Love as a Form of Binding Ch. 18

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The slayer stared as Mother finished her tale and the expression before her caused the storm demon to laugh softly.

"Yes, mighty Gortruk, legate of the scout legion, leader of slayers, that is everything that has happened, and perhaps all that I know of Tereth the hunter."

Gortruk picked up the goblet and sipped thoughtfully for a moment, "I do not wish to annoy you, Old one, but there is no way that I can think of to ask, ..."

"Ask then, Legate," she smiled, "in any way that it makes sense to you."

"There is no chance that you might be mistaken in this history of Tereth that you tell me?"

She shook her head, "No, why?"

Gortruk began to laugh, "Nothing, Old one."

"How do you feel now, then?" she asked, "knowing the darkest things?"

"Nothing more than my want for Tereth to be well remains unchanged."

Mother smiled for a moment, "It is said that you are known for your beauty. I can see why this is, but I think that you are at your best when you are happy like this."

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The slayer was a little unprepared for the scene in the dim cavern of the hot pool when Brinack led them in answer to the polite request.

Maezou lay on her back with Illa lying on her and Zele was not far off being serviced by Thiery.

"Hullo again," Illa smiled happily, "Is Tereth – "

"No," Gortruk said quietly, "Though I have been told that a full recovery can be expected. I will pass your message when my friend awakens."

He looked at Maezou. "We were summoned."

Maezou kissed Illa and asked her to get off.

"Yes Mistress," she grinned as she looked at Gortruk a little hopefully. "I'm sorry, but it wasna said before, and I've only just learned that yer name is Gortruk," she said, "I'm Illa.

Do ye fancy feelin' an imp girl's lips on ye, as long as I'm nearby? I'm sure that my mistress will no mind."

"Thank you, no," the slayer smiled, "I was told that this was for a military purpose. As sweet to see as you are, I do not mix – "

"Illa," Maezou scolded gently, "the legate's thoughts in that regard are elsewhere, I think. Please, General Brinack, and you, Legate Gortruk, please make yourselves comfortable."

"That's alright, Gortruk, "Illa laughed, "but if ye change yer mind, then let me or Thiery know, and we'll ask our mistresses if we can come and play."

She lifted herself off Maezou carefully and sat down next to Zele. After encouraging Thiery a little, Illa found the end of Zele's tail and sat sucking it happily as she watched.

What she was doing pushed Zele to her finish, and Illa looked down at her a minute later, "Are ye done wi' Thiery, Zele? If ye are, then I could use him fer a bit, so's I don't get te feeling neglected, since he didna finish and all."

She sighed loudly, "It'll be down te me te finish what ye started."

Both of the sisters sputtered and laughed in surprise.

"Neglected? Illa, you came in here and began this with us after having us watch you both," Maezou said.

Zele smiled, "Surely it has not been an hour since you had Thiery last."

But Illa now toyed with Thiery and Gortruk watched in amazement as they laughed and tussled together on the floor. It reminded the slayer of two little spiders fighting, but the pair ended up on their sides with Illa's wings around them as they made love.

"Thiery ye handsome thing,"Illa chuckled, a little out of breath, "don't ye listen te them. I've been missin' ye fer all this time, even if it's only been an hour."

She sighed as she rocked him, "Nobody does this for me like my Thiery."

He didn't stop, but he sounded a little petulant, "If I'm so good fer ye, why did ye call me a fuck-it or whatever ye said?"

"Thiery," Illa groaned quietly, "just love me. I called ye a fuckwit and that's what ye are. I don't mean that yer stupid. I'd never think that, it's just that ye make me laugh and I love ye so." She reached to pull him to her tightly for a moment.

"I'm a fuckwit too, dear. But I'm a batty one, aren't I?"

He lifted his head to look at her, "I thought ye said ye was part hare. Yer a batty fuckwit?"

"Aye, yeah," she laughed in joy like a child as she pulled his head to her so that he'd kiss her throat, "I'm anything ye say, sweetness. Just never stop fucking with me and I'll be a happy one."

The others smiled at each other with raised eyebrows before Maezou decided to press on with the business that she'd wanted to talk about. The imp and the lobold on the floor were forgotten by all but Zele, who laid one of her wings over them and watched under it.

