(no subject)

[shiegra.livejournal.com]

Title: Like Lovers Do
Author/Artist: shiegra
Rating: nc-17
Warnings: Explicit sex.
Word count: 1480
Summary: Even though they know once won't be enough.

Prompt : Legend of the Seeker - Kahlan/Richard - Rada'han - "she can let go"



His fingers drew through the laces; the white fabric parted beneath his touch. Kahlan drew in a shallow breath.

She could feel the Rada’han around her neck, cool metal – she could still feel the way the air had seemed to thicken when she first slipped it around her throat, closing neatly with a definitive click.

But it meant she wasn’t afraid. When the dress slipped away from her shoulders, baring freckled skin and the sturdy dark fabric of her underdress and she shuddered as Richard’s palm slid over one shoulder and his fingers wrapped around her upper arm – tugging her gently closer – it wasn’t fear that drove the moment.

“Richard – ” Her voice sounded desperate to her own ears, a ragged edge in it.

His thumb brushed over her lip. “It’s okay,” he said softly. “You don’t need to be in control.” His lips pressed against her forehead and she closed her eyes. “You don’t have to be afraid.” This close she could smell him; leather, sweat, steel. The faint lightning-sharp tinge of magic – from his sword, from his destiny, from his exposure to she and Zedd she didn’t know and didn’t care – tinged it and she licked her lips. His arms settled around her, wrapping around her body, and she embraced him with a fierceness that startled her, burying her face in his shoulder.

She could feel the warmth and solidity of him, the body beneath the leather and cotton. The sword of Truth was pressing into her hip and they were pressed together along the lines of their entire bodies. She could feel him breathing, his hand flexing gently in her long hair.

Kahlan tipped her head up again, leaning back so she could look him in the face. The movement pressed their hips together and he exhaled sharply through his nose. “Richard,” she said, and his eyes met hers, pupils dark and dilated. He’d bitten his lower lip; he released it, faintly damp, with the marks of his teeth still indented in the flesh.

It broke the last of her self-restraint. Kahlan wrapped a hand around the back of his neck and dragged him in.

His mouth was warm on hers, and opened with sure, eager hunger. The kiss went from gentle to urgent in barely a second and she rocked onto her toes, her body arching into a sleek, urgent line. His arms around her shifted so that he could cup her hips and drag her against him, and suddenly she desperately wanted something, anything to lean on so she could spread her legs and feel him.

She wanted him inside of her -- before her common sense convinced her this was stupid, and risky, and it would never be enough.

She stumbled backwards. Her arms were still wrapped around him and she pulled him after her, quick coordinated steps. Awkward, but they were far too attuned to the movements of each other's bodies for it to become truly unfortunate. Richard caught her lower lip between his teeth and nipped, and her hips jerked into his and almost landed them painfully on the floor, the ragged gasp tearing free.

But no, there was the bed provided. There lay the heavy coverlet; the mattress gave beneath her weight and she spread her thighs, letting him settle against her and drag up the soft dark folds of fabric with slow, deliberate hands.

She rocked her hips, wrapping her legs around his, worn leather and muscle. Her fingers fisted in his hair. He felt --

He was saying something, murmuring incoherent syllables against her mouth, then her cheek. He drew back, his palm hot on her thigh, and when she cried out and reached for him, incredulous, he gave her that sweet, boyish grin she hadn't seen for so long.

"Let me do this for you," he asked. She almost said what? Or no, now but instead she drank in the delight in his eyes, the warmth in his face and inclined her head, granting him permission.

He twisted, kicking off his boots, and backed down the bed.

Kahlan adjusted her own position, scooting up until her shoulders were on the pillows in order to have room to reach for her own boots. But he stilled her hands and began neatly removing them himself. When her feet were bare he stilled, his thumb rubbing up and down the inside of her calf, and looked up at her.

Kahlan drew in a breath, felt it tremble in her lungs. His eyes were scorching; full of love and lust and a kind of joy. His voice was low and hoarse and he said, almost whispering it out against her skin, heated breath a tattoo over the pulse pounding in her inner thigh, "I want to make you happy."

The words were full of meaning, both euphemistic and straight forward. Kahlan breathed in the scent of his skin and closed her eyes. His lips pressed to her thigh, light and warm. “I want us to be happy,” she whispered, painfully honest. They both knew this couldn’t last. They had their duty, and the fate of the world mattered more.

Their eyes met over her body. His thumbs moved in slow, caressing circles. Quietly he said, “then just for now – in the moment, Kahlan. Let’s have a little joy.”

She closed her eyes and her head fell back, almost gasping in the next breath. Her voice was raw and shaken; she whispered, "yes."

He shifted; the muscle of his shoulder rippled beneath her thigh, and his lips touched the curls, and then his tongue delved between, in sure wet strokes, palms cupping her hips, cradling her closer. Kahlan's voice tore free in a ragged cry and she writhed against the bed, the heat of his mouth driving her higher. Her hands fisted in the fabric, knotting, scrambling for some last lost piece of control, some piece of solidity in a world that had narrowed to the pleasure molten in her veins and his body, sleek muscle and tousled hair and thundering pulse.

His tongue slid inside of her, wet and sure and she ground out a low, shuddering moan. She was trembling, gasping; his hands pressed into her thighs, fingers sinking against muscle and holding her steady. She held onto that pressure, riding the thin electric line of pain and shuddering ecstasy. He groaned against her wet flesh, the vibrations of his voice chasing bright pleasure across the back of her eyelids, and said her name, once, again -- drawing back enough to press hot, sure kisses against the inside of her thigh.

"You're so beautiful," he whispered, and his voice was raw, almost worshipful. "Kahlan..." His eyelashes brushed her skin and she shuddered at the delicate, gossamer sensation.

And then he brushed his slick mouth up her thigh again and kissed her, lavish and deep, driving her up, winding her tighter. She hadn't imagined something like this -- she hadn't been able to dream of something like this. It drowned out everything but the press of his hands and the beat of her heart, robbed her of all her hard-won control, drowned her in pleasure and relief. No one will be hurt, the gentle, coaxing voice whispered. He's safe. This is safe. Her breath caught on something that was almost a sob and within her, control cracked and slipped, habitual and tense.

The power swelled, rippled, crashed through her and against the Rada'han's chill, conquered, thundering, and the elation of it, the singing rush, made her arch off of the bed, screaming. He tipped his chin up, swiped his tongue up, and then suckled exactly where she needed him. Everything -- the power, the sexual pleasure, the bright bursts of pain as her nails sank into her palms -- blended together in a blinding rush and rolled her under, drowning her sweetly.

She came to herself slowly, Richard laying beside her. Like laying on the beach with the gently lapping water slowly receding, it cleared and left her golden and liquid, filled with lassitude. She rolled her head to the side and saw his face, full of a true and quiet pleasure, his thumb brushing the corner of her mouth.

She licked her lips, the tip of her tongue darting against his thumb, and he drew in a breath.

"Shouldn't you..."

He leaned in to kiss her forehead, lightly. "We'll have to wait a bit," he said, not looking the least bit embarrassed, one corner of his mouth crooking up. "You were more than enough for me."

She touched his mouth -- still damp, still flushed. Her eyes fluttered closed. "In the moment," she whispered, and she wouldn't let herself regret. Wouldn't let herself think about what eventually had to come next.

He kissed her mouth this time, very lightly. "We have a few more."