Sleeping Beast Ch. 06

Nivid's eyes widened.

"Nooo." He drew the word out, turning his head slowly side-to-side.

Speaking was such an effort that Nivid usually conserved words, skipping here or there, but his desire for her to be confident in this answer made him add, quite clearly, "We are alone."

Troi hesitated, her eyes falling away. Nivid waited. That was one nice thing about talking with him: halting speech and lack of practice made him a good listener.

When she found the words she wanted, Troi looked up, trying to keep the answer she needed to hear from showing itself in her eyes. "Do you share everything? Is he with you when....?" She blinked, her mouth half-open, waiting for words which refused to emerge.

Her speechlessness wasn't an issue: Nivid knew. He was silent for a long moment, long enough for Troi's stomach to start roiling in apprehension, and when his head moved, she couldn't divine the meaning of the motion.

"Vesa... Argus...." Nivid stopped and restarted after another pause, playing havoc with her emotions. "I close door."

He lifted his head from the pillow beside hers, patting the space between his horns with one giant paw, then shook his head, a definite no this time. "Argus has no door. Does not know."

Troi swallowed convulsively as she realized the enormity of what he'd said. The news, which perhaps should have relieved her anxiety, made her feel even less sure of herself. "You can block your thoughts? Even memory? So he doesn't know?"

Nivid's chest expanded and deflated, expelling his huge breath slowly. Gravely, he tapped his lips. "Slow talk."

His tone implied a question, but after a moment, Troi saw that Nivid was apologizing in advance for his speech difficulties, for the amount of time his words would require. Her heart melted.

Any detailed discussion with him was slow, doubly so when the subject had nuances to describe, as this one did. Every other word he spoke was mangled in some way, and today he couldn't omit as many words as usual, for fear of diluting his message.

The softening expression on her face was mirrored in the subtle relaxation of Nivid's body. Lowering his hand to her hip, he began to talk.

Many clarifying questions and a long while later, Troi thought she understood what he'd been saying.

"So, if you were fighting a bear or hanging precariously from the clifftop, you wouldn't be able to lock him out, but the rest of the time you can? Even memories?"

She forestalled him with a look when he opened his mouth to correct her. "He doesn't get memories of your thoughts, or details, but he does get general impressions of significant events. So... if you took down... say, a big elk... Argus wouldn't wake up with memories of gutting it, or every step you took while stalking the herd, but he'd know you killed a buck? Is that it?"

Nivid nodded emphatically.

Troi continued. "He would wake knowing that you'd eaten well yesterday, but not remembering each bite of every meal?"

He nodded again.

Troi looked down at her hand, which was resting-- again without permission-- on the portion of Nivid's tunic covering his breastbone. "He'd know that you'd lain with a woman, but he wouldn't remember every kiss."

Nivid went very still. It might not have been phrased as one, but he knew her statement for the question it was, and he was loathe to answer it. He moved his hand to the side of her face, making their size difference particularly plain. His hand covered nearly the whole side of her head. He stroked her cheek with his thumb. "We are alone... but I luff you. You more important than food."

He moved his hand back to the top of his head, and his voice became very soft. "Too much. Sometimes can't stop."

Moving Troi's hand to rest over his heart, Nivid covered it with his own. "Try, Trishta. I try."

Troi lowered her head and allowed Nivid to pull her gently against his chest. She left her hand where it was, her fingers making miniscule lines on the rough weave of his tunic as she thought about what he'd said-- and what he hadn't said. She sighed.

She'd been hoping it wouldn't be necessary for her to speak with Argus about what went on in his brother's bedroom, but apparently she couldn't avoid it if she wanted to rid herself of the most horrifying images in her head. She made a face, trying to convince herself she was dreaming up trouble where none existed.

Even thinking these questions was ridiculous: Argus had oiled her bottom and given her a clyster before "sacrificing" Troi to his brother. He was lying on the floor staring up at her when she shook and squealed her way through the first orgasms of her life. What did it matter if he knew Nivid was kissing her now?

But Troi's thoughts returned again and again to her first night at Zamok Denova. Argus' slurred voice and dazed eyes made sense in light of what she'd learned. Her fingers quieted as her thoughts slipped into the same terrible rut. How much had Nivid been able to keep from his brother those first few times they were together? How intimately was Argus involved in what had happened since then?

