Doira'Liim (The Beautiful Whisper of the Goddess Saga) (40 page)

     Talliea, still looking confused, lowered herself back under the warmth of the water. She could easily see that Arizira was struggling with what she wanted to say. She, herself, was torn between rushing to Arizira's side and taking her into her arms' embrace or allowing Arizira to regain her independence and speak of her mind's troubles.

     Arizira stopped once her feet were near to the water of the spring. Her boots were not tied, another hint as to her present discomfort, and her appearance was more wild than she preferred. When she had rolled over and not felt Talliea's body next to her own, a sharp and vivid clarity had snapped her mind to full wakefulness. She had sat up quickly, not noting the action in her frantic state, and looked around the cave in search of her companion.

     It had been then that she realized what she was doing and how she had done it. She'd looked down at herself, her torso still naked and her body covered in sweat and dirt, and her mind had worked in vain to connect the pieces to a puzzle she could not see.

     Her thoughts had plagued her mind then. How was she moving? How was she sitting up? Where was Talliea? How much time had passed? As she'd sat on her
Ophe'las
bedding, she'd realized that, although her pain was less, it was still very much present. Standing up slowly, for her body had been stiff and her joints sore, she had struggled to get her boots onto her feet and her jerkin over her shoulders. She'd not cared to button the garment, instead choosing to cover her body with her cloak, and had left the cave to search for her love.

     As she had walked, her shoulder blades had protested her endeavor. All that had mattered was finding Talliea and ensuring she was safe. Her feet had moved without direction while her mind had fought to find itself an answer to her sudden, and very swift, recovery. She could not understand how she had been healed. Her pain had been debilitating. It had been horrible and restricting and it had scared her. She had worried for herself and for Talliea. Thoughts of her people, of Cynra and Talyn and Sed'dya, had passed behind her eyelids in flickering and ever receding shapes and she had never felt so apart and disconnected.

     The only small amount of light for Arizira had been the knowledge that she was with Talliea, her
failira
. She'd continued walking, her trek leading her toward the hot spring, as her thoughts had lingered on Talliea.

     Had she healed her? She had recalled Talliea telling her that the
Lat'sa'val
possessed healing abilities, but did that gift also extend to the Esu women? Her internal ramblings had been interrupted when she finally came to the end of her short lived, but tiresome, journey. Talliea, the object at the center of everything Arizira did, had been exactly where Arizira felt she would be.

     The hot spring.

     Standing now near the water, the steam rising up and heating her tired and chilled body, Arizira watched Talliea for a moment while her mind came back to the present. Her eyes looked upon Talliea's dark, tanned skin and she felt her body react to the sight of full and round breasts disappearing beneath the veil of rippling water. Talliea's face was fixated upon her own and, though there were no words spoken, Arizira felt as if a lifetime of conversations passed between them.

     She swallowed and shivered as a stiff wind nearly knocked her into the spring. She could not seem to take her eyes away from the deep brown before her. The woman matching her gaze was...she was everything to Arizira. She was her friend. She was her lover, though they had yet to lie with one another, she was her heart and her spirit.

     As Arizira allowed her cloak to drop to the moist ground behind her, she let her thoughts settle on the one belief she had been dying to confess since she first awakened and realized she could move, that she was healed: Talliea was a goddess.

     She was her goddess for she had healed her and brought her back to herself. No other explanation could justify how Arizira had gone from an agonizing and dreadful state of hysteria to being able to walk and move and think clearly once again. Talliea was her goddess in every sense of the word. She had to be.

     She watched Talliea's eyes travel across the skin of her body. Though her skin was dark, Arizira easily saw a blush rise up and spread across her chest. She slowly, and in halting movements, slipped her jerkin from her shoulders and allowed it to join her cloak. Talliea, the woman whom she had practically come to worship, licked her lips and continued to watch her. The wind was cool, but being so close to the spring kept Arizira warm enough to continue undressing.

     This was a first for them. In all of their time together, and even after they had acted on their feelings for one another, Arizira had always undressed away from Talliea just as Talliea had undressed away from her. It had been an unspoken agreement, one Arizira had taken seriously in her efforts to respect Talliea and her body. Now, however, she was standing before the woman she loved and was slowly sliding her leather pants down her legs.

     Talliea watched, her eyes unable to tear themselves away from the beauty being revealed in front of them. Though Arizira's fair skin was bruised and marked with dirt, the perfection underneath could not be sullied. She noticed Arizira had very little body hair, much like her own people, and smiled at that similarity. Her eyes swept their fiery gaze over Arizira's chest, settling on light pink nipples, before trailing down to a flat stomach. When she reached the apex of Arizira's legs, her eyes lingered and she felt a heat, having nothing to do with the spring, wash over her body.

     She had always noticed the differences between her people and Arizira's. Those differences had oftentimes left her feeling as if she and Arizira were worlds apart, having no common ground, and struggling to understand such vast disparities. Looking at Arizira nude before her, with no barriers left between them, Talliea realized that they were not as different as she had always believed.

     Arizira's body was very much like her own. Her skin was more fair and her nipples were a lighter shade, but they were alike in nearly every other way. Arizira's sex was like her own. Her body was not so different from Talliea's. For all of the things that had set them apart, seeing Arizira as she currently was made Talliea appreciate everything that had brought them together.

     Taking a deep breath, she finally lifted her gaze and looked into shimmering blue eyes. Arizira slowly entered the hot spring, staying near to the edge, and lowered her body into the water. Talliea waded over to her and, stopping only a moment to appreciate her presence, took her into her arms.

