Fic: In Her Hands (Cara/Kahlan) NC17 (2/2)
Title: In Her Hands
Author: Dylan
Pairing: Cara/Kahlan (slight mentions of Kahlan/Richard)
Rating: NC17
Warnings: None
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, only the situations, and I make zero money from this foolish endeavor.
Summary: Set shortly after they have defeated The Keeper, Kahlan must make a decision to keep Cara from leaving.
Part Two
Kahlan allowed Cara’s words to settle in her mind, tasting them and looking for the things unsaid. Cara was not one for gushing statements about friendship and Kahlan felt touched to have received them, but there was something more, something beneath the surface that Kahlan helplessly grasped for. She knew that Cara - all Mord-Sith - could not allow a weakness such as love, but sometimes she was sure that Cara looked at her with something that went beyond friendship. Kahlan had ignored it, fearing the thoughts it would trigger in herself, but she had to accept that she’d seen it, and had liked it.
Turning to Cara, Kahlan gazed at the other woman’s strong profile in the moonlight. She inched closer almost without conscious thought, committing to memory the features of Cara’s face that made her the attractive woman she was. Committing to memory the subtle scent of her, the hint of heat creeping across the small space between them.
She cursed her own fears, her own reluctance to admit that her reason for wanting Cara to stay was entirely selfish. But selfish or not, she couldn’t let her go without telling her why she should stay.
“It has been an honour to be your friend too, Cara,” Kahlan began, pushing aside all other thoughts, and the threat of guilt that would silence her. “But you’re more than that. You’re family.”
Kahlan watched as Cara closed her eyes for what seemed like forever. She almost turned away, thinking Cara was happy just to leave things as they were and fall asleep.
“Family,” Cara echoed finally, her eyes opening and her brow creasing. “I feel that too . . . but I can’t . . . I can’t watch you marry him. I can’t be there.”
Kahlan heard a remarkable and unfamiliar tremble to Cara’s voice and it made her stomach flip and turn. What was Cara really saying?
“Cara,” Kahlan whispered, moving closer, her hand poised to reach out to her.
“It’s best this way,” Cara continued.
“No, it isn’t,” Kahlan disagreed, yielding to the force within her that made parts of her flutter. “You don’t understand . . .”
The air seemed suddenly thicker, full of possibility, of danger. Cara turned her head to look at Kahlan, sending Kahlan’s heart racing.
“What don’t I understand?” Cara asked softly, her eyelashes mesmerizing Kahlan as she blinked.
Kahlan’s gaze drifted to Cara’s lips, a strong desire to taste them making her body flush with sensations she could no longer refuse. Before either of them could say more, Kahlan closed the small distance between them, pressing her lips to Cara’s.
A quiet moan followed as Cara accepted the kiss, and Kahlan’s heart soared as she realised it had not come from herself. She wanted to hear Cara moan again. Needed to hear that Cara wanted this too. She moved her mouth more firmly over Cara’s, swooning with the fullness, the softness of Cara’s lips. Every inch of Kahlan’s body tightened, warmth spreading through her, pooling instantly between her legs. She felt like she was flying, dizzy, and they were hardly even kissing, hardly touching at all.
Cara shifted on the bed, turning fully towards Kahlan, a hand reaching and sliding up Kahlan’s throat, over her jaw to her cheek, then tangling in her dark hair. Kahlan fell completely into the kiss, moaning herself as their lips parted, as they nipped, breathing harder in small gusts that heated each other’s mouths. She was more aroused in this moment than she ever had been before, with anybody, including Richard. It made Kahlan sober a little and she pulled away, staring into Cara’s hooded eyes.
They didn’t speak or move, just looking at each other, searching each other’s faces. Kahlan could feel Cara reaching inside her, pulling her secrets out, daring her to trust this thing that was obviously between them. But Cara didn’t look entirely certain herself; Kahlan could see apprehension, disbelief, a vulnerability that made her lift her hand to Cara’s cheek, almost in parallel to the hand on her own. Cara closed her eyes at the soft brush of Kahlan’s fingertips, her lips parted, brows slightly furrowed in bewilderment.
“You can’t leave me,” Kahlan whispered across Cara’s lips as she leaned in to her once more. “It would break me.”
Cara pressed her forehead to Kahlan’s, her body stiff, holding firm. Kahlan wanted to know what was going through Cara’s mind. Wished she knew what Cara felt.
“Kahlan,” Cara said, and Kahlan was sure she heard her voice quiver, “you have Richard. You have . . .”
Kahlan didn’t allow her to finish, taking Cara’s mouth with her own once again, kissing her with more confidence. With a conviction that spoke of passion, of hunger. They both sighed as Cara’s lips parted for Kahlan’s tongue as it flicked over perfect lips. Tongues meeting, stroking, tasting, they instinctively moved closer in the bed. Kahlan held tight to Cara at her waist, fingers gripping through the material of Cara’s soft, cotton shirt. She felt the press of Cara’s breasts against her own and shuddered; tingles streaming through her; tingles between her thighs making her lose all sense of propriety.
“I don’t love him,” Kahlan revealed out as they broke apart for air. “Not the way I did.”
“You don’t know what you’re saying,” Cara exclaimed as Kahlan placed kisses over her jaw, sucking at Cara’s skin.
