Love as a Form of Binding Ch. 13

**This chapter flits around a little from one place to the other. I don't think that anyone will find it too distracting. O_o

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Tereth cursed. The signs were there somewhere, he fumed under his breath. They had to be. Why couldn't he see them? He fought back a mild wave of panic. He needed to come up with at least a likely trail to even begin to find the missing huntress, and damn soon. But he already had everyone that he knew on this, every disgruntled shadow, every snitch who owed him a favor, and he'd heard nothing.

He groaned when he felt that he was being summoned.

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Sharon answered her door and found Lily there holding out a single white long-stemmed rose with her hopeful smile. "I couldn't decide which color," she said, "so I brought them all."

As Sharon stared, the rose began to change its color. She touched one petal and looked up, "This is real!"

Lily nodded, "You might want to put it in a vase, if you've got one."

"I love roses, thank you!" Sharon said, as she stretched up to kiss Lily, "What kind is it?"

"All of them," her friend shrugged with a chuckle, "I'm serious, I really couldn't decide. It'll live as long in a vase as any other rose, but it'll be all of them and all colors while it does. Only you can see it for what it is, anyone else would see only a white rose that I bought in a shop. I changed it for you."

Sharon looked again. It was now the classic Tea rose in a brilliant hot pink coloring. "Thank you so much, Lily. This is amazing."

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They sat at a table in a little restaurant around the corner from Sharon's flat sipping wine and nibbling from a platter of cheeses and baked sweets as they talked of the loves in their lives. Lily hung on every word as Sharon told of hers. Sharon wanted to know about the male that Lily had loved so much.

"He was a man," she said plainly, "We came together by accident of murderous intent, I guess you'd say, each looking to humble and kill the other. He tried to summon me. That has always been a sure way to piss into the wind as far as I'm concerned. I usually kill anyone who tries if I get tired of hearing their plaintive bleating long enough -- which is why we've got to change the things that you put under your lovely drawings," she reminded the other woman.

"But I didn't kill this one, a good thing for one of my daughters or she wouldn't be here. He was a king and I was a storm demon who troubled his land. His advisers told him that I had to be killed for better weather for their crops. They told him that disasters would come to the kingdom if I was allowed to live. A year later, he'd thrown all of his advisers out on their ears, and remarkably, the weather was the same and there were no floods or droughts any more than there ever were."

Sharon sat fascinated as Lily shrugged, "We met and exchanged insults and taunts, we fought a little, and before we knew it we were in each other's arms, and neither of us had ever felt anything like it. I'd had men before and knew what to expect -- at least I thought I did, but he was so different, because he really knew how to love me intuitively. The feeling was incredibly deep for us both, and the physical side of it, well, ...

We'd literally crawl away from each other afterward," she laughed, "regretting every inch of space between us, him sore and aching in every muscle -- absolutely drained of his seed and if you can imagine it, me going the other way, too weak for the moment to even try to fly and with his semen running from whichever place on me that he'd taken me last."

She looked at Sharon grinning, and there was a sigh in it when she said, "It was wonderful."

Lily looked down for a moment and then she smiled a little self-consciously across the table, "I was never the same after he passed and, for so long, I could feel a pull toward him, though we could never be together again. I couldn't reach him. I suppose that's why I really never allowed myself to, ...

Well, "she smiled, "I can't feel him anymore. I suppose that there's a reason for that, though I have no idea why it might be. I just know that I feel that I can move forward for myself again."

"I like the way that you're not quite confident and supreme now and then for just an instant, "Sharon smiled warmly, "I get to see a different 'you' then. It's really nice."

Lily shrugged, "I guess that I just feel that I can be myself with you. I know that you're a little nervous about this, and I guess, ... well, I guess that I am too."

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Gorek sat calmly on his throne regarding Tereth. The quiet observation had gone on for long minutes already after the hunter's arrival and deep bow before his lord. Tereth willed his eyes to remain respectful in their visage. He strained to stay focused on the sand giant before him as the sound of retching and a lot of spitting came to his ears followed by the crack of a flame whip and a shriek.

Then there was silence again between sobs for a moment.