Troi believed Nivid, but if the key to breaking the Denova brothers' curse was a woman's love, the stakes were higher than her sleeping in his bed. If Nivid could hide things from his brother, why wouldn't Argus be able to do the same?

The love in Nivid's eyes was pure and unencumbered, but would he know if his emotions were being manipulated? What if he'd been prodded into this relationship in pursuit of a higher goal? What would happen when the curse was broken?

Troi was terribly afraid Nivid's affection was linked to his intolerable situation. He came from nobility and great wealth. If he didn't look like a monster, why would he be interested in an unremarkable low-born whore?

Troi let her breath hiss out, becoming more aware of Nivid. He wasn't doing anything other than stroking her back, but she could feel the restlessness running through him. For the first time, she considered the possibility that this day had been as difficult for him as it was for her. Even if his emotions were being manipulated, they'd feel real to him now, wouldn't they?

Her arm crept from between their bodies to wind itself around his waist.

Sometimes it was hard for her to know what he was thinking. Perhaps the dark, solid pools of his eyes contributed to her confusion, or maybe the broad, ridged brow wasn't as mobile as an un-cursed human forehead. Most of the time, she simply assumed he was happy because his actions implied it. Nivid was constantly touching her, petting her, pulling her to lie more closely against him; he wanted her nearby whether or not they were making love. If he ever held himself stiff in her arms or turned his face from her kiss, she'd know immediately that something was amiss.

But now, with his body pressed to hers and nearly vibrating with nervous tension, she wondered if she'd missed something obvious yesterday.

She inhaled his scent, all forest, fresh air, and spicy animal musk, examining what she knew as dispassionately as she could.

In twenty-five years, Argus and Nivid had shared their story with only one person, and despite all the others who had come before her-- Troi wrinkled her nose-- she was the first woman they'd ever told.

Her captors hadn't revealed everything about the curse, but Troi didn't think anyone had lied to her. They hadn't volunteered information, but they'd answered her questions, though they were clearly aware she might leave after hearing their replies. It must have been tempting to offer half-truths and excuses in an effort to keep her here, warming Nivid's bed and supplying them all with decent meals-- which, as far as she could tell, they hadn't eaten in two decades.

In the same way no man had ever touched Troi with love on his mind, no woman had ever held Nivid in her arms or spoken softly to him of what was in her heart.

He hadn't heard anyone say "I love you" since his mother died, and she-- Troi-- was the first woman who had loved him as a man, not a child.

Her body softened, subtly molding itself to the curves and valleys of his.

This, the affection and tenderness they shared, was an irreplaceable first for both of them.

She turned her face into his chest, clothing her mind in Nivid's scent. On her back, his broad hands froze.

She was free and safe and loved, and she loved Nivid deeply. Those things were more significant than whether Argus knew what she looked like beneath her dresses, were they not?

She had no evidence that any of her myriad suspicions were more than the torrid imaginings of a frightened, unsophisticated girl who had a lot to lose.

Troi squirmed, trying to get closer. Nivid's arms clenched spasmodically around her shoulders and a shudder ran through him. She tipped her head back, pushing with her toes and pulling with the hands fisted in his tunic as she tried to move up on the bed.

Nivid tipped his face down, loosening his embrace so she could tilt hers up to meet him. The obsidian eyes glittered.

"Trishta?" His voice quavered in the middle, and Troi's heart broke.

"Nivid?" She wormed her hands up over his shoulders and tugged him down to her level, leaning her forehead against his. "I love you, Nivid."

He shuddered again, closing his eyes, and even without especially expressive human eyebrows, she saw the relief running under his dark, sometimes-furry skin. She kissed him.

Their first kisses were sweet and slow, apology and acceptance, love and reassurance, reflecting phrases murmured to each other between kisses. When Troi grew breathless, Nivid freed her lips and drew her against him in a rib-cracking hug. At the end, she squealed, and Nivid laughed, rolling her onto her back on the mattress by his side.