She wanted to kiss Cara all over. She wanted to count the sighs and the little moans. She wanted to feel the heat of Cara’s skin against her own so badly she felt like she was possessed.
“I know what I feel, Cara,” Kahlan insisted. “I know above all else that I can’t lose you.”
With a pained expression, Cara shook her head, fighting this urge that was claiming them.
“You can’t just . . .” Cara pulled her body away from Kahlan, pushing a hand through her blond hair. “I’m Mord-Sith. I’m not meant to want these things, to feel these things.”
Seeing the pain and uncertainty on Cara’s face, Kahlan decided she would not allow Cara to push her away. Not now. She moved her fingertips over Cara’s brow, down the side of her face, watching as the tension lifted slightly, muscles relaxing.
“What do you feel?” Kahlan asked quietly, fingers now trailing down the side of Cara’s throat to her collar bone.
A little lower and she could pull aside the shirt Cara was wearing, feast her eyes on her flushed skin. Further still and Cara’s breasts would be free of the thin material. Kahlan stilled her hand at Cara’s collar bone, laying her palm flat just above her breast, delighting in the heat she found there.
“What do I feel?” Cara echoed, desire darkening her eyes. “I feel hot.”
A small grin drifted over Cara’s mouth and Kahlan smiled shyly, feeling herself relax just a fraction; just enough for her to stop thinking about anything but Cara and the possibilities before them. Kahlan curled her fingers around the back of Cara’s neck and encouraged her closer again, their lips kissing hungrily as soon as they met.
The room seemed to spin, the heat becoming unbearable as their bodies met under the blankets, legs tangling, arms reaching for one another.
“Take this off,” Kahlan instructed between heady kisses, tugging at the collar of Cara’s shirt.
Kahlan was lost in a sea of sensation already, not thinking about consequences, or confession. She just wanted a little of this. A little of Cara. As much as she dared to take before they had to stop.
Sitting up and pulling off her shirt, Cara allowed the blanket to fall from her body. Kahlan’s gaze travelled over Cara’s breasts, devouring them as she licked her lips. She felt an insistent ache between her legs where she’d grown incredibly wet already. Her body wanted Cara, needed her. Fear had no place here, only desire and a yearning to share something deep, something that would take them beyond words.
Leaning down again to place kisses over Kahlan’s jaw, lips brushing lower to her neck, Cara’s hand slid down the firm muscle of Kahlan’s thigh. They both sighed deeply, breaths coming faster as Cara began to lift Kahlan’s nightgown as she brought her hand back up again. Fingers tugging at the material, Cara’s tongue licked at Kahlan’s throat.
“Oh, Spirits,” Kahlan murmured, already feeling the flow of magic inside her as her body prepared to give itself to Cara.
“I want to feel you,” Cara said breathily across Kahlan’s ear. “Every part of you.”
Kahlan shivered, unable to respond other than to lift herself just enough for Cara to tug the nightgown up past her backside, up and off. It floated to the floor as Cara threw it aside, her eyes taking in Kahlan’s naked body below her. Kahlan had forgone briefs when changing, and she felt her cheeks flush with Cara’s unrestrained appraisal.
“You are beautiful,” Cara told her, her hand raising goosebumps as it swept up from Kahlan’s thigh, up over her hip, her side, pulling Kahlan into her arms as it brushed over Kahlan’s strong back.
They came together, Kahlan’s breath rushing from her as she felt Cara’s curves, her silken skin, her strength as they kissed deeply. She found herself pressing up against Cara’s thigh as Cara did the same back, equally naked. Fingernails digging into Cara’s back, Kahlan groaned as wet heat coated her skin. Cara’s arousal seeped from her onto Kahlan and they both found themselves moving, a rhythm pushing them eagerly to release before they could stop it.
Lifting her head, Cara asked, “Are you sure?”
Her tentative question and the tenderness of her touches shocked Kahlan, but she had been aware that there was much more to this woman - this Mord-Sith - for a long while now. Cara was not just ferocity and pain; she was not just a cold, heartless tool of Darken Rahl.
“I want you, Cara,” Kahlan answered. “Only you.”
Kahlan’s breath hitched as Cara kissed her way down her throat, her lips tasting her skin as she reached the top of Kahlan’s breasts. The wet heat she could feel on her thigh from Cara went away as Cara moved down and Kahlan sighed with its absence.
“I want to taste you everywhere,” Cara murmured against the swell of her breast.
A shudder ran through Kahlan, her magic rolling in waves underneath her skin as her arousal pushed it quicker to the surface than it ever had before.
“Cara, we need to be careful,” Kahlan warned, her last word lost to the moan that broke from her lips as Cara took a tight nipple in her mouth and sucked so gently it made Kahlan’s heart almost burst from her chest.
She arched into Cara, raised her hips, brushing up against Cara’s thigh with her heated centre, the flow of desire increasing from its core.
“You’re so wet,” Cara sighed, Kahlan’s nipple plopping from her mouth, her thigh flexing against Kahlan.
Cara wasted no time moving to Kahlan’s other breast, licking and flicking her tongue, sucking its hard point into the delicious heat of her mouth, harder this time.
“Oh,” Kahlan exclaimed, hands sliding down Cara’s strong back to the round curve of her backside.