The pattern repeated itself many times, but Tereth finally glanced down for just the shortest sliver of time before he regained mastery of his will and his eyes came back up to look at his ruler impassively -- or as impassively as he could manage.

But it was too late. He'd looked away once.

"See something that you like, Tereth?" the sand demon smiled, "I know that you have dreams and aspirations to sit on the throne of a hell of your own one day. I might even help you, but you begin like this with me if you fail in this hunt."

The female doing her very best to bring the lord to his release turned her head aside to retch again, spitting out wet dust and sand, and knowing that she'd feel pain for it again. The whip cracked inexorably in another second and she sobbed as she lowered her head once more.

Gorek's face twisted just a little in his pleasure, "Watch closely, foolishly proud hunter. See what it is that you will be doing for me very soon if you don't produce some results very quickly. I have to find some use for you, don't I? You're very nearly worthless to me as a hunter, it seems."

He grunted and the woman choked. Before she could react, Gorek lifted her up and spun her around so that Tereth could see her face as he forced her down onto his sand-covered prick mercilessly. He pumped himself into her and in another moment, she was leaking his mud out of two places. She coughed and what was in her mouth sailed out in a sandy brown arc. Some of that hit Tereth in the face.

The woman screamed but Gorek still pumped. He only slid down in his seat a little as she vomited so that he could get in a little deeper. Her tormented eyes looked at the hunter, pleading silently for a second before she coughed again and found her voice.

"Make it stop," she begged, "I'll do anything, just make this stop!"

Gorek laughed as he brought his head around hers and saw her wide eyes, "You've already done most of everything that I can think of. There's just one thing that remains. See the others here. See the ones who swing the whips."

He thrust into her cruelly and it brought a scream from her that ended in her sobbing.

"You'll be one of them very soon -- maybe later today. I'll fuck your ass until your belly swells just like the others and then you can waddle just like them for me -- unless you can think of a way to pass the mud. If you can't, then it will become very hard from my secretions. It happens sometimes that some can pass the mud, so take heart and have a little hope. Those ones become my favorites. I treat them better -- for as long as they last since I can do it over and over."

He tossed the woman a good thirty feet onto the rocks there. The other men and women began to shuffle and sway toward her, beseeching her to use her tongue on them and saying that it was the only thing that broke up the cement which tormented them.

Gorek looked at Tereth," Well? Are you any closer?"

The hunter thought desperately and he looked up, having nothing more than the vaguest feeling to go by, "When I was here last, you were given three souls, my lord. A hellhound brought them. Where are they?"

"Somewhere," the lord nodded, "why?"

Tereth did his best not to let his thoughts show as he said, "That hellhound spoke," he said.

"You're really grasping at straws, Tereth," the sand giant smirked, "the conversation was from mind to mind."

He tried his best not to sneer at the dim-witted ruler, since he wasn't sure that his thoughts would remain private here. The idiot might have telepaths listening. "You were beating me, lord, as I rightly deserved, yet I heard that hellhound speak. I have heard of only one such beast. May I question the three suckers that she brought?"

Gorek gave the command that they be brought.

He looked at Tereth, "Well, not quite so useless, though we'll see. In the meantime, kneel before me and lick me clean, and maybe I'll finish filling the one who can suck so well there instead of you today."

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Sharon finished brushing her teeth. As she shut the water off, she heard a soft sound and looked down. There was a single red rose petal just coming to a stop next to her foot on the floor. She wondered about it for a moment, and then another sailed in, accompanied by a quiet giggle from the other side of the door.

She smiled and opened the door. There was no one there, but there were a few more rose petals. Sharon came out of her bathroom and stared. It was a distance of perhaps twenty-five feet from the threshold of the bathroom door to her bed, if one took the two left turns into account. Sharon had a rather old-fashioned and high bed. The top of the mattress was about three feet from the level of the floor.

The floor was covered in a layer of rose petals which increased in depth as she followed it out of the bathroom. The whole flat smelled incredibly of roses. When she turned again into the bedroom, the depth was deeper than her bed was high. There was even a thick layer of petals on the bed itself with Lily lying in the middle of it, chuckling.

