Love as a Form of Binding Ch. 05

She shrugged to herself. This wasn't the time for internal debate. They didn't have the luxury of time. How he felt for her was plainly evident and it was a whole new world to her. It made all of this easier when she thought of it in that light.

She moved her hand and his clothing left him.

Toby was startled, "Maezou?"

Maezou grinned, looking at his body in the light of the now-dark day and the flaring candle. He was a wonder to her and what she'd done for him the night before was plain to her like this.

"What we are doing wasn't ever meant for either of us, Toby. It was a way for humans to seduce and own mighty slaves. But I was not seduced, other than my desire to love you, and I give myself to you with free will. I don't know if any of those humans or the demons who bound themselves to them were in love as equally as we seem to be, or what happened to them after. But I see that this will work for us since you look younger than you did yesterday from my tiny gift to you. You were wondrous to me last night and now I see that you reclaim more of your wonder."

"One thing is done and most of the words have been spoken. We stand now at the last step to begin this between us. All that remains is that I say the last words and then we are bound. The other two things are as mortar between stones to make it stronger and us with it. Our souls remain free, but they will be tied if I say the words. Still free, but together always."

Her face lost its sternness and became more hopeful. "This is the last place where you can get out, Toby. I need this from you, but if you have a doubt, I will understand. This is forever, where we stand now."

She smiled, "Tell me if you want me forever."

Toby saw all that he needed to in her eyes, including her hope for them and even her own little fear of his rejection at the last second. He had no idea how their life would go, but he wanted her beside him and it was far more than enough. He looked at her skin and her body. His eyes roamed over everything and though it was there, he knew that it wasn't only lust that he felt. His gaze fell on her navel and he wondered about that.

Maezou misinterpreted his look with a nod and her pubic hair disappeared. She tilted her horned head with a mischievous grin, "Do I need to tempt you, Toby? This will be yours if I finish it."

She smirked with a laugh at herself. "I want to be yours anyway," she said with a helpless shrug, "I couldn't resist saying it that way."

He smiled a bit shyly, "I wasn't looking there, but I think I've found another thing that I'd like you to keep. Of course I'm tempted, Maezou. But I think you know that as much as I want that, I also want that wonderful body against me because you'd want to be against me -- even if it's to sleep together in a snowstorm. I'm not helpless, though I thought that I'd be. I want you in my life. There's really nothing to decide for me here."

She nodded, "I am learning that if I want the simplest way to hold a thought so that it is straight and clear, I only have to ask you. I am tempted here myself and it is as you say. All of my life alone, and now I hunger to feel you against me. I feel lust for you. I admit it freely. But beyond it I feel an ache to have you against me always. I have never felt anything as I did with you against me as you slept."

He shook his head and grinned, "I feel as though I'm getting married here."

Maezou saw the comparison to the human ritual and her heart seemed to swell inside her. With that wonderful way that he had of simplifying things for himself, he'd just made everything as clear to her. She nodded, "Yes, though this is much more than that. Humans who have done this were powerful to begin with among their kind - sorcerers and witch kings. This will be as a marriage, Toby. It must be so in many ways unless I am to be a complete slave and I know that it is not your way. So we draw from each other and give as well. I become calm already and I will raise a lord above me because of it. Now, tell me that you want me forever. I feel it from you so strongly, Toby, but I must hear you speak the words or I cannot do what we need. I want you forever, Toby, and I am one who has never wanted anyone or anything before you. Say it now if you can."

He shrugged since it was so simple to him, "I love you, Maezou." He smiled, looking suddenly like a little boy and it made her gasp as she thought of something that she'd never thought possible for her.

"You need the words, Maezou? I can do that easily. I want you forever."

She knew that this would be different from any other time that she'd had to kneel to a lord in the dark realms, but she wasn't prepared for this at all. Maezou's eyes closed as she smiled and the candle almost scorched the ceiling. Her arms rose from her sides as she was transfixed. The wind outside began to scream past the corner of the house.

Toby stood watching in silence. He felt as though he couldn't move without falling over for the feeling of weakness all over him. He stared at Maezou. She was panting as she opened her eyes again and he saw them roll upwards.

