Reservoir of Power Ch. 10

Author's note- Yes, it has been awhile. Sorry about that; my life got very weird for a bit. This is the last official chapter of Reservoir, but never fear, the third book in the series has begun.

I struggled with the characters of said book because the third act was always going to be the darkest one of the three. If you have been a reader of mine, you may remember the angry feedback I got near the end of Artifice when things went south for John and Beth with regard to the militias. I expect to get more of that in the future, and I'm sorry if this isn't what some of you might want to hear (read).

That said, the darkness hasn't begun just yet and I hope that those of you who might be put off by the darker destination will still enjoy the end of this one. As always, thank you for reading!

SisterRobin

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Reservoir of Power, Chapter 10

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Grandson, this last one is extremely important... Never, and I mean never, make a deal with a coyote until you have first defined the language. ~~ J. Milton O'Leary

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As the last wisps of her dreams were drifting away, she slowly returned to her human form. Lena's vision of a warm hibernation had begun to fade into an even warmer reality. She found that she was wrapped into his loving embrace and while Lochlainn still slept, he continued to hold her in his arms and there was no place that she'd rather be.

Comfortable with her situation, Lena began to run her fingers through his impossibly long hair. Slowly dragging her nails through his red locks, she eventually trailed down to where they began to entwine into his beaded beard.

She began to finger one of the beads that he had tied there and she wondered if she possessed the skill to fashion one for him. She'd need to carve it out of a hard wood and then she's have to hand polish it to preserve the natural grain, but somehow, she knew that he would welcome this gift much more than he would appreciate a wedding ring. Then she wondered, could a shifter even wear a wedding ring?

She smiled as she absently shook her head, Lochlainn was here and that was enough. A ring meant little to her. Artio had said that Lena could keep Lochlainn, and promised that he would be by her side for the rest of her life. Lena knew that this was true, the Goddess would not lie.

But then she found herself in a different mood. Her feelings of romance had begun to morph into something more incendiary as she continued to inch her way downwards and she began to caress his hairless chest. She'd started with his collarbone and had slowly moved from there to his hardened pectoral muscles. Intent on her journey, she hadn't noticed that his eyes had flickered open. Waking at her first touch upon his skin, he was now watching her closely. He saw the sultry look upon her face and he saw nothing but her eyes.

When her fingers had traced their way to his taut abdominal muscles, he surprised her by running two of his own fingers along the outside of her hip before he grabbed her rounded bottom possessively. She hissed once in surprise, and then again in pleasure as he cupped her, squeezing her needfully. She briefly lost control of her hands as they reflexively clenched into fists and broke contact with his skin.

"Oh don't stop now," he whispered teasingly. Your touch helps me concentrate on you." Then he shifted his body, allowing his other arm to wrap around her possessively as he placed his lips near her ear and began to whisper all of the things that he was planning to do to her. Worshipping every touch with her skin was on the menu.

Lena's eyes flared in response to his murmurings, but she didn't disagree with his plans. Instead, she just began to run her sharp fingernails under the tender skin of his testicles as if to say, "I will allow you to do these things to my body, but I have you right where I want you!"

Lochlainn recognized the slight stinging sensation upon his greatest vulnerability, but rather than to change his approach, he doubled down and began to nuzzle her neck, teasingly nipping just below her ear. Her body tremored in need as he murmured, "Mate... you will love every moment of time that I spend upon you, and... I felt that tremor! I know that your body is responding whether you want to admit it or not."

"I hear your heartbeat accelerating and the intoxicating smell of your arousal is overwhelming. You smell like a mountain pool in the summertime; warm, wet, and inviting. I'm going to need another taste from there to make sure that this delicious aroma is coming from you!"

He began to nuzzle her neck again, and as he did, he allowed his hands to roam. Arriving at their destination, his fingers began to wander through the small curly hair around her lips, they were wet and sticky from her need. Her gasp told him everything.

Lost in her sensations, Lena never noticed the destruction that surrounded them. She didn't notice the broken tables or the shattered glass, not even the holes in the concrete walls caught her eye. She only saw Lochlainn. He belonged to her now and with the incredible things that he was doing to her; she wouldn't have noticed if they'd been in the middle of a forest fire. She was lost in the rhythm of his touch.