Propping himself on one elbow, he watched her eyes as he unbuttoned the shift she'd been wearing beneath her dress when he put her to bed last night. He hadn't torn one from her body since the night she sat before the fire, presenting herself to him. Nivid was no less eager now to spend an eternity buried in her lithe, seductive body, but he was slightly less desperate. Until yesterday, he'd stopped thinking about her departure as an unavoidable future fact. In any event, he'd been more careful of her clothing since they left the guardroom behind.

He left the button at her navel fastened, as he slipped his two wide, fused fingers beneath the bodice to stroke her small, firm mound.

When his hand covered and cupped her, Troi arched and turned her face into the side of his chest as though she wished to hide the spots of color high on her cheeks.

Nivid swallowed the shivers of emotion he felt with Troi lying securely in his arms again and planted a kiss at her hairline. As often as he'd taken Argus to task-- in his mind, at least-- for over-thinking events, this evening he'd had a taste of Vesa's world. Instead of questioning every impression, Nivid had always let his instincts tell him when trouble loomed, but for the past hour, instinct, intellect, and emotion had agreed: Troi didn't want to be with him. She wanted to run away. It was the first time in four weeks her scent had been tinged with anything other than contentment or desire, and the bitter aroma of Troi's distance and distrust had called forth Nivid's deepest fears in response.

Maybe he'd been so sure of himself all these years because he hadn't cared enough to worry. Other than Vesa, he had nothing to lose. Well, Talgut, but that wasn't the same. Now, though... he couldn't imagine going back to what his life had been before Troi.... to what he himself had been before she came: a mindless animal set on feeding his appetites, day after day.

Now that he'd tasted Troi's affection, now that he knew how her hands felt smoothing his hair back or finger-combing around his horns, as she was wont to do when they lay together after loving, how could he ever be that mindless beast again? How could he ever pass a day alone after tasting her kisses?

"Lyubimaya," he murmured, his voice rumbling though both their bodies as the endearment fell from his tongue.

Troi tipped her face up for his kiss.

When she was moaning and breathless from his kisses and the insistent fingers tugging at the hard bud of her nipple, Nivid freed the last button from its slot. Bending his head, the strong, mobile tongue came out to toy with her, lapping from the lower surface of her breast up over the curve, each long lick stopping just shy of her nipple, until the arc of Troi's back had lifted her completely free of his pillow. Nivid's tongue circled, drawing a spiral that swiftly narrowed around the rosy center. Finally he dipped to taste the little berry.

A high whimper slipped from Troi's throat.

Nivid lapped and suckled, then opened wide and drew most of one breast into the hot, wet cavern of his mouth.

Troi shrieked, her hands clamping around his horns as she levered herself closer and held her body securely against the mouth which was giving her so much pleasure.

Nivid smiled, his tongue rolling her nipple across the roof of his mouth, sucking harder.

Troi was almost crying with need when he moved to her other breast. She'd turned and thrown her leg over his hip, but Nivid was bent at the waist, too sharply for her hips to find the contact they were missing.

Troi keened, her small heel digging into the back of his thigh as she sought her pleasure.

"Nivid, please," she beseeched him, "please."

He didn't say anything, but his hand slid from her ribs to her bottom, petting her curvy rear until his fingers slotted into the space between her cheeks. Through the fine fabric of her slip, he ran the side of his finger over the rosebud of her ass, again and again, his mouth still alternating between her breasts, nipping and sucking her silky skin. Her nipples had darkened to match the vivid raspberry folds protected by the lips of her pussy, and Troi was making little noises every time he touched the beads of swollen flesh.

Instead of pressing them forward, Troi began to tip her hips away from Nivid's body, trying to direct the teasing strokes of his fingers between her cheeks.

"Nivid," she begged him, again, her tongue tracing the inner shell of one dark ear.

He hummed against her, dotting a sensual path of tiny pecks across the upper curve of both breasts before he straightened.

"Troi," he murmured, his eyes half-closed. He rubbed his nose across her own, a tender gesture she reciprocated by turning her own head to do the same. He kissed her, again, brief touches like petals fluttering against her lips. And, finally, he moved his hand.

She held her breath, her spine arced tightly as she pressed her bottom backwards, her clit crying out for Nivid's touch. One finger stopped to explore, circling the subtle depression around her entrance. Troi's face grew hot. She was so wet that she'd soaked the shift almost the moment it brushed against her folds. It was coated thickly with her juices, sliding easily around her needy cunt.