She gripped hard at Cara’s rear, fingers digging into her flesh, pulling Cara more firmly against her. She wanted to give herself to this woman. She wanted to lose herself in the way she made her feel, but as she felt the prick of her magic warning her, she knew she had to push Cara away.
Forcing back a sob Kahlan encouraged Cara to look at her, her fingers tangling in silken blond hair.
“You have to stop,” she told Cara. “I could confess you.”
Feeling suddenly hollow, bereft as she pushed Cara away, Kahlan couldn’t control the tears that fell from her eyes.
For a moment Cara just looked at her, their eyes locked in a trance. Kahlan saw flashes of emotion in Cara’s eyes that she’d only ever imagined she’d glimpsed before, and then Cara was speaking, baring her soul.
“You can’t confess me,” Cara stated, sounding resolute yet almost shy. Continuing before Kahlan could ask how she could know that. “When you were last in the Con Dar, I felt your magic pass through me. I was unaffected.”
“I don’t understand,” Kahlan said as she stroked her fingers over Cara’s face, not daring to imagine the possibilities that lay before her.
“You can’t confess Richard,” Cara said, leaning down to place soft kisses over Kahlan’s mouth. “And you can’t confess me.”
She kissed Kahlan, tongue rendering Kahlan almost senseless as it duelled her own, making her pant underneath Cara. She couldn’t think while Cara was doing things to her mouth that she hadn’t known were possible, a hand travelling down Kahlan’s side to her thigh and gripping her firmly.
Kahlan lifted her leg, wrapping it over Cara, fighting her desire as best she could so she could ask more. So she could be certain about what Cara was saying.
“Cara,” Kahlan panted, “does that mean you . . .”
Did it mean she loved Kahlan?
Cara silenced the words with her lips, pouring emotion into Kahlan in a way that had her shivering.
“Yes,” Cara mumbled against Kahlan’s lips just as Kahlan began to think she’d never answer. “I do,” she confirmed, guessing what Kahlan had been about to ask.
Kahlan’s heart clenched, opened, allowed Cara deep inside.
With a sob that quickly turned into an overjoyed expression of delight, Kahlan smiled wide, breaking away from Cara’s lips and kissing over her face. She kissed every inch of Cara’s face, trying not to laugh with the relief and elation inside her. She felt like she was flying.
With a smile almost as wide as Kahlan’s, Cara eventually brought their mouths together again. Kahlan sighed into Cara, enjoying the feel of the body pressing into her, the fingers trailing over her inner thigh. With a shudder of anticipation she couldn’t repress, Kahlan opened her legs in invitation.
“Can I touch you?” Cara asked, fingers drifting close to the small patch of dark hair between Kahlan’s thighs. “I need to touch you.”
“Yes,” Kahlan replied without hesitation.
Cara moved a little more to Kahlan’s side. Leaning over Kahlan as the sheets dropped away, revealing Kahlan’s breasts to Cara’s hungry gaze. Placing kisses over tight nipples, Cara eased Kahlan’s legs further apart before placing her hand over Kahlan, cupping her softly.
“Oh, Cara,” Kahlan moaned, biting her lip as she lifted her hips slightly to meet Cara’s hand. “Touch me.”
With a soft grunt of satisfaction, Cara’s fingertips slipped between Kahlan’s folds, arousal spilling over them. She slid back and forth, barely touching as Kahlan whimpered in her need. Feeling all embarrassment float away, Kahlan wrapped an arm around Cara and held her tight, pressing up against the fingers teasing at her. She had never felt this way before; never felt like all her nerve endings were suddenly in one place on her body, desperate for attention, for the throb to be tended to.
Cara’s mouth claimed Kahlan everywhere it could reach, over her breasts, her neck, to her ear as she breathed almost as hard and fast as Kahlan now did.
The sound of Cara’s excitement made Kahlan dizzy with a passionate desire that engulfed her. Moving her hips in time as Cara’s fingers pressed harder against her, Kahlan allowed her magic to swirl in amongst the tendrils of release that began to shoot through her. Only a brief moment of fear stilled her but Cara kissed over her heart, never lifting her fingers as she eased Kahlan’s worry.
“You will not confess me, Kahlan,” Cara assured. Her fingers dipped lower, teasing Kahlan’s entrance. “Let me love you.”
With a gasp Kahlan’s nails dug into Cara, her hips lifting as Cara’s fingers slid inside her, filling her. Her whole body reacted, pleasure ripping through her from where Cara’s fingers pushed deeper into her eager opening. Kahlan’s nipples hardened even more than they had been, her muscles tensing, head thrown back in response to the further pleasure Cara began to pull from her.
“You feel so good,” Cara whispered in her ear, the sheer joy in her voice making Kahlan want to cry with how it affected her.
Kahlan tried to speak, tried to convey how Cara’s fingers felt, how they were taking her to heights she’d never been to. Words failed her. She could no more speak than she could have wiled her body to still and reject the fingers as they pumped into her. Spreading her legs wider, Kahlan brought Cara’s lips to her own, kissing her sloppily, breaths mingling, moans and whimpers escaping from both of them. She rolled her hips in time to Cara’s thrusts as they deepened, as they grew faster, then slow, then once again speeding Kahlan towards climax.