She knew that this moment had to end soon or she'd never draw another breath. She had to get to him. Her head felt as though it could only loll backward, but she forced it to face him and did her best to close the distance between them. There was nothing mentioned in the old text about this. It had undoubtedly been transcribed from an ancient scroll or tablet, and it was easily possible that something had been left out or lost in the translation - such as the effect on the one bound. She felt herself being held back and it wasn't what she wanted or needed at this point, so she almost lunged with the effort.

She took a step toward him and fell to her knees. It wasn't close enough, and so she fell forward and crawled to him. With a sudden shock, Toby saw that her back was wet with sweat. Her hands felt hot as they found his feet and she placed her forehead on the floor with the tips of her horns against his skin. Instantly, his skin began to prickle everywhere and in barely a second he felt the beginnings of what he knew would soon be rivulets of sweat from under his arms. His chest was wet in another moment and his knees felt even weaker.

Before he could really begin to come to grips with it, there were strange moaning words from her and then she spoke in English as the wind wailed.

"As before, I say it to you also: I am as nothing before your will. My body... my heart... and my soul, everything I have, - all that I am - to the one whom I serve. I am yours, my lord."

The candle went out.

The wind fell off steadily and in the twenty seconds that they stood frozen there gasping, the sky began to lighten and the room grew brighter.

Toby felt a bit odd for a moment in his chest, but it passed as he grew accustomed to it quickly. He looked down to her heaving ribs.

"Maezou? Are you hurt?" He had nowhere to move here with her horns on his feet and so he squatted down and knelt carefully, hoping that she was alright.

For maybe five seconds, she made no reply, and then her voice sounded almost like two voices for a moment and she was back to sounding like the cement mixer as she laughed softly for a second.

As she spoke, her voice gradually took on the same qualities that she'd used since she'd gotten up from his couch. It just took her a bit to get there, she was so weak now. "I'm fine, Toby. I feel better now, and I am so happy." She raised herself up a little and looked at him. "I have never been happy to be in someone's service before. Beg me, ask me, tell me, or command me. I'd do anything for you, Toby."

He chuckled, "Way too complicated, Beautiful. Just love me and I'll love you. If you have a thought, I want you to tell me, the same as before. I don't want anything different now. I think if I did, than I'd be abusing the trust you've shown me. Ok?"

She nodded through her tears, "Ok."

Toby was relieved and he stroked her head, "Is this the reason that you wouldn't let me put my tongue in your mouth last night? You wanted to remember this way for us and you didn't want to risk messing it up?"

She sat up on her knees, smiling at him, "Yes, that's exactly why. I couldn't explain it all to you last night, and I knew there was something about it that I needed to remember. I needed to think it through for myself. Toby, I can't think properly while you're kissing me."

He reached for her and stood up, taking her along with him. Maezou slid her arms around his neck and leaned against him, glad now to be his and feeling her strength returning to her.

"You said that we'd have some time after the first thing."

He felt her nod and she looked up, "Yes, why?"

Toby smiled, "I want you to stop thinking for a few minutes."

She didn't understand at first, but she sighed her reply a second after his kiss began. Maezou relaxed into him, content now to stop all of the thought processes going on in her head but one. When his tongue slid along her lips, she pulled back for a moment.

Toby wondered what the problem was now, but he saw her open-mouthed smile and heard her delighted chuckle just before she kissed him. He felt her mouth open and it seemed to him that her tongue now did some sort of dance, the way that it enticed his into her mouth.

When his tongue finally slid into her mouth it was another revelation to her. The slight coolness and the way that he teased took her breath and she pressed herself to him more. It came to her that she had little choice in it -- her knees felt as though they'd buckle at any time. Her breasts were crushed against his chest in the most wonderful way and she could feel the urgent press of his manhood against her belly.

She moved slightly and the pressure increased in response as it twitched. If she stretched upwards a little now, she thought that she might be able to let it him press against, and maybe just under her pubic bone, but she didn't want to move. She felt herself growing wet in anticipation and she thought that her heart had surely grown wings.

