Intended Ch. 11

The green-eyed man raised an eyebrow.

"You are skeptical?"

"Would you not be if you were in my position?"

"Perhaps if you would listen with an open mind, and not dismiss me outright, you may discover it does not sound so unrealistic."

"Come in," Sala called upon hearing the thwacking of the bones. Her eyes widened. "Spiritwalker. I, I did not expect to see you again so soon."

"There is something I wished to give you, to aid in your recovery."

"Oh?" she asked in a small voice.

"Is this a bad time?"

She paused. "No, not at all. What is it?"

He lifted the lid of the covered bowl in his hands. "It is a healing salve. When I examined you I noticed many lacerations, particularly on your face. This salve will soften the skin, help your scars to fade. Even with your numerous wounds it is plain to me you are a beautiful woman. It seems a shame to leave behind a visual reminder of your ordeal when it is unnecessary."

Sala blushed.

"Where is Jakal?"

"H-he is meeting with Keta."

"I see. May I? I think you will find it really quite pleasant." He brought the wooden bowl to her nose.

"Mmm. It smells wonderful."

"It contains the essences of several different flowers -- those which heal the skin and those which heal the Spirit. Here." He took a dab of the smooth white ointment and rubbed it on the back of her hand.

"Ooh." The young woman looked at him with surprise as she felt the treated area. "That is very nice. Thank you. Thank you very much."

"You are welcome. Would you allow me to apply it to the rest of the affected areas?"

She bit her lip.

"Given your recent experiences, I can understand why you might be reluctant. Perhaps I could instruct one of your friends on the proper application."

"N-no. No, it is all right. You have shown me nothing but kindness; please, proceed."

The shaman smiled. "Thank you, Sala. I am grateful for your trust."

He lifted the furs covering her bare skin and set them aside. Starting with her hands and arms, the Spiritwalker gently massaged a generous layer of salve into her discolored skin. "Not only will it help with the scars, you should see faster healing with the bruises as well," he explained.

Next, he applied it to her face and neck and then her shoulders and down to her chest. Sala's breath quickened when he touched the top of her breasts, but his fingers carefully avoided her nipples.

Nevertheless, the unmistakable aroma of her increasing arousal wafted between them. He said nothing, however, and continued working on her torso before switching to her legs.

Sala's muscles quivered when his hands reached her thighs. The shaman stopped. "This is your wounded leg. Am I causing you pain or discomfort?"

"N-no," she replied, her voice strained, almost a squeak. "It just...it feels very good. It has...been some time since Jakal and I have shared pleasures," she admitted shyly.

"That sounds frustrating."

Sala nodded.

"I wondered if perhaps your needs had not been relieved recently. Your body released its scent not long after I began applying the salve to your skin."

Her face and chest flushed hot with embarrassment.

"Oh, I am terribly sorry; I did not mean to make you feel self-conscious. It is a perfectly natural response, and your fragrance is very lovely, quite alluring in fact. I have no doubt it brings your mate enormous pleasure."

"I, I long to share pleasures with him, to join our bodies together, but it is too painful. I cannot even provide him oral pleasures."

"That does not mean you cannot receive pleasure, whether by his fingers or his tongue."

Attempting to suppress a moan, a whimper escaped her lips.

"Did you know achieving release reduces pain? It can be a pleasant alternative to those bitter teas I am sure you have been ingesting much of lately."

Sala averted her eyes.

"All too often we rely on medicinal means alone for dealing with pain, which is really a shame when there are more pleasurable options available as well." The Spiritwalker's hand slipped between her legs, his fingers teasing her lips apart.

"Ahhh!" she cried out in surprise.

"Yes, your body is most definitely begging for relief," he observed, fingering her wet folds.

"Please! M-my mate and I have agreed to share p-pleasures only with each other!"

"We are not sharing pleasures, my dear. I am administering treatment, providing you pleasure for the purpose of assisting your healing process." The green-eyed man began caressing her nub.

"Uhhh, oh, oh. N-n-no, no. This is...this is wrong."

"Shhh. It is all right, Sala. You can let go. Allow the pleasure to wash over your body. Imagine him inside you." Two fingers from his other hand entered her, stroking in and out while he manipulated her node. "Think about how good it feels, this pleasure, how you have waited so long for it, how very much you need it. Accept what is given to you and let go. Let go, Sala. Let go."