Shuddering breaths filled the air and Kahlan began to moan in time with Cara’s hand as it pleasured her, a strong thumb sweeping up over the most sensitive part of her. She felt magic begin to pour from her soul, seeping through her skin.
“Look at me,” Cara urged softly. “Open your eyes, Kahlan.”
Kahlan hadn’t even realised her eyes were shut, lost as she was in the sensual grip of Cara’s passion.
She forced her eyes open, looking into the green ones above her, a gasp on her lips as she saw nothing but desire and love in Cara’s gaze. She felt what Cara felt right through her to her core, to her soul. The black swell of Kahlan’s magic did not obscure her view and she kept her eyes focused on Cara as long as she could, falling into the love she was sure they both shared.
Cara’s fingers curled inside her, pumping harder, the slick sounds of wet heat easing their thrusts only adding to Kahlan’s increasing pleasure. Kahlan gasped out Cara’s name, the burn inside her intensifying as she began to pulse and shatter for Cara.
“Come for me,” Cara implored, lowering her head and placing kisses over Kahlan’s breasts and neck as Kahlan pushed up against her. “Come with me inside you.”
A sharp cry broke from Kahlan and she jerked up into Cara, her hands gripping to Cara hard enough to leave bruises. Her magic crashed through the last of her barriers and her walls clamped down on Cara’s fingers, body trembling as she came so hard she felt the as if the world was tipping sideways.
Cara buried her face in Kahlan’s neck, keeping her hand working to prolong her release, the heat spilling from her lips warming more than Kahlan’s skin. Moisture flooded over Cara’s fingers and Kahlan held them deep within, tears leaking from her eyes as she allowed the last of her tremors to roll through her in delicious waves.
Body eventually relaxing and eyes returning to their natural blue, Kahlan blinked at the world around her as if seeing it suddenly for the first time. She kept her arms tight around Cara, sighing as Cara’s slowly removed her fingers. Pulled in to a strong embrace, the kisses over her neck and jaw causing her to drift on contentment, Kahlan dreamed of a life in these arms. Dreamed of a life they could share.
“You’re incredible,” Kahlan whispered as soon as she was able to form words.
Cara said nothing, only held Kahlan even tighter. For a fearful moment Kahlan thought that maybe Cara had misjudged and had been confessed. Kahlan sat up a little way, as much as she could with Cara’s body pressed so close.
“Cara, are you . . .” she began, terror gripping her chest.
She held Cara’s face in her hands, looking into beautiful eyes that conveyed complete devotion, but it was not confession that had Cara in its grip, only feelings and emotions that she was wholly inexperienced with.
“I’m fine,” Cara said, placing her hands over Kahlan’s, taking them from her face and holding them tenderly. “I am more than fine.”
Seeing the absolute bliss and happiness on Cara’s face, Kahlan kissed her with everything she was, enjoying the stunning smile she could feel against her lips.
“I love you, Cara,” Kahlan said in a rush. “I love you and I will not let you leave me.”
Pushing Cara onto her back, Kahlan did not allow Cara to object or dispute her decision. She claimed her mouth, her body. She made love to Cara unhurriedly, tasting her sumptuous breasts, sucking on Cara’s nipples until Cara could take no more. Kahlan pushed her fingers between Cara’s folds, slipping around in the abundance of arousal she found there until all she could think of was being inside the woman beneath her. Fingers buried deep in Cara’s heated sex, Kahlan finally knew what it really meant to love, and to love completely.
They explored and pleasured each other through the night until sleep finally claimed them, sweat drying on their skin and bodies embracing the tight ache of sex.
Before dawn had began to break Kahlan had slipped from under Cara’s arm, fetching some water to drink before sitting by the bed in the chair she languidly studied her new lover from.
There would be consequences to this tomorrow, Kahlan knew, but she was certain of the love that Cara felt, and that she felt for Cara. Whatever it took, Kahlan would not lose Cara. That meant that she would have to hurt Richard in a way that made her heart ache, but it was nothing compared to the ache that denying her desire to be with Cara would bring. She couldn’t continue as before. Everything was different now.
“Kahlan?” Cara’s sleepy voice came from the shadows of the room.
“I’m here,” Kahlan reassured, moving back to the bed, tugging the sheet up over them both as she slid next to Cara on the mattress.
Their arms instantly found each other, bringing closeness once again, soothing some of Kahlan’s worries. A soft kiss on her forehead made her smile; the tough Mord-Sith, so gentle and loving - though she had no doubt there would be times when passion between them would be intense and possibly bruising. Kahlan enjoyed the thought that they would share both extremes of love and desire between them. They were both powerful yet loving women. Kahlan knew that now.
“Will you stay with me?” Kahlan asked as they both relaxed in the warmth between them. “Come with me to Aydindril?” Cara stiffened in her arms and Kahlan knew she had to ease Cara of her fears. “I won’t be marrying Richard, Cara. I want you by my side, not him. I want you with me in my home.”
“Are you certain?” Cara questioned. “Are you ready to be mine?”
Far from sounding vulnerable now, Cara sounded resolute in what she wanted and what she hoped Kahlan would agree to.
“I am already yours,” Kahlan replied. “And you will be mine.”
It was not a question.
“Yes, I will,” Cara responded and Kahlan could see the grin on her lips as the sun began to ease its way through the small window in their room.
Leaning over, Kahlan kissed the grin that she adored, smiling against it, feeling her heart finally find its equal.