A tiny lightbulb lit up in her mind as she realized that this was the way that it was supposed to be between them, as different -- and as similar as they were to each other.

What wasn't supposed to be happening here was the dull thump that she felt in the building through her feet.

They pulled apart gasping and he rested his forehead against hers carefully. It wasn't just a gesture, she knew at once. Toby was every bit as breathless as she was. The thumping began again.

"What is that, Toby?"

He listened for a second and groaned, "It sounds like somebody's pounding at the door." He shook his head. "If it weren't for this storm, I'd just ignore it. But it could be somebody who needs help or something." He looked around, "Uh, what did you do with my pants?"

Maezou was prepared to fight back a murderous impulse at being interrupted. It was what always came to her if she was in the middle of something as she hunted and some fool demon got in her way. But it had only been a thought and then it was gone. She smiled to herself. She was Toby's now, and there was the proof. "They're on the bed."

He pulled them on, struggling to get himself arranged and began to walk, wondering whether it was at the front or the back door. Maezou followed. The next time that the thumping began, he knew it was the door from the house to the garage and was puzzled. "Who the heck would be there? Somebody must have come in through the door at the back of the garage."

As he reached for the doorknob, Maezou pulled him back. "Stand a few steps back, Toby. I know who it is."

Before he could protest that she wasn't wearing anything, Maezou opened the door. There was no one there. He looked past her calves and noticed the snow on the garage floor, already melting. There was something wrong about that, he thought. The garage was unheated.

Maezou's hand fell from the doorknob as something pushed her back to land on the floor with a thump. Toby stared, watching her roll on the floor laughing as she struggled. He heard breathing, but...

"Stop, Zele!" she cried out helplessly, "Stop, please, just stop."

The breathing stopped suddenly and then Toby saw a beast standing over her which looked something like a huge dark grey dog to him. Other than the glowing amber eyes which now looked at him, the comparison was loosely possible, but it ended as the attitude shifted instantly and he could see it clearly as it glared at him. The snout rippled and the lips curled back in a snarl which shook the house. The shape was still generally dog-like, but the thing looked to be made out of pieces of flint - quivering, barely restrained muscles under flint.

Maezou's hand came up and pulled the head down by the top of the snout, "No, Zele."

The change in the thing was instant. It shifted before his eyes and grew slightly smaller. The flint, or whatever it had been was replaced by fur, and he was looking at something like an anthropomorphic mix between a human girl and a large dog which now regarded Maezou with a lot of affection. He heard words from her and Maezou answered, pointing over her head back to Toby. The thing looked to be thinking for a moment.

"So good to see you again," she said to Maezou, "even better like this. Zele has not seen you like this since we were young, before you went to the pits. You are more alive again, as Zele always remembers you."

She sniffed for a moment and became aware of something. "So it is true." She stepped away cautiously to the side. "Zele is sorry if you were mating and Zele stopped it." She crouched on her haunches to look at Toby. "Is it him?"

Maezou got to her feet and stood next to the animal, reaching around to hold the head to her hip. "Yes, Zele. We did not begin, but we were about to. It's so good to see you too. I've missed you."

She looked at Toby, "Until last night, Zele was my only friend. We haven't seen each other in," she shrugged, "a thousand years at least. We - she and I, thought that she's a kind of hell hound, since she can be one as you saw, but this is the other way that she can be. We've never found another one like her, so we don't really know what she is."

Zele nodded, "That means that I am The Zele." She slunk slowly toward Toby with her lips pulled back into a teasing smile. "Zele wants to see this one. She feels what comes from you both and she must see for herself who it is that makes you feel this." Toby stood a little nervously and thought to take a step back.

"Hold still, Toby," Maezou said, "let her look at you. It's important to me. Please?"

Toby nodded and forced himself to be still as he watched her come. She sniffed his leg and then smelled higher, bumping her nose against the bulge in his jeans that hid his genitals. She looked up for a moment. "Toby? Is that how you are called?"

He nodded, "Yes. Why were you at that door?"