Her mouth opened on a silent moan as Nivid's finger crept forward. Torturing her, he turned aside, using the flat surface of both fingers to stroke softly upward over her plump lips. His fingers curved and he left his hand lying quiescent between her thighs, cupping her mound as Troi tried fruitlessly to press herself against the teasing digits.

"Nivid!" she objected, a long plaintive whine against his cheek.

He smiled and claimed her lips for a more thorough kiss as he drew his hand back.

Her hips circled as she whimpered against his lips, but this time he wasn't teasing. He circled her pussy again, then pushed his fabric-covered finger up the center of her slit, parting the curls which hid her treasure, and dragging the slick fabric through her folds.

Troi stilled, every muscle in her body spasming tightly in response to the feeling of Nivid's finger on the puffy, aching pearl of her clit. He'd barely reversed the direction of his caress when she exploded, pulsing beneath his finger, the delicate ripples sucking at his skin even through her shift. Nivid pushed his finger back between her lips and pressed the flesh apart, circling slowly to extend her pleasure.

Troi was breathing heavily, little gasps and hiccups of emotion slipping out between her sighs. As she came down from her climax, her body curled toward his. When her panicked puffs of air began to space themselves more widely, Nivid rolled, seating himself between her sodden, shaky thighs.

She took his mouth this time, responding with more aggression than normal. Her tongue traced the shape of his lips against hers, dueling to a draw with his much stronger weapon.

Supporting himself on his elbows, Nivid held himself still until Troi's body began to move again, her feet climbing toward his spine and her fingers pulling at the short fur on his flanks. He tipped left to free the ties of the drawers he'd worn to bed but didn't stop to remove them; he just shoved them below the curve of his ass, freeing his erection. He couldn't wait any longer.

Troi's feet petted the lightly furred skin on the backs of his thighs, taking her turn nudging his drawers down. Nivid bunched the front of his tunic up, his hand pushing past the gathered fabric to wrap itself around the base of his cock.

As he guided himself to her opening, their minds and bodies quieted, wholly focused on the heady, meaningful moment of penetration. Sometimes it seemed to take forever for Nivid to work his cock into Troi's small body, but the effort extended her pleasure and he never rushed it. Today, though, she was so wet, Nivid forged ahead without reprieve, watching her face for signs of pain. Her pupils were wide with her arousal, nearly covering the warm chestnut irises. Her lips, rosy and inviting, parted around the soft panting sounds she made.

His eyes flicked down. He almost couldn't decide between kissing her or continuing to watch her erotic display, but he didn't have to... Troi tipped her head back as he drove himself deeper, filling her. Her eyes were mere slits, fixed on his until Nivid settled the weight of his lower half solidly against the widely splayed lips of her pussy. They moaned in unison as his thick cock stretched the tight sheath of Troi's pussy, and her eyes fluttered closed.

Nivid's nostrils flared. He could feel the pulsing beat of her heart through the wet walls hugging him so sweetly. He groaned. The pleasure of burying himself in her body was only surpassed by the love he felt in her arms.

Ignoring the tiny threat of pain present whenever Nivid first entered her, Troi spread her legs more widely, curling her hips to get more of him. The great round head of his cock butted against her womb, spearing her softness as she strained to take every bit of it. She moaned. Nivid dug his toes into the feather mattress, shoving himself higher into the saddle of her thighs, giving her what she wanted.

A crease skittered across her forehead and Nivid tried to ease out, but Troi's eyes flew open and her fingertips dug into his shoulders.

"No!" she commanded. The plaintive note was gone and her voice was as fierce as her eyes. "All of you. I want all of you." Her heels pressed forcefully against the base of his spine.

After a moment's hesitation, he complied, digging his toes in as she held his gaze, panting. When his hips were pressed hard against her own, Troi undulated, grinding herself against him, his cock shifting deep inside her, filling places no one had ever touched. He bit down on his back teeth, stifling a groan. She did it again and a grunt slipped from behind his dark, closed lips. Moist air rushed from his nostrils, brushing over her collarbones. The next time she moved her hips from side to side, Troi clenched the muscles around Nivid's cock, her sheath gripping him tightly as she rolled her hips.