The End
Author: Dylan
Pairing: Cara/Kahlan (slight mentions of Kahlan/Richard)
Rating: NC17
Warnings: None
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, only the situations, and I make zero money from this foolish endeavor.
Summary: Set shortly after they have defeated The Keeper, Kahlan must make a decision to keep Cara from leaving.
Part Two
Kahlan allowed Cara’s words to settle in her mind, tasting them and looking for the things unsaid. Cara was not one for gushing statements about friendship and Kahlan felt touched to have received them, but there was something more, something beneath the surface that Kahlan helplessly grasped for. She knew that Cara - all Mord-Sith - could not allow a weakness such as love, but sometimes she was sure that Cara looked at her with something that went beyond friendship. Kahlan had ignored it, fearing the thoughts it would trigger in herself, but she had to accept that she’d seen it, and had liked it.
Turning to Cara, Kahlan gazed at the other woman’s strong profile in the moonlight. She inched closer almost without conscious thought, committing to memory the features of Cara’s face that made her the attractive woman she was. Committing to memory the subtle scent of her, the hint of heat creeping across the small space between them.
She cursed her own fears, her own reluctance to admit that her reason for wanting Cara to stay was entirely selfish. But selfish or not, she couldn’t let her go without telling her why she should stay.
“It has been an honour to be your friend too, Cara,” Kahlan began, pushing aside all other thoughts, and the threat of guilt that would silence her. “But you’re more than that. You’re family.”
Kahlan watched as Cara closed her eyes for what seemed like forever. She almost turned away, thinking Cara was happy just to leave things as they were and fall asleep.
“Family,” Cara echoed finally, her eyes opening and her brow creasing. “I feel that too . . . but I can’t . . . I can’t watch you marry him. I can’t be there.”
Kahlan heard a remarkable and unfamiliar tremble to Cara’s voice and it made her stomach flip and turn. What was Cara really saying?
“Cara,” Kahlan whispered, moving closer, her hand poised to reach out to her.
“It’s best this way,” Cara continued.
“No, it isn’t,” Kahlan disagreed, yielding to the force within her that made parts of her flutter. “You don’t understand . . .”
The air seemed suddenly thicker, full of possibility, of danger. Cara turned her head to look at Kahlan, sending Kahlan’s heart racing.
“What don’t I understand?” Cara asked softly, her eyelashes mesmerizing Kahlan as she blinked.
Kahlan’s gaze drifted to Cara’s lips, a strong desire to taste them making her body flush with sensations she could no longer refuse. Before either of them could say more, Kahlan closed the small distance between them, pressing her lips to Cara’s.
A quiet moan followed as Cara accepted the kiss, and Kahlan’s heart soared as she realised it had not come from herself. She wanted to hear Cara moan again. Needed to hear that Cara wanted this too. She moved her mouth more firmly over Cara’s, swooning with the fullness, the softness of Cara’s lips. Every inch of Kahlan’s body tightened, warmth spreading through her, pooling instantly between her legs. She felt like she was flying, dizzy, and they were hardly even kissing, hardly touching at all.
Cara shifted on the bed, turning fully towards Kahlan, a hand reaching and sliding up Kahlan’s throat, over her jaw to her cheek, then tangling in her dark hair. Kahlan fell completely into the kiss, moaning herself as their lips parted, as they nipped, breathing harder in small gusts that heated each other’s mouths. She was more aroused in this moment than she ever had been before, with anybody, including Richard. It made Kahlan sober a little and she pulled away, staring into Cara’s hooded eyes.
They didn’t speak or move, just looking at each other, searching each other’s faces. Kahlan could feel Cara reaching inside her, pulling her secrets out, daring her to trust this thing that was obviously between them. But Cara didn’t look entirely certain herself; Kahlan could see apprehension, disbelief, a vulnerability that made her lift her hand to Cara’s cheek, almost in parallel to the hand on her own. Cara closed her eyes at the soft brush of Kahlan’s fingertips, her lips parted, brows slightly furrowed in bewilderment.
“You can’t leave me,” Kahlan whispered across Cara’s lips as she leaned in to her once more. “It would break me.”
Cara pressed her forehead to Kahlan’s, her body stiff, holding firm. Kahlan wanted to know what was going through Cara’s mind. Wished she knew what Cara felt.
“Kahlan,” Cara said, and Kahlan was sure she heard her voice quiver, “you have Richard. You have . . .”
Kahlan didn’t allow her to finish, taking Cara’s mouth with her own once again, kissing her with more confidence. With a conviction that spoke of passion, of hunger. They both sighed as Cara’s lips parted for Kahlan’s tongue as it flicked over perfect lips. Tongues meeting, stroking, tasting, they instinctively moved closer in the bed. Kahlan held tight to Cara at her waist, fingers gripping through the material of Cara’s soft, cotton shirt. She felt the press of Cara’s breasts against her own and shuddered; tingles streaming through her; tingles between her thighs making her lose all sense of propriety.
“I don’t love him,” Kahlan revealed out as they broke apart for air. “Not the way I did.”
“You don’t know what you’re saying,” Cara exclaimed as Kahlan placed kisses over her jaw, sucking at Cara’s skin.