His tongue was caressing its way down from her neck and she was beginning to come apart. Lochlainn thought her skin tasted like life itself and his need to feel her soft skin was as something primal. Moans were coming from her throat and she was begging for more as his mouth reached her belly, still heading to her center.

He paused there, savouring her scent, finding it even more intoxicating than the summer honey from Artio's land. Transfixed, he lolled his head, completely lost in her essence. Impatiently, Lena thrust her body forward, bringing his mouth directly to her core. She'd placed her nub directly upon his tongue.

Startled by her need, he sent, "Pushy bitch," to her with an implied grin, but he didn't refuse her offering. He began to swirl his tongue over that tight cluster of nerve endings that she had offered him, and in so doing, he had regained control. The moment he'd begun to kiss and nibble, Lena lost any further ability to direct him; she was at his mercy.

She moaned as he caressed the inside of her thighs with his fingers, he continued to trail his tongue over her as he held her tightly into place. She needed something more and she struggled to put her words together, "Do it," was all she managed to blurt out.

His smile buried in her folds as he slowly increased his speed and continued to tongue her clit. It didn't take long before she'd begun to squirm and buck wildly, but Lochlainn held her flanks tightly in place as he began to nip her bud in synch with her first small spasms. But as she got closer to her eruption, he slowed down again, leaving her on the edge of her explosion without any means to ignite it.

As her desperation rose, she again tried to direct her man to finish her, but he knew her all too well, and he'd seen it coming. He continued to hold her tightly against the ground, continuing to nibble and kiss her. He was teasing and tormenting her, steadfastly refusing to increase his speed enough to allow her to reach her climax.

"Lochlainn, my darling," she moaned out, "I'm going... to get even... I'm going to..." but she got no further as he sucked down on her nub again. Whatever threat she had been ready to make, it was lost within her gasp of surprise and pleasure.

"Lena my darling," he said, drawing his mouth away from her, "do you want to talk, or would you like me to finish what I am doing?"

"My love, you are an evil man! I will shut up, but when I get even, you'd better remember that this works both ways! Now, make me cum... please." Lena said with a gasp.

"Ah... she said 'please', the magic word," Lochlainn said with a smirk, but he didn't continue to torture his lover any longer. He returned his mouth to her center, but this time he followed the prompting of her body's minor spasms and increased his pace with her rising need. He continued to hold her tightly with one arm as he began to run his fingers between her legs, teasing her skin and driving her even higher.

With one arm tightly holding her to the ground, his mouth pulsating at her center, and his fingers tickling between her thighs, Lena was torn between the sensations. Each of them struggled for supremacy in her overloaded brain. She had lost her will to fight.

Lost in what he was doing to her, she felt the first touch of the beads that had been braided into his beard. As they swung in rhythm with the lovers' thrusts, they began to brush her behind. Tickling her, they slowly and rhythmically caressed her nethers in a way that she had never experienced. Her brief startlement burned away as the beads assaulted her last barrier, gently tearing it down and sending her crashing over the edge of sanity.

As she came undone, she cried out Lochlainn's name amid a shriek of pleasure as the spasms of climax washed over her. Lochlainn continued to lick her button as she convulsed and screamed his name; he loved her flavour and the sound of her joy.

Eventually she panted out, "No more, no more... too sensitive... no more, baby." Giving in to her pleading, Lochlainn rolled her into a sitting position on top of him, and with her legs splayed wide; he entered her with one thrust and began to rock into her."

"Oh Goddess," she moaned as her arousal began to spike again.

"I love you, Lena," he sent directly into her brain. "I've wanted you since the first time I ever laid eyes upon you."

"You're, you're in my head!" she sent back with a moan.

"We are mates now. Reach out with your mind and you'll feel my emotions and be able to ride my mind, just as you are riding me physically. We'll always be able to understand what the other is feeling, but reach out quickly... I'm losing control, and I honestly don't know how much longer I can last."

"How do I do that?" She sent back somewhat desperately, for even though she had just cum, Lochlainn's rocking was already getting to her.