The smile grew wider and she stood up, placing her paws onto his shoulders heavily. He felt her fur against his chest as she leaned in to smell him. "There are eyes which Zele does not wish to be seen by if it can be avoided. Zele closed the door outside again. Leave it unlocked, Toby and this one too. Nothing will come in while Zele is here. Leave it unlocked, or Zele will open it so that it stays open, or maybe make my own door in the wall the next time. Never make Zele wait again. Zele is sorry to stop your first time together, but you needed to know that Zele is here."

She sniffed under his jaw and then he felt the tip of her hot tongue against his throat. Toby began to flinch, but she held him fast. "If you wish, Zele can put her weight on you and you will be on the floor. Zele seeks to know you by your scent, so that she can find you among other humans." She pulled her head back, tilted playfully, "or Zele can mark you another way if you wish. You may drown..."

"No, Zele," Maezou said hurriedly, "Hold still Toby. She's playing with you. She just wants to know what you smell like."

"Playing with you," the creature nodded, "Zele thinks that is what she would like too. Zele has played with men before. It is always good if Zele wants them." She eased down onto her paws again with a sigh, "But Zele's mate would not understand. And you have my friend now."

Maezou tilted her head as she stepped over, "You have a mate, Zele? When did this happen?"

"Not long. Zele has only trained him to me for a month maybe." She sighed again, "He is only a hell hound, not like Zele. Like any other of his kind, he cannot speak, but he is big and brighter than most, and he makes Zele's little place feel so good. He is very good for me and kind, the best that I have found for me. But Zele likes to talk when she plays. Men are better for this. You are lucky."

She looked at Toby, "Zele likes this one. He can talk more than this?"

Maezou nodded, "Yes. He's just shocked, Zele."

"Zele understands," she said as the playful look returned, "Not many can find their tongues when I am near them. They hide it well, but they all lust after Zele's beauty." The two females shared a smirk at each other before Maezou tousled her fur. "You are a beauty, Zele," Maezou laughed, "the wildest beauty alive."

"Maezou," Toby said, "I don't understand a lot of this."

"Maezou?" Zele looked at her, "You show this much trust to him? Surely he must be worth much to you, old friend."

She looked at Toby, "Zele likes you even more, Toby. Zele sees what you have done together and is pleased. Finish it soon. Zele will stay until you are stronger -- or until she needs her mate again."

She turned to Maezou, "Hurry. You are still not noticed. Do this in a more hidden place. The storm hides you, but Zele was close and she could feel what was done."

Maezou nodded and looked at Toby, "She's right. We need a place, "she said, "I want-"

The microwave chirped in complaint, as did a few other electronic devices around the house. Toby sighed, "Power's out again. Let's go downstairs, I'll light the woodstove, and we can camp out."

Zele thought for a moment. "There are chambers below this level. If that is what he means, go there, Maezou, and do this quickly."

She shook her head, "He needs to know more, Zele. I have to tell him more."

Zele stood up and leaned against Maezou. She looked into her friend's eyes and licked her jaw. "Zele understands, but you have little time. You will be missed, now or later, and then what? You must do this."

She thought to herself a moment, "It must be this night, and you should begin within this hour. You know who it was who told Zele. That one is as a mother to Zele almost as much as to you -- all that Zele ever had for a mother. She says that things have changed and you must be quicker. You have begun it and now it must be done. Zele was told to say this."

She looked past Maezou at Toby, "Zele will be near, even if you do not see her. Your slave means more to Zele than her own life. She is many things to Zele - we are friends and as sisters, even as we are different. We crawled to each other as babies in the stink of a dung heap. We grew up and were young females in a bad place to be that. We killed many to protect each other and we were first lovers long ago in a dead pit where none could find us to hurt us anymore. We were all that we had then."

Her face was defiant, "My joy that you have each other. My fury if you are hurt, either one."

"You are her chosen." Zele nodded, "I will watch to keep you safe." She glanced at Maezou as she dropped to her feet again and the room shook a little, "Zele will make sure that nothing stops it again."

She looked at Toby, "Zele felt what was begun, so whatever words there are must have been spoken. My friend is afraid, but Zele was told to say this to you ..."