She wanted to kiss Cara all over. She wanted to count the sighs and the little moans. She wanted to feel the heat of Cara’s skin against her own so badly she felt like she was possessed.
“I know what I feel, Cara,” Kahlan insisted. “I know above all else that I can’t lose you.”
With a pained expression, Cara shook her head, fighting this urge that was claiming them.
“You can’t just . . .” Cara pulled her body away from Kahlan, pushing a hand through her blond hair. “I’m Mord-Sith. I’m not meant to want these things, to feel these things.”
Seeing the pain and uncertainty on Cara’s face, Kahlan decided she would not allow Cara to push her away. Not now. She moved her fingertips over Cara’s brow, down the side of her face, watching as the tension lifted slightly, muscles relaxing.
“What do you feel?” Kahlan asked quietly, fingers now trailing down the side of Cara’s throat to her collar bone.
A little lower and she could pull aside the shirt Cara was wearing, feast her eyes on her flushed skin. Further still and Cara’s breasts would be free of the thin material. Kahlan stilled her hand at Cara’s collar bone, laying her palm flat just above her breast, delighting in the heat she found there.
“What do I feel?” Cara echoed, desire darkening her eyes. “I feel hot.”
A small grin drifted over Cara’s mouth and Kahlan smiled shyly, feeling herself relax just a fraction; just enough for her to stop thinking about anything but Cara and the possibilities before them. Kahlan curled her fingers around the back of Cara’s neck and encouraged her closer again, their lips kissing hungrily as soon as they met.
The room seemed to spin, the heat becoming unbearable as their bodies met under the blankets, legs tangling, arms reaching for one another.
“Take this off,” Kahlan instructed between heady kisses, tugging at the collar of Cara’s shirt.
Kahlan was lost in a sea of sensation already, not thinking about consequences, or confession. She just wanted a little of this. A little of Cara. As much as she dared to take before they had to stop.
Sitting up and pulling off her shirt, Cara allowed the blanket to fall from her body. Kahlan’s gaze travelled over Cara’s breasts, devouring them as she licked her lips. She felt an insistent ache between her legs where she’d grown incredibly wet already. Her body wanted Cara, needed her. Fear had no place here, only desire and a yearning to share something deep, something that would take them beyond words.
Leaning down again to place kisses over Kahlan’s jaw, lips brushing lower to her neck, Cara’s hand slid down the firm muscle of Kahlan’s thigh. They both sighed deeply, breaths coming faster as Cara began to lift Kahlan’s nightgown as she brought her hand back up again. Fingers tugging at the material, Cara’s tongue licked at Kahlan’s throat.
“Oh, Spirits,” Kahlan murmured, already feeling the flow of magic inside her as her body prepared to give itself to Cara.
“I want to feel you,” Cara said breathily across Kahlan’s ear. “Every part of you.”
Kahlan shivered, unable to respond other than to lift herself just enough for Cara to tug the nightgown up past her backside, up and off. It floated to the floor as Cara threw it aside, her eyes taking in Kahlan’s naked body below her. Kahlan had forgone briefs when changing, and she felt her cheeks flush with Cara’s unrestrained appraisal.
“You are beautiful,” Cara told her, her hand raising goosebumps as it swept up from Kahlan’s thigh, up over her hip, her side, pulling Kahlan into her arms as it brushed over Kahlan’s strong back.
They came together, Kahlan’s breath rushing from her as she felt Cara’s curves, her silken skin, her strength as they kissed deeply. She found herself pressing up against Cara’s thigh as Cara did the same back, equally naked. Fingernails digging into Cara’s back, Kahlan groaned as wet heat coated her skin. Cara’s arousal seeped from her onto Kahlan and they both found themselves moving, a rhythm pushing them eagerly to release before they could stop it.
Lifting her head, Cara asked, “Are you sure?”
Her tentative question and the tenderness of her touches shocked Kahlan, but she had been aware that there was much more to this woman - this Mord-Sith - for a long while now. Cara was not just ferocity and pain; she was not just a cold, heartless tool of Darken Rahl.
“I want you, Cara,” Kahlan answered. “Only you.”
Kahlan’s breath hitched as Cara kissed her way down her throat, her lips tasting her skin as she reached the top of Kahlan’s breasts. The wet heat she could feel on her thigh from Cara went away as Cara moved down and Kahlan sighed with its absence.
“I want to taste you everywhere,” Cara murmured against the swell of her breast.
A shudder ran through Kahlan, her magic rolling in waves underneath her skin as her arousal pushed it quicker to the surface than it ever had before.
“Cara, we need to be careful,” Kahlan warned, her last word lost to the moan that broke from her lips as Cara took a tight nipple in her mouth and sucked so gently it made Kahlan’s heart almost burst from her chest.
She arched into Cara, raised her hips, brushing up against Cara’s thigh with her heated centre, the flow of desire increasing from its core.
“You’re so wet,” Cara sighed, Kahlan’s nipple plopping from her mouth, her thigh flexing against Kahlan.
Cara wasted no time moving to Kahlan’s other breast, licking and flicking her tongue, sucking its hard point into the delicious heat of her mouth, harder this time.
“Oh,” Kahlan exclaimed, hands sliding down Cara’s strong back to the round curve of her backside.