There was nothing else that she could do. Sharon laughed and then she just shook her head in wonder. "Why do I have the sudden sense that this is going to be just a little different with you?" she asked.

Lily stretched languidly, "Oh, I don't know. I just know that you like roses, that's all. It's not like I'm trying to leave my own signature, is it? If I was, the place would be full of lilies. Besides, I can hide my imperfections from you like this."

"Imperfections," Sharon smirked as she let her robe fall and began to wade through the rose petals, "You've really got the most perfect imperfections, Lily."

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Lewis woke to find Gerta looking worried and uncomfortable. He thought that he understood and took her to the bathroom. Then he thought about situations such as this multiplied a thousandfold since she knew nothing about the things that people took for granted or just did without thought. Then again, she was really bright, he told himself.

She came to him looking very apologetic. He asked why and she pointed at the bowl, and he realized that she seemed to think that she'd now done something wrong by urinating in it. He took her to it and flushed. She looked so relieved.

After using the fixture himself, he taught her to wash her hands. She looked at her severed bonds where he'd set them on the edge of the bathroom sink for a moment before she hugged him. Gerta led him back to the hearth and she made it a point that he lie back. "Grrrta makes warm," she said pointing at the hearth.

She made her second point then by spending a few minutes on her hands and knees as she revived the coals and carefully chose twigs of just the right size. When she had them burning well, she added two pieces of kindling, and then a larger section of a dried branch. Lewis came to understand some things from that.

His new friend was trying to show him that she wanted to be useful to him. She was also very pointedly showing him that she was feeling more than a little receptive.

When Gerta was satisfied with the fire, she came back to him and grinned when she saw him holding the comforter open for her. She shivered for a moment as she hugged him, "Grrrta cold," she smiled apologetically. He held her tightly and smiled back.

After a few minutes, she looked at him in a questioning sort of way. She held up her hands. After indicating herself and Lewis, she made her hands into fists and held her wrists together in front of his face. Lewis watched, trying to fathom this.

Gerta pointed at him, before making a circle with her thumb and forefinger and then she began sliding her other index finger in and out of the opening of her hand a few times before indicating herself. She completed the pantomime by holding her wrists together above her head and grunting a little.

Lewis was startled. Gerta looked at him shyly and only asked, "Later?" He nodded a little tentatively, and she seemed happy. But Lewis had a thought then that this might be what her idea of sex entailed, given the way that she'd obviously been treated. He reached down and began to caress her.

Gerta looked at him curiously, "Lewis not sleep?"

He smiled, "Later."

Gerta nodded and kissed him.

It took a bit of fumbling, but Lewis rolled her onto her back and once he was finally inside her, Gerta carefully rolled them onto their sides. She set the slow and gentle pace and she was careful to show him how she appreciated him. Lewis was just as careful. Her gentle release came first and then she sighed and hugged him, cooing until he spent himself.

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Lily opened her golden eyes. The thin light coming in through the curtains told her that dawn was perhaps an hour or so away. She looked down and found that they'd slept in the same position that she remembered when she'd closed her eyes. Sharon lifted her head and looked at her.

"Thank you," the blonde said quietly. "I finally know what you meant .You were right, we can do this, just as you said." She smirked, "And even if we can't, I'm pretty sure that I'm already a willing slave to that tongue of yours."

Lily smiled, "Thank you for believing in me. You're pretty wonderful yourself. Do you have to work today?"

"No," Sharon replied lazily, "I kind of exercised the privilege of my position before you came last night and someone else will have to sit and wait for nobody to want to look at the place today." She stretched a little carefully and settled against Lily again with a soft and comfortable groan. "I'd like to see Yester today, if I could. It's past time that I got out there again for one of my visits. Do you have to be anywhere?"

Lily shrugged, "Just Yester. I need to see how a man that you know made out last night. You know Lewis Crowe?"

Sharon lifted her head, "Yes, why?"