Her muscles went rigid as her body began to jerk. "Ohhh, mmm, ohhh... Uhhh!"

The Spiritwalker continued simulating her through the wave until her body went limp. "There. Do you feel better?"

Her cheeks burning, she nodded, unable to look at him.

"You see, there is no reason for you to forgo pleasure during your convalescence. If anything, it should be encouraged. Now, I have shown one way for you to achieve release. Here is another," he said, lowering his head to her sex.

Sala gasped loudly, awakening with a jolt.

Jakal hurried into the sleeping area. "Sala? Are you all right?"

"Y-yes, my mate. I am fine," she answered, hand against her chest, trying to calm her thumping heart. "I had a startling dream is all."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"No...I do not think so, but thank you." She paused. "Jakal, may I ask you something?"

He sat down on the edge of the platform. "Of course."

"I...I feel badly asking you this, since I cannot yet return the favor..."

Jakal took her hand. "Tell me what you need."

"I wish so much that we could share pleasures. I know it would be too painful, but I need to feel your touch. So I was wondering...would you be willing to pleasure me?"

His face broke into a wide grin. "I would love to."

"You will have to be careful," she reminded him. "You know there are not many places where it does not—"

"I will not hurt you, my love," he reassured her, kissing her hand. "Just relax and allow me to bring you pleasure."

Jakal stood up and lifted the furs, exposing her naked body. Focusing his eyes on the soft curves of her feminine form, he found that the cuts and bruises fell away, becoming almost invisible to him.

Her nipples had already contracted into jutting peaks, her breath heavy in anticipation. He traced them with his fingers while she shivered under his touch. "I am glad you asked this of me," he said, holding her eyes captive while he stroked her sensitive skin. "There is nothing I like more than to taste you, to bury my nose in your scent."

"Mmm."

He leaned forward and kissed her, grazing her lips, teasing her tongue with the tip of his. Moving to her ear, he sucked the silky lobe into his mouth, enjoying the gasp it elicited as she trembled.

Running the tip of his tongue along the outline of her ear, he blew on it, his hot, steamy breath caressing her skin, evaporating the wetness while Sala whimpered from the sensation. "Do you remember the first time I placed my fingers inside your second entrance?"

She nodded.

"I wish you could have seen your womanhood then. It looked like a flower in bloom. Your lips were so full they parted, revealing the soft pink at its center. It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen."

"Oh, Jakal," she sighed.

His fingertips skimmed her neck, her shoulders, her chest. "Your essence glistened all over your petals and flowed out of you like honey, dripping onto my chest. And your tiny organ emerged like a bud ready to open. The moment my tongue touched you, you cried out for me and pushed back hard, covering my face with your sweet juices."

Sala groaned, her sex tightening.

"I could have tasted you all night," he went on, playing with her nipples. "Afterwards, while you slept, I rubbed my hand on my chest so I could smell and taste you again."

"Ohhh."

Jakal inhaled deeply. Leaning over, he dipped the tip of his tongue inside her ear and whispered, "Your scent intoxicates me, woman. It tells me your body burns for me, that you are hot and wet, aching for my touch."

Gazing into his mate's eyes, he stood up. Without a word he slid his fingertips between her breasts and down her abdomen. Sala tensed, whimpering when they encountered her dark curls.

Jakal groaned as the concentrated heat radiating from her womanhood warmed his skin. Reaching between her thighs, his finger caressed the length of her folds, sliding through the silky liquid until his fingertip made contact with her swollen node.

"Yes, oh yes, oh please," she begged, quaking as he stroked the sensitive bump.

Smiling when she cried out her release, the feel of her wet flesh palpitating beneath his hand sent a long pull through Jakal's groin. "When you have recovered I will spend an entire day pleasuring you, making you scream my name again and again. I will bring you to release so many times that by the end of the day my breath on your skin will make you peak." Leaning down, he kissed her, their lips barely touching. "Would you like that?"

"Oh, yes," she groaned. "Please, Jakal! Taste me, I need to feel your tongue."