She gripped hard at Cara’s rear, fingers digging into her flesh, pulling Cara more firmly against her. She wanted to give herself to this woman. She wanted to lose herself in the way she made her feel, but as she felt the prick of her magic warning her, she knew she had to push Cara away.
Forcing back a sob Kahlan encouraged Cara to look at her, her fingers tangling in silken blond hair.
“You have to stop,” she told Cara. “I could confess you.”
Feeling suddenly hollow, bereft as she pushed Cara away, Kahlan couldn’t control the tears that fell from her eyes.
For a moment Cara just looked at her, their eyes locked in a trance. Kahlan saw flashes of emotion in Cara’s eyes that she’d only ever imagined she’d glimpsed before, and then Cara was speaking, baring her soul.
“You can’t confess me,” Cara stated, sounding resolute yet almost shy. Continuing before Kahlan could ask how she could know that. “When you were last in the Con Dar, I felt your magic pass through me. I was unaffected.”
“I don’t understand,” Kahlan said as she stroked her fingers over Cara’s face, not daring to imagine the possibilities that lay before her.
“You can’t confess Richard,” Cara said, leaning down to place soft kisses over Kahlan’s mouth. “And you can’t confess me.”
She kissed Kahlan, tongue rendering Kahlan almost senseless as it duelled her own, making her pant underneath Cara. She couldn’t think while Cara was doing things to her mouth that she hadn’t known were possible, a hand travelling down Kahlan’s side to her thigh and gripping her firmly.
Kahlan lifted her leg, wrapping it over Cara, fighting her desire as best she could so she could ask more. So she could be certain about what Cara was saying.
“Cara,” Kahlan panted, “does that mean you . . .”
Did it mean she loved Kahlan?
Cara silenced the words with her lips, pouring emotion into Kahlan in a way that had her shivering.
“Yes,” Cara mumbled against Kahlan’s lips just as Kahlan began to think she’d never answer. “I do,” she confirmed, guessing what Kahlan had been about to ask.
Kahlan’s heart clenched, opened, allowed Cara deep inside.
With a sob that quickly turned into an overjoyed expression of delight, Kahlan smiled wide, breaking away from Cara’s lips and kissing over her face. She kissed every inch of Cara’s face, trying not to laugh with the relief and elation inside her. She felt like she was flying.
With a smile almost as wide as Kahlan’s, Cara eventually brought their mouths together again. Kahlan sighed into Cara, enjoying the feel of the body pressing into her, the fingers trailing over her inner thigh. With a shudder of anticipation she couldn’t repress, Kahlan opened her legs in invitation.
“Can I touch you?” Cara asked, fingers drifting close to the small patch of dark hair between Kahlan’s thighs. “I need to touch you.”
“Yes,” Kahlan replied without hesitation.
Cara moved a little more to Kahlan’s side. Leaning over Kahlan as the sheets dropped away, revealing Kahlan’s breasts to Cara’s hungry gaze. Placing kisses over tight nipples, Cara eased Kahlan’s legs further apart before placing her hand over Kahlan, cupping her softly.
“Oh, Cara,” Kahlan moaned, biting her lip as she lifted her hips slightly to meet Cara’s hand. “Touch me.”
With a soft grunt of satisfaction, Cara’s fingertips slipped between Kahlan’s folds, arousal spilling over them. She slid back and forth, barely touching as Kahlan whimpered in her need. Feeling all embarrassment float away, Kahlan wrapped an arm around Cara and held her tight, pressing up against the fingers teasing at her. She had never felt this way before; never felt like all her nerve endings were suddenly in one place on her body, desperate for attention, for the throb to be tended to.
Cara’s mouth claimed Kahlan everywhere it could reach, over her breasts, her neck, to her ear as she breathed almost as hard and fast as Kahlan now did.
The sound of Cara’s excitement made Kahlan dizzy with a passionate desire that engulfed her. Moving her hips in time as Cara’s fingers pressed harder against her, Kahlan allowed her magic to swirl in amongst the tendrils of release that began to shoot through her. Only a brief moment of fear stilled her but Cara kissed over her heart, never lifting her fingers as she eased Kahlan’s worry.
“You will not confess me, Kahlan,” Cara assured. Her fingers dipped lower, teasing Kahlan’s entrance. “Let me love you.”
With a gasp Kahlan’s nails dug into Cara, her hips lifting as Cara’s fingers slid inside her, filling her. Her whole body reacted, pleasure ripping through her from where Cara’s fingers pushed deeper into her eager opening. Kahlan’s nipples hardened even more than they had been, her muscles tensing, head thrown back in response to the further pleasure Cara began to pull from her.
“You feel so good,” Cara whispered in her ear, the sheer joy in her voice making Kahlan want to cry with how it affected her.
Kahlan tried to speak, tried to convey how Cara’s fingers felt, how they were taking her to heights she’d never been to. Words failed her. She could no more speak than she could have wiled her body to still and reject the fingers as they pumped into her. Spreading her legs wider, Kahlan brought Cara’s lips to her own, kissing her sloppily, breaths mingling, moans and whimpers escaping from both of them. She rolled her hips in time to Cara’s thrusts as they deepened, as they grew faster, then slow, then once again speeding Kahlan towards climax.
Shuddering breaths filled the air and Kahlan began to moan in time with Cara’s hand as it pleasured her, a strong thumb sweeping up over the most sensitive part of her. She felt magic begin to pour from her soul, seeping through her skin.