The tall one ran her hand over Sharon's shoulder for a moment, "The lower levels under the hall were cleared out yesterday as Lord Tobias needs the lower hall. My daughter ran down a pair of goblins outside who were trying to run and they were killed, but they had another with them. I'm told that Lewis was there and asked to care for her. I sense that he's alive, but I want to know more. From what Zele said, the girl is part goblin and part kobold. Lewis knows this, and he still wanted to look after her."

Sharon was amazed, "Really? Do you think I could, ..."

"I'd want to you to see her," Lily said, "I think that she'll need clothes, and he can't just take her to the shops, can he? He may need your help, if you wouldn't mind."

"I have to see her," the blonde said, "Who's Zele?"

"One of my daughters, I have three," the demon said, "You'll meet them all."

"Well," the human said airily, "I guess that you could fly there, or just show up, or whatever you want, but I've got a real desire to see the place now. I've got a car and we are going to the same place, so, ..."

Lily smiled, knowing what was meant, "Could I ride with you?"

Sharon pulled herself up a little, "I thought you'd never ask, but could we just stay in bed for another hour, and, ... where did all the rose petals go?"

"They leave a bit of a mess, so they were just an illusion," the demon smiled, "the bloom that I gave you last night is real."

Sharon smiled, "You're not an illusion, are you?"

"No," Lily said as she hugged Sharon for a moment.

"That's good," the blonde said, pulling herself higher still to put her head on the demon's shoulder and kiss her throat, "I'd be upset if I dreamt all of that. It would have been the very best dream of my life, but this is so much better. So what are we now?"

"What do you feel that we are?" Lily asked, "I'll accept your definition since I've never done this before."

"We're friends, just as you said, but that doesn't really cover it," Sharon said, "I think it feels better if, ... well, I feel as though I've got a girlfriend, to tell you the truth."

Lily reached down to slide her hand over Sharon's bottom in a gentle caress. "I think that's probably because you've got a girlfriend. And thank you for that as well."

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Illa got up and prepared to stumble off to look for the place to pee. She saw Zele's eyes regarding her and the hand that she held up. Illa waited as the dark girl crawled to her carefully, not wanting to disturb the others. "I'll go with you," she whispered and the imp nodded.

She stared a little as Zele became the hellhound before her. "Why, Miss Zele?"

The hoarse voice came to her as the softest whisper that Zele could manage, "Four legs. Easier to stand this way. Come."

They walked off a little way together and Zele stopped. "Illa is still half asleep. Climb up. Zele's back will be smooth for you." Illa nodded and tried to hop up. It took three tries and they were off. Zele hadn't said anything, but she didn't want the imp to wander off alone, especially if she wasn't fully awake. She didn't smell or sense any dangers, but, ...

Illa eased herself down to lie on Zele's back. She hugged the hound's sides with her legs and just rested her chin on her arms. Zele smirked a little for a moment.

They found the pit and Zele waited, looking around cautiously until Illa was done. "Try to listen and look around," Zele whispered with a slightly apologetic face, "Zele makes more noise than Illa."

Illa nodded and she did her best to be watchful. She heard the hiss as Zele let go, and understood the need for her request. She just wasn't prepared for the steam that accompanied her effort.

Zele tilted her head as she padded up to Illa.

"It's nothing, "Illa grinned a little, "I just wasna ready fer that is all. I'll bet ye could cut through a frozen pond like that."

It caused them both to chuckle and Zele agreed that she likely could. "Zele - I have a surprise for Illa," she said, "Come."

She shook her head, "I try and try, but sometimes I still talk in my old way."

"That's alright. Miss Zele," Illa said earnestly, "Ye're tryin' and that's what counts. It's alright wi' me if ye trip up. I'll no mind."

They went a little further and came to a hot spring in the stone. The walls glowed dimly with chemiluminescence, the rocks reacting with something in the steam. Zele returned to her dark female shape and the pair stepped in. Illa had to wade a little carefully, since there were a few places in the pool that were over her head .When she made a misstep and went under, Zele pulled her up immediately.

"Illa must be careful," she said, "Zele does not want to lose her now. Zele wants to share a nice place with her friend, not try to tell Thiery that his female is dead because of Zele."

Illa thanked her and Zele showed her some submerged rocks to sit on and the pair sat in the hot water together in silence, just leaning against each other.