"Our males are off together scouting," Maezou said to Brinack, "I was told that the full and careful assessment will fall to you in another day or so, Gortruk. If Tereth is better by then, I suggest that you go together, since you both have a part to play in my mother's plans with Toby. There are other locations that will need your assessment as well."

"What part is Tereth to have?" Gortruk said with concern, "I do not know if –"

"Something which will need your careful judgment is whether Tereth will be able to fly at the much higher speeds that will be demanded in all of this. We need for Tereth to be able to fly much faster than ever before, due to the smaller body mass and shape. It's very important," Maezou said.

Maezou shook her head, "Legate, I cannot do that much to affect the timing of this, so there is not much more time available. I do know that Tereth's part in everything is crucial to our winning a clear victory – and that is what must happen, Gortruk. Anything less will only show vulnerability on your Appolyon's part as well as my lord's. This must be won in no uncertain terms.

Forgive me if I make this sound at all desperate, Gortruk. I do not think that it will be, necessarily, but there are a lot of parts to this – and therefore more things which might go wrong at a bad time. General Brinack knows of this and she can explain the details."

She sat up and leaned forward, "Now that I've gotten the stuffy parts out of the way, have some wine and tell me about Tereth."

"I was hoping that you might tell me, Maezou," Gortruk smiled.

"I find myself caring about Tereth quite a bit these days, "Maezou said, "Maybe it's a little bit of guilt for what I did, though something was clearly needed. I will not speak badly of Tereth, but you ought to know that there were few redeeming qualities before. I've only known Tereth for about a hundred years, but in that time, it was as much more of an adversary of mine than a coworker just being a plain bastard about everything for the way that Tereth often got in my way as I hunted to make stupid suggestions or try to distract me. And it didn't matter what I said, Tereth wouldn't stop.

If our paths crossed while hunting, Tereth's hunt went out of the window while I had someone obstructing me in every imaginable way. But I'd bring the soul that I'd been commanded to bring, while Tereth would point to me and accuse ME of thwarting the Great Hunter Tereth's plans as an excuse for his own failure.

It only improved when I finally began to respond – by sending messages of pain.

Tereth only came here to hunt me because Lord Gorek commanded it. That's the only reason – because Gorek was already hurting Tereth, so I chose to help my old adversary, though it was not seen that way, believe me.

I do not hate Tereth. I never have. From what I have been hearing, I am a little hopeful that Tereth has found a friend in you. You may not see it yet, and perhaps Tereth does not either, but what is planned is for the good of all of us who want our freedom."

She sipped her wine a little and said, "We don't really know each other, Gortruk, but I can say that I'm really hopeful to get to know you and all the rest of your Appolyon's legions much better when and if this ends well. I already count your General here among my friends and I have heard that you and Tereth seemed to have found a friendship between you before you brought a great hunter home to us.

I meant those words, Gortruk. Tereth has come in for a lot of scorn because I was a better soul hunter, but I think that Tereth has other skills that I have not mastered as well, so I give your friend credit for what was done. If it had been me, I likely would have laid waste to the whole cavern and it would have bought us all nothing. For what happened, Tereth is a great hunter in my eyes."

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When he woke, Tereth looked around as far as he could – which wasn't far at all. He found himself in bed lying next to a very naked Gortruk. The tall slayer was lying front down, propped up with pillows under that chest, reading from a table of symbols prepared by Lily. It related to patterns of speech in the newer tongue. What had awoken Tereth was the sounds that Gortruk had made while practicing.

He looked at that fine shape and his eyes took in the muscles there at rest. His eyes slid along until they stopped as he regarded the most immaculate set of buns that he was sure that he'd ever seen. They even made him hungry, besides the other emotions that he felt. He thought about his position as they lay here together and couldn't really imagine a reason for it, other than his own incredible luck at the moment – and he knew that he absolutely never ever had this sort of luck in the normal course of his life.

He kept admiring that fine ass. Wonderfully fine Gortruk was lying naked next to him, and those haunches were at rest – and they almost looked as though she was clamping them together, though she wasn't. As the minutes went by, he saw no change, so he concluded that the girl that he felt so much for was even more remarkable.

