and rolled his shoulders under her, enjoying the strange but delightful feel of her writhing weight against his back. She tightened her legs about his waist and he growled with pleasure. He was almost sorry to have to do what he did, but he grinned as he did it nonetheless. He twisted suddenly, and shook, sending her rolling off of him with a soft thump. He twisted again and was on her before she could open her mouth to complain. She let out a soft cry as his jaws came down around her throat and she stilled. His mouth watered slightly as he stood there, her slim throat held tenderly in his jaws, her breathing short and frightened, her scent a deep and heady musk, tinged with fear and an intoxicating dose of arousal.

"Yield" she whispered softly and he slowly released her, licking the unscathed skin of her throat. She returned the gesture by running a hand over his neck and squeezing the back of it.

He continued to caress her as he had earlier, scenting and marking her stomach and breasts, watching with pleasure as her eyes grew heavy and her breathing laboured. He chuckled to himself and nuzzled back down to her waist, taking the band of her leathers in his teeth and tugging before releasing it again, lapping at a scratch over her hip. His way of saying he'd do it himself, but there was already enough damage done to her tonight. She giggled, a light playful sound, almost girlish, so rare to hear on her lips, and reached down to untie the bindings and slid the tight material down over her lifted hips. Instead of laying back as he expected her to, she got up on her hands and knees. His own arousal flared to life and he felt his cock twitch anxiously as he watched her, admiring the slow sensual movements of her lithe body.

He growled in consternation when she didn't immediately turn her back to him, but crawled forward and he watching in confusion as she skirted around him. He was about to turn and follow when an unexpected sensation stopped him, and a small hand wrapped around his already engorged and intensely sensitive cock. He growled low in his throat and hunched his hips reflexively, digging his hind claws into the dirt. She was undeterred and he shuddered as what could only be her mouth wrapped hot and wet around the tip before slowly sinking his now pulsating member deeper, swirling her quick and talented tongue around the length as she went. He tried to look back to see her and caught sight of her small rounded ass instead, rocking gently as she moved her mouth over his heat.

That sight was more than enough to set him off and he bowled her over with a side step, forcing his tongue between her thighs without even bothering to right himself. He ran his tongue down the length of her, eager and hungry for the spiced nectar he could scent so clearly in the air around them. Her legs fell open without resistance and he heard her moan softly as she arched her hips up to meet the next stroke of his tongue. The next moan was muffled by his own growl as he felt her return the favour once more and the head of his prick dipped back into her waiting mouth. He pressed forward automatically, pushing deeper and her hands grasped his hind legs to try and slow the thrust. He shuddered and recalled his control as best he could, forcing himself to still. He managed it, though his body shook slightly with the effort, and he returned with renewed vigour to the swollen lips spread invitingly before him, grinding his tongue against her clit and purring as he felt her moan in response.