"Look into my eyes... then go deeper." He panted out verbally, forgetting to send the message as he had intended to do. "The expression on my face should draw you in."

Lena turned her head and leaned into him until all she could see were her lover's eyes as Lochlainn desperately tried to control their pace. It was obvious that he was struggling to delay his orgasm, but she could also see that he wanted his mate to see all of him, wanted her to understand everything that he was. His mind opened to her as he unveiled his naked soul to her... and she slid into his mind as he was sliding into her body.

Lena felt all of the things he was feeling: his love for her, the intoxication of his arousal, even the throbbing sensations coming from his erection. Shocked at this new physical feeling of maleness, she almost lost her mental connection with her mate before she felt his mind wrapping and enveloping her own in a loving embrace, sending her calming thoughts and complete acceptance of all that she'd ever be.

She knew instantly that just as she'd felt and understood his maleness, he now understood her femininity. As she thrust into him, or he into her, somehow the lovers met in the middle of their consciousnesses, neither of them able to tell where one of their bodies ended and the other began. Their minds had merged just as their bodies had been doing for days now.

She understood his absolute need to cherish and protect her, while he could feel her need to bring new life into the world as a sign of their love. This sharing of spirit spun them even higher as they reached their plateau together, shaking and throbbing in a shared orgasm like neither had understood possible.

When they were finally coming down from their shared high, and as their last convulsions were gradually losing power, the lovers still clung together, arms grasping one another tightly even as their consciousnesses were separating back into their two distinct bodies. They struggled to regain their breath as they fought to remember their own names and memories.

Lena spoke first, letting out a gasp, "Holy Artio, what was that?"

Lochlainn's voice rumbled, "The best sex of my life... Hell, the best sex of anyone's life! I can still feel what is was like to be you."

Lena replied, "And I felt your past and the loneliness. Then I met your friends from college, and I felt what it was like to play football!"

Lucky smiled and said, "I think I may know all of your secrets now. I even heard your childhood lies... not that there were not many of those."

Blushing, Lena looked away from Lochlainn to regain her composure, but then she gasped when she saw the massive damage that had been done to the Shunkaha.

"No... don't worry about your secrets." Lochlainn soothed, not understanding why she had gasped. "I love you even more now that I've seen your life!"

"Baby, that's not it! Lochlainn, look around us. What happened here? Their bar is completely destroyed."

Lucky took a long look around where the naked lovers were still tightly entwined. Then he sighed and said, "I think we happened to it."

"Oh my Goddess, what did we do?" Lena hissed.

Lochlainn chuckled darkly and said, "We mated. Bears tend to make a mess of things."

"We destroyed their bar!"

"Look at the doors my love; it looks like they barricaded us inside. I think they were trying to contain the damage."

"Then they know what we've been doing in here," Lena said, turning bright red from embarrassment.

"Yeah... I'm guessing that it had to be fairly obvious," Lucky replied. "But on the bright side, they didn't attack us while we were doing it, and it looks like they've set us up quite well. Look... They've left us food and water... and these mattresses were not here either. So they can't be too mad at us... umm... I hope."

"How long do you think we've been in here?"

Lochlainn glanced at the torn and discarded packaging from the food and seeing the spoor in the far corner, he replied, "several days at least."

"Oh Goddess," Lena mumbled again. "We've been in here for several days? Ylva and Mary are going to be frantic; they are going to kill us!"

"Only if the wolves don't kill us first baby," Lochlainn replied with a grim smile.

"Will we have to face them naked? Surely, our clothes have been destroyed!"

"Looks like they thought of that as well," Lucky replied, pointing to the barricaded entrance where their luggage was neatly stacked beside the boulders and tree trunks that blocked their egress.

"Well... if they are providing us with clothes, then they must not be planning on killing us right away," Lena said optimistically as she hopped out of Lochlainn's lap and moved to fetch their bags.

Lochlainn didn't immediately reply and Lena eventually said, "Everything is here, even our personal stuff."

"I guess we can dress up a bit before we see them then," Lochlainn replied with a grin. "Somehow I see the bitches' paws in this; I don't think any of their warriors would have thought to provide you with your cosmetics and a hairbrush."