He had to touch them, he thought. His head only hurt him a little, he decided. He didn't even really know if this was a dream or not quite yet. But he knew that he had to touch them. Caressing them would have been a wonder, but he didn't trust his luck that much. He just needed a harmless pretext, but what?

He sighed, closing his eyes, and pretended to roll that way a little, draping his arm so that his hand could lie right on that beautiful bottom.

He wanted to hold his breath, but he knew that he had to keep on breathing audibly if he was going to have a chance to pull this off and be allowed to keep his hand there.

He heard Gortruk stop breathing and then he felt her body go a little rigid. Tereth stayed the course and tried to keep up the pretense of sleeping. He felt the loveliest slayer of them all turn her head to regard him for a moment, and the motion caused his hand to slip too far down from her immaculate ass to the sort of thighs that he wanted to chew on almost as much.

Gortruk appeared to have decided that he was still asleep and turned back to her reference table to practice a little more, only quieter now. But then Tereth felt a miracle happening.

Gortruk reached behind herself carefully to lift his hand and place it onto her ass again very softly.

There was silence for a few moments before Gortruk spoke. "Did you know that you smile so sweetly when you pretend to be asleep? That smile is almost as nice as the one that has been on your face all afternoon while you really were asleep. I mean, here you are, awake and pretending."

Tereth opened his eyes to thin slits and watched as she turned back to her reference table.

"A pity that you can't pretend to be asleep the way that you really do sleep when you are next to me. You have been sawing wood all afternoon, with your fingers in my hair or playing with my ass. I like it better than only holding your hand there. I enjoyed what you did for at least an hour."

Gortruk rolled facing Tereth, who found himself in those arms and looking up at that incredible smile.

"Tereth, my wonderful new friend, I've been waiting for over a day. Please kiss me before I die."

Tereth couldn't believe what his ears told him, but after a moment, he smiled and nodded. Gortruk leaned down and that first real kiss between them - where no bloodshed or archery was involved - caused them both to groan and drift in each other's soft sighs for many minutes.

"Where are we?" Tereth asked finally after they'd stopped for air and to exchange smiles.

Gortruk grinned and kissed him again, trying to remember what had been taught by Brinack of the newer form of their speech. "We are in a bed, in a chamber given for as long as it takes for you to get well and to stop thinking that I am a female. I did hear what you said about me as you slept.

This is new to me, but I have the wish that you will still like me. I followed you around all day and then waited for you down below. After you were brought to be healed, I have wandered and spoken to many about the one that I now long to hold tightly to me.

It seems that you and I are very popular heroes now, you especially. I've waited for a day for you to wake up.

I hope it matters as little to you as it does to me, but we each thought that the other one was something else. Once I found out my mistake, I have laughed about it ever since and I am so happy that I was wrong."

"Are you sure?" Tereth asked, "I am not really anything anymore."

The smile above him didn't waver. "Yes you are. I was afraid for you, but I already knew that I wanted to know you. Maybe it was a good thing, what happened – other than that you were hurt. They came and cared for you, and you woke up twice, but only for a moment. My general came with our Appolyon, and I told of everything, saying that I was sorry that you were hurt anyway.

I was told that you would likely be alright, and then an old one came. She was very beautiful, and she told me of your past – all the things that you have done, because I asked, Tereth. And I still want to know you. I want you, and I am in a little fearful agony hoping that you like me."

He held Tereth's head and kissed those lips softly again. "Tereth, this what and who we might be – this does not matter to me at all. What matters is what we have here. This is what we can have – now. I don't care about anything else; only that you sigh when I hold you and kiss you and how much I love it when you kiss me.

Tereth thought about it and then he smiled as he pulled Gortruk down to kiss him again. He found that he couldn't move too much without his head pounding painfully, but he sighed anyway at the soft and gentle kisses that he was given. He also felt the press of something else against him, but it was gone when Gortruk pulled the covers off and moved to place himself over Tereth.

"Forgive me if I do anything wrongly," he said, "I am on some unfamiliar ground here, but I think that I know what it is that we both would want, and I will do my best."

Tereth nodded as he sighed, feeling the large and very strong hands that he'd admired as they began to caress him everywhere. He began to relax when he felt the way that the shaft of Gortruk's hardness seemed to be able to part his furrow a little to rub in a delicious sort of way.