     Arizira's body melted into Talliea's. She wrapped her arms around Talliea's waist and pressed their chests together. Her hands settled in the small of the Esu woman's back while her face buried itself in the side of her neck. She felt Talliea tentatively press her hands against her back and she let out a sigh at the gentleness.

     Talliea, one hand in the center of Arizira's back and the other rising up to settle between her shoulders, turned her head and let her lips bush across smooth skin. She felt her tears slide down her face before she could hinder them. The feeling of Arizira's body, without any restrictions, pressed so intimately against her own, was unlike anything she had ever experienced. She had worried that she had ruined any chance she and Arizira may have had. Feeling Arizira's body connected so closely with her own was too much.

     She had feared that she would never get to touch Arizira again, that the other woman would associate pain with any caress she could offer. She'd been wrong.

     Moving her hands over Arizira's sides and trailing them to her arms, she sighed against the side of her neck before leaning back. When their eyes met, Talliea knew that everything would be okay between them. Arizira did not harbor any diseased or adverse feelings toward her. The knowledge caused a happy smile to grace her lips. She rubbed her fingers over Arizira's arms and shoulders and took in a shaky breath.

     "Ari--"

     A finger on her lips stopped her. "Do not, Tah-li."

     Talliea looked sheepish a moment before nodding her head. She had apologized to Arizira everyday since the accident had transpired. Every time she had done so, Arizira had stopped her attempt and told her such a gesture was not necessary. Still, Talliea could not allow matters to rest between them so easily. She needed Arizira to understand her actions and her thoughts.

     Placing a hand on Arizira's wrist, she lowered the finger from her lips and opened her mouth to speak. "No, Ari, the words that have been lying upon my soul must be heard. There is so much I need to say, but the desires of my heart leave me breathless. You must understand that I will never hurt you again. I do not desire you to fear my touch."

     Arizira nodded as the fingers of her left hand smoothed over Talliea's right shoulder. "Just as I do not desire you to fear mine. I will not touch you as he did, Tah-li. I will not ever use your body for myself. When I touch you, I wish for you to feel the caress as an expression of my feelings for you. Please do not see me as you see him."

     Talliea exhaled sharply and looked at Arizira with stunned eyes. "Never, Ahmanae. You have not once touched me as he did. I told you before: I like the way you touch me."

     Smiling, Arizira moved her hands from Talliea's back to her hips and lightly squeezed her skin. "I will never hurt you," Talliea whispered again, eyes lowering at the sensation of Arizira's caress. "Nor I you," Arizira responded.

     A moment passed and Arizira spoke up again, "It would seem that part of the old tales my people sing is true." Talliea caught her eyes. "What part?"

     "Esu strength being greater than our own. Our legends tell us the Esu were able to move the mountains, so great was the power in their limbs."

     Talliea offered no confirmation or comment. Her people did possess great strength, but they were not able to do as Arizira said. Knowing her "strength" had harmed her love was distasteful to her. She embraced Arizira and the two of them spent the next several minutes enjoying the company of the other. Talliea washed Arizira's body and hair and gently scrubbed the wound on her back. Though Arizira was healing, and was in a much better state than she had been before, her body was still sensitive and sore.

     Talliea moved behind Arizira and pressed her chest to her back. She heard the slight inhale that accompanied the movement and smiled as she placed a kiss on Arizira's shoulder. Wrapping her left hand around a slender waist, she laced the fingers of her right with Arizira's and held her close. She lowered her head to the space between Arizira's neck and shoulder and closed her eyes.

     "Your recovery is remarkable, Ari. I had feared I made the wrong decision in keeping you with me." Arizira leaned back into the embrace and squeezed their joined hands. "Keeping us together will forever be the correct course, Tah-li. I have you to thank for my recovery."

     Pulling back, Talliea questioned, "Me? I have done nothing worthy of such a statement. The
dohethra
aided you, Ari. That is all."

     "No, say not such things.
Dohethra
eases pain. My body was broken, Tah-li. I was unable to move.
Dohethra
would not have mended such an injury.
You
healed me. What else is there to explain this miracle?"

     Talliea loosened her hold on Arizira so that the other woman could turn around to face her. "I-I did not. I could not," she pressed, unable to believe Arizira's wild claims.

     "You told me the Esu have such powers, yes?"

     "Yes, b-but for the men. Then only the chosen, never for the common folk and, most certainly, never for a woman. I did not heal you, Ari. Your injury must not have been as serious as we thought. Rest and willow bark paved the trail for your recovery. Not I."

     Arizira sighed and looked at Talliea. It was obvious the Esu woman was not going to be of the same belief that she was. How Talliea had healed her was unknown to Arizira. All she knew was that she should not have been able to move as well as she was.
Dohethra
had not healed her; it did not possess such properties. The only logical conclusion then was that the power behind her body's progress was, somehow, Talliea's doing.

     That was her belief, regardless of whether or not it was true. Closing the distance between them, Arizira brought her hands to the sides of Talliea's face. She felt her nipples wetly slide across the other woman's and a sharp and tense wave of pleasure shot through her body. When she had been unable to move, the one overriding thought in her mind had been the possibility of never getting to touch Talliea again as she desired. No longer feeling any restrictions in her movements, for Talliea's presence seemed to have removed any last lingering pain, Arizira pressed the full length of her body against Talliea's and slid her fingers into her wet and heavy hair.

     She kissed the side of the Esu woman's mouth tenderly. Her left hand held the back of Talliea's head while her right moved down the slope of her neck. Fingers spread across a prominent collar bone while lips sought out another embrace.

     Arizira and Talliea kissed slowly, neither feeling the need to progress matters any further. Their bodies were pressed against one another's while their hands moved and explored skin unknown. Without either woman realizing it, a milestone had just been reached in their relationship. A new sense of trust had been achieved.