Watching him climb onto the platform, Sala noticed his erection straining against his leggings. Struck by inspiration, she cried out, "Wait! Take off your garment."

Smiling, he untied the waist and removed his leggings. She reached out her uninjured hand toward his manhood. "Can I touch it?"

He came to her. Wrapping her fingers around it, she felt his heat, sighing as she stroked his full length. The foreskin glided with her hand, massaging his member while its head leaked fluid.

"Mmm...Your skin is so very soft and yet you are so hard...so hot in my hand."

Jakal moaned. "Oh, woman. That feels so good."

Her fingers crept up to the tip, spreading the natural lubrication all over its surface as she caressed it. Teasing the membrane where the foreskin attached, she smiled when her mate groaned, body shaking with pleasure.

"I wish I could take you in my mouth right now, feel you with my tongue," she confessed, her voice low.

He shuddered. "Uhhh."

Her hand slid down and resumed stroking him. "I long to rub myself against you, to feel your strength, the tightness of your body. How I burn to kiss and lick you all over, how I need you to enter me -- anywhere, everywhere."

"Sala..."

She paused to fondle the sensitive head of his organ before taking his length back into her hand. "If I close my eyes I can actually feel you slipping inside, your hardness filling me, completing me," she moaned, rocking her hips in memory of the sensation.

Her mate's skin glistened with a sheen of perspiration. Muscles trembling, his breathing grew heavy and shallow.

"I wish I could describe the pleasure I feel as you thrust in and out of me. It is as if you touch me everywhere at once. And in those moments nothing else matters; all I want is to give myself to you."

A rumble rose from deep in his chest. "Woman, you have no idea how good it feels to take you."

"But even when you take me, Jakal, in the end you always lose control and give yourself to me." She closed her eyes for a moment. "I love that last hard thrust before you stiffen, your body shuddering against mine, the feel of your manhood jerking, releasing your hot essence deep inside me."

"Guhhh!" Jakal lurched forward, body spasming. His eyes rolled up as his tool jumped and twitched in her grasping fist, spattering her chest with his seed.

After recovering, he looked down and saw Sala caressing his manhood in one hand while the fingers of the other gathered up his essence. Staring into his eyes, she took them into her mouth.

"You glorious woman!" he exclaimed, hurrying onto the platform where she awaited him with her legs already parted.

Her pace unhurried, Keta walked the inner perimeter of the settlement, deep in thought. When faced with a difficult decision, she found the steady rhythm of her footfalls helped clear her mind of extraneous details, allowing her to analyze something at its most basic level.

The Spiritwalker's latest claim had given her much to contemplate.

She welcomed the cover of darkness, making it possible to pass undisturbed. The curving path she trod led her past the line of dwellings, but the Clan Leader barely noticed the murmurs and glowing firelight coming from those entrances open to the night air.

Impassioned voices breached the quiet, breaking her concentration. Although not one given to prying into private discussions, upon hearing her own name she paused to listen in spite of herself.

"I heard Keta is going to banish the Spiritwalker. She is just waiting for his wounds to heal," one individual asserted.

"Winter is only a few moon cycles away. He could not survive alone without shelter and supplies, and he could never gather everything he needs before the first snowfall. If he is going to die anyway, why would she bother with treating his injuries?" another pointed out.

"It is possible he could make it if he found another People, although I cannot say it would trouble me if he did not," a third said.

"Word is the Spiritwalkers are all coming here because they are going cast out the dark spirit which made him attack Sala," someone else added.

"Dark spirit or not, I do not want the Spiritwalker anywhere near my family. His presence is bad luck for our people, and the longer he stays here, the more danger he poses to our Clan."

"Our spiritual leader walks the Other World on our behalf, puts himself at risk for us. Should we blame him if during one of his journeys a malicious spirit overwhelmed his own?"

"That is true; we do not even know for certain he is guilty."

"Are you blind? Sala could not inflict those injuries on herself. Besides, they disappear at the same time and both come back looking...well, you have seen them."

"It does not really matter what we think. If our Leader does not banish him soon, I heard the Light-Eye and his mate will leave our people and move to Eagle Clan."