Tereth reached up and ran his fingers through that impossibly long mane. He didn't think that he could ever get tired of seeing it and touching it. He moved it a little and toyed with it. Even when it got in the way, he found that he liked it.

Soon enough, Gortruk began to work his kisses down lower, agonizingly slowly as far as Tereth was concerned. He wondered why it was that he felt an increasing sense of unease over it. That ended when Gortruk's lips found a nipple.

Tereth gasped at the feeling as he arched his back up involuntarily. It felt incredible to him, but after a second, he wondered at this as well, since something certainly felt a little different from what he'd expected. He didn't want the male above him to stop, so he ran his hand over the other side of his chest. His eyes opened wide and he struggled to speak.

"Ssh," Gortruk whispered as he nuzzled his face there a little longer. "The old one changed you while you slept, but only a little. I did not think that it would matter to me, but I like it, and they are not large at all."

Tereth stared up in shock, "I have ..."

"Yes, as I've said," Gortruk looked up, "Aren't you listening to me? Should I stop or should I stop talking?"

He dragged his lips across the nipple that he'd been paying attention to, "They're not big. More like swells, really. It's not up to me, but I didn't think that you needed them. I was wrong, I guess. They suit you and I liked to put my head there while you slept. There was another change made."

"What was it?" Tereth asked, "I wasn't used to how I was. Do I need to look?"

Gortruk looked up, and Tereth couldn't stop his hands from touching that hair, that face. He'd never fallen in love before.

"There is nothing to see," he said, "and I do not know what it is that was done. The old one said that your friend Sharon asked her for it."

He pressed his mouth to the other one and Tereth groaned as he felt his leg being raised.

"Wait, Gortruk," Tereth gasped, "I – I don't know what to do, I –"

"Well," the male said with a smile that Tereth could have sworn that he could feel, "I can stop and we can discuss things, or you can just allow me to bumble along here in my own way. I cannot promise much, since I know little of what I do here with one so wondrous as you are. But I promise that I will do my best, and I will never hurt you."

He began to kiss a little lower down, and Tereth felt the slayer's hair on him everywhere like the softest caress. Gortruk's chin was riding just on his little furrow as he kissed and gently bit over the hard belly that he loved to see and touch. Tereth forgot all about whatever it had been that he was objecting about, though the vague sense of unease remained.

Gortruk stopped abruptly and looked up. Tereth looked at him, seeing those soft eyes and trying to reconcile the sight with the way that the slayer had killed so many foes in so little time. He remembered the way that Gortruk had stood over him protectively and howled out his feelings.

"How long have you been a slayer?" he asked.

"Almost from the beginning," the male replied, "I am no stranger to loving with a female, though I have never loved with a male. I feel that you are nervous about what I do, and now I want to know why. What is it that I do wrong here for you?"

"You're not doing anything wrong," Tereth said with a sigh, "It's just that I'm ..."

The slayer rose up on his elbows. "Tereth," he said, "Until now – or in a moment or two, this has been the same for me as it might be with anyone. I just did not know that it would be. If you would calm down, what I want to do next is as new to me as it is for you, but for my part, I am not afraid of it and I can even say that I am smitten, I enjoy this so much with you. I want to kiss you in that place which gives you so much trouble. Please allow me this."

I know what you have," he said with a small nod, "and I have seen what you do not have. I know what has happened to you and what was done. It changes nothing for how I feel. I think that there are ways that we can have what anyone might have with another."

Tereth was stuck for a moment, and then he said, "Gortruk, in my eyes you are so beautiful, and I love what you are doing to me now, but, ... "

He looked down and away as he continued, "This will lead to something else. Like many where I come from, I have been forced to lie still while someone stronger than I was did what they wanted to me. I have never enjoyed it. I do not want you to be disappointed with me, that's all. I am afraid of the pain. I have hurt others and now I am afraid of the same thing."

Gortruk leaned his head down and kissed Tereth's mound for a moment. "Listen," he said when he looked up again, "please give me a chance, lovely Tereth. That is all that I ask of you. I will not hurt you, and I have been coached by two demonlords, the two consorts of one of them, the old one and her human lover about how this is to be done. When I began as a pit fighter, I was taught less than I have learned for this.