“Look at me,” Cara urged softly. “Open your eyes, Kahlan.”
Kahlan hadn’t even realised her eyes were shut, lost as she was in the sensual grip of Cara’s passion.
She forced her eyes open, looking into the green ones above her, a gasp on her lips as she saw nothing but desire and love in Cara’s gaze. She felt what Cara felt right through her to her core, to her soul. The black swell of Kahlan’s magic did not obscure her view and she kept her eyes focused on Cara as long as she could, falling into the love she was sure they both shared.
Cara’s fingers curled inside her, pumping harder, the slick sounds of wet heat easing their thrusts only adding to Kahlan’s increasing pleasure. Kahlan gasped out Cara’s name, the burn inside her intensifying as she began to pulse and shatter for Cara.
“Come for me,” Cara implored, lowering her head and placing kisses over Kahlan’s breasts and neck as Kahlan pushed up against her. “Come with me inside you.”
A sharp cry broke from Kahlan and she jerked up into Cara, her hands gripping to Cara hard enough to leave bruises. Her magic crashed through the last of her barriers and her walls clamped down on Cara’s fingers, body trembling as she came so hard she felt the as if the world was tipping sideways.
Cara buried her face in Kahlan’s neck, keeping her hand working to prolong her release, the heat spilling from her lips warming more than Kahlan’s skin. Moisture flooded over Cara’s fingers and Kahlan held them deep within, tears leaking from her eyes as she allowed the last of her tremors to roll through her in delicious waves.
Body eventually relaxing and eyes returning to their natural blue, Kahlan blinked at the world around her as if seeing it suddenly for the first time. She kept her arms tight around Cara, sighing as Cara’s slowly removed her fingers. Pulled in to a strong embrace, the kisses over her neck and jaw causing her to drift on contentment, Kahlan dreamed of a life in these arms. Dreamed of a life they could share.
“You’re incredible,” Kahlan whispered as soon as she was able to form words.
Cara said nothing, only held Kahlan even tighter. For a fearful moment Kahlan thought that maybe Cara had misjudged and had been confessed. Kahlan sat up a little way, as much as she could with Cara’s body pressed so close.
“Cara, are you . . .” she began, terror gripping her chest.
She held Cara’s face in her hands, looking into beautiful eyes that conveyed complete devotion, but it was not confession that had Cara in its grip, only feelings and emotions that she was wholly inexperienced with.
“I’m fine,” Cara said, placing her hands over Kahlan’s, taking them from her face and holding them tenderly. “I am more than fine.”
Seeing the absolute bliss and happiness on Cara’s face, Kahlan kissed her with everything she was, enjoying the stunning smile she could feel against her lips.
“I love you, Cara,” Kahlan said in a rush. “I love you and I will not let you leave me.”
Pushing Cara onto her back, Kahlan did not allow Cara to object or dispute her decision. She claimed her mouth, her body. She made love to Cara unhurriedly, tasting her sumptuous breasts, sucking on Cara’s nipples until Cara could take no more. Kahlan pushed her fingers between Cara’s folds, slipping around in the abundance of arousal she found there until all she could think of was being inside the woman beneath her. Fingers buried deep in Cara’s heated sex, Kahlan finally knew what it really meant to love, and to love completely.
They explored and pleasured each other through the night until sleep finally claimed them, sweat drying on their skin and bodies embracing the tight ache of sex.
Before dawn had began to break Kahlan had slipped from under Cara’s arm, fetching some water to drink before sitting by the bed in the chair she languidly studied her new lover from.
There would be consequences to this tomorrow, Kahlan knew, but she was certain of the love that Cara felt, and that she felt for Cara. Whatever it took, Kahlan would not lose Cara. That meant that she would have to hurt Richard in a way that made her heart ache, but it was nothing compared to the ache that denying her desire to be with Cara would bring. She couldn’t continue as before. Everything was different now.
“Kahlan?” Cara’s sleepy voice came from the shadows of the room.
“I’m here,” Kahlan reassured, moving back to the bed, tugging the sheet up over them both as she slid next to Cara on the mattress.
Their arms instantly found each other, bringing closeness once again, soothing some of Kahlan’s worries. A soft kiss on her forehead made her smile; the tough Mord-Sith, so gentle and loving - though she had no doubt there would be times when passion between them would be intense and possibly bruising. Kahlan enjoyed the thought that they would share both extremes of love and desire between them. They were both powerful yet loving women. Kahlan knew that now.
“Will you stay with me?” Kahlan asked as they both relaxed in the warmth between them. “Come with me to Aydindril?” Cara stiffened in her arms and Kahlan knew she had to ease Cara of her fears. “I won’t be marrying Richard, Cara. I want you by my side, not him. I want you with me in my home.”
“Are you certain?” Cara questioned. “Are you ready to be mine?”
Far from sounding vulnerable now, Cara sounded resolute in what she wanted and what she hoped Kahlan would agree to.
“I am already yours,” Kahlan replied. “And you will be mine.”
It was not a question.
“Yes, I will,” Cara responded and Kahlan could see the grin on her lips as the sun began to ease its way through the small window in their room.
Leaning over, Kahlan kissed the grin that she adored, smiling against it, feeling her heart finally find its equal.
The End