As several panicked voices clamored to respond, Keta realized with some embarrassment how long she had been eavesdropping and resumed her walk. Still, their speculations troubled her. As she continued on she found herself distracted, drawn instead to the usually-indistinct buzz of conversation. Although she no longer lingered outside of residences, again and again she picked up snippets of dialogue about the Spiritwalker.

One thing was clear. She needed to gather her people soon before the rumors grew out of control.

Lying in the Gathering Place with a naked, sleeping woman on either side, the Light-Eyed Spiritwalker stared into the dark, sorting through the information he had gathered thus far.

Being the first of his caste here -- next to the old woman, of course -- pleased him. He now had the luxury of uncovering as many details as possible before the debate of an exceptionally contentious matter commenced. It was one of the advantages of being a member of the Owl Clan. Their settlement was the most centrally-located, relative to the others. The Light-Eye estimated it would be perhaps four more days before another of his colleagues arrived.

Well, he certainly managed to squander an exceptional life, he thought, reflecting upon the downfall of the Wolf Clan's spiritual leader. The extreme lengths the man had been willing to go both surprised and disturbed him.

He always sensed his motivations leaned more toward the political than spiritual, although that in itself was not so surprising. While not common knowledge amongst the masses, such motives were not unheard of amongst his caste. His associate was hardly the first or only one drawn to the seductive call of power.

Based on what he had seen, the Light-Eye had little doubt the Wolf Clan's Spiritwalker committed the actions of which he was accused. Whether or not to believe his claim that his aberrant behavior and subsequent memory loss were the result of possession by a malignant spirit remained debatable.

His argument, albeit a rather convenient one, did make a certain amount of sense. When he spoke to the old woman about it afterward, she dismissed the possibility. Still, his colleagues' relationship had always been rather...quarrelsome, so her reaction was unsurprising.

His mind drifted to the object of the shaman's obsession, the young female who inexplicably drove him to ruin.

While he found Jakal's jealousy a bit off-putting, he supposed the young Light-Eye had not been wholly incorrect in his observations. Although it had not been his intention, he indeed found himself drawn to Sala.

Even with her body in its current condition, her beauty shined through. He knew, however, many women were beautiful. If it were simply a matter of physical attraction it made no sense to desire a woman who was in no position to share pleasures, not when there were so many other enticing females readily available.

No, it was her story which fascinated him. A Spiritwalker motivated by power selects this young woman to become his mate. Breaking all precedent, she publicly defies him by running away. She wins over the heart of the man who was sent to retrieve her, joins with him and then dares to return home. Moreover, the man she chooses is a Light-Eyed One, perhaps the only individual apart from a Clan Leader with status enough to withstand the repercussions of committing such a brazen act of rebellion.

How had she done it? His manhood began to stiffen. He wanted a taste of this intriguing female who possessed the guile to accomplish such a feat. Perhaps if he stayed long enough she might recover sufficiently to make coupling possible. He smiled at his next thought, wondering how she might feel about being pleasured by two Light-Eyes at the same time. The idea certainly appealed to him.

The green-eyed spiritual leader groaned, his organ now swollen to its full size. In search of relief, he roused his companions without a word, slipping his hands between their thighs.

"Kitad. It is so good to see you." Sala smiled, looking up at her mother's former mate as he stood at the entryway. "Please, come in. Jakal and I have just finished eating the morning meal, but there is plenty left over."

The older man kissed her cheek, nodding at the Light-Eye as he sat down beside her. "Thank you, but I have already eaten. How are you feeling this morning, child of my hearth?"

"Not too bad. This is the best I have felt in days."

The trio visited for a time, discussing family and other light subjects before Kitad moved on to more serious matters and informed them of Veba's recovery.

"Has anyone questioned her about her involvement with the Spiritwalker?" Jakal asked.

"Well, yes and no. Keta and the old Spiritwalker have spoken with her, but Veba refuses to say anything, good or bad, about him."

"She is probably afraid," Sala remarked.

Kitad nodded. "I spoke to our Leader on my way here. Our people will meet the day after this one to discuss everything which has happened. She said she hopes you will share your experiences with the others."

"I am more than willing to share my story. It was what I wanted from the beginning, to be listened to, and believed."

"There is one other thing."

"Yes?"

"Keta wanted me to ask if you might be willing to speak with Veba."