"Oh hush, you know I don't wear much make-up!"

"C'mon my love; lets get started so they don't have to wait any longer."

Lochlainn then rose and grabbed one of the jugs of water that the pack had provided. "This sure won't feel as good as a warm shower, but it should get the smell of sex off of us."

It took them about thirty minutes to freshen up. Somewhere along the line, they had shifted back into their human state after a several days of rutting as bears, but that didn't mean that they'd left the funky smells behind. That took some cold-water scrubbing to get off, quite a lot of it actually. Next they brushed their teeth with the pack provided toothbrushes, before donning their finest clothes, a Montana Grizzlies t-shirt and jeans for Lochlainn and a Misfits team jersey and jeans for Lena.

"Braid my hair, Ursula," he said, breaking the silence.

"Braid your hair? But you always wear it free," she replied in confusion. "I like the Viking look."

"Leave it free at the back then. Just do small twists behind each ear. You and I are preparing for battle, and our warriors have always tied the sides of our hair to keep it out of our faces during combat. If we had access to them, I'd ask that you tie feathers or bones into each braid. We will be facing the wolves; we should do them the honor of dressing in our full battle dress."

"Sit down my love," she said. "I'll do my best, but I have not tied hair since I was a little girl."

Lochlainn sat quietly and she went to work on his long hair. She was far from confident in her own work, but he trusted her completely and his trust soothed her enough to do her best.

It didn't take her long to finish the first side. Even though her fingers were less than nimble, she had managed to tightly braid his hair. But as she looked at her finished work, she decided that it needed something...

Lochlainn was unaware that she'd had this thought until he heard the ripping sound. "What was that," he asked.

"Do you recognize these?" She said as she held two thin strips of emerald green cloth before him. Focused on the cloth, he never saw the devious smile on her face.

"Oh my... You know that I do, that particular fabric is near and dear to my heart," he relied with a shocked look as he remembered her thong.

"Yes, you need to be reminded that this is what you are fighting for," she smirked as she began to tightly ribbon the fabric into his braid.

"But I liked those, I'm sure they looked better on you" he replied solemnly.

"Then buy me more of them," she whispered into his ear. "I've seen your dirty thoughts and I know the things you dream of."

"I'm so busted," he said with a rueful grin.

The two continued to bicker as she finished tying her warrior's hair. They were enjoying their time together; the simple pleasure of being in loving company was something they both had longed for. Lochlainn resolved to repeat this experience- every single day of his life. For the first time ever, he felt like he belonged with someone.

As she chattered away, Lena was shocked when she noticed that for once she wasn't grumpy in the morning. She idly wondered, "How was it that in becoming a bear, she had ceased to act like one? Didn't the words grumpy and bear go together?"

Then it occurred to her that she hadn't eaten yet, and yet here she was, refraining from killing her companion. "Love is good," she thought to herself, "and... oh Goddess, the sex was even better!"

"Yup, I can absolutely agree with that!" Lochlainn sent back to her with a mental grin.

"Shit! I keep forgetting that you can hear me now."

Lochlainn let out a burst of laughter, only to then yelp in pain when Lena yanked one of his braids as she growled at him threateningly.

"You'd better knock that crap off, or despite your nickname, you will never be getting lucky again," she threatened, feigning an angry expression.

Lochlainn thought about laughing at Lena again, but she was still glaring at him, not to mention the fact that she still tightly held his hair in her fist. He could tell that Lena was now attuned to him and since she was growling at him, he assumed that she had probably 'heard' him consider laughing. So like most mated men since the beginning of time, he chose to suck it up.

"Okay, okay, my angel" he sent, "I'll behave, but if you are finished with my hair, we ought to go see the wolves and discover how angry they are with us."

Then he sent, "Kiss for luck?"

"Yum," she replied, and all was forgiven. Things were right with their world. They were in love and they had found a way to link their lives together.

The Shunkaha however... the lovers had, quite literally, completely fucked it up. The devastation of the bar was total; what had been the American continent's preeminent shrine to alcohol had been reduced to rubble. The mirror behind the bar had been a priceless artifact of the west. Many of the contents were irreplaceable.