09-13-2017, 08:57 PM
tantalize
I'll believe in you and trust
On the day you finally see the way you treated me
Was a far cry from love
And I, yours. That battered piece of hope glows warm in her chest, small but threatening to grow if given time. She doesn’t let him see that, keeping her face as mask like as possible but unable to fight off the shadows. Unable to keep the ghosts from her eyes. She refused to let herself be seen as weak. That was worse then death itself. She would not have it, would not allow it. The little control she has, she clings to with a tight grasp. Even when it had happened, she refused to give in. She had fought tooth and nail against her attacker. She had only collapsed after it had happened, when her strength had gone out and shock had overwhelmed her. Even then she had to compose herself. What would they think of their Queen of the Jungle to find her in such a state?
Her breath comes less quickly, the prickling on the back of her neck calming as he slowly reaches out to brush her cheek. Her body is on guard, unable to give in to what he tries to offer. Muscles taunt beneath her russet skin as he presses his forehead to her, her pulse quickening in a mix of fear and desire. She is frightfully still, the touch of him on her neck so foreign. She was rusty at this and every touch felt like an invasion.
Slowly, patiently, he trails into the long inky textured strands of her mane that smell like sand and seawater. A shudder runs through her body, quivers where he touches her. Another memory threatening to overcome her but this time she does not pull away. This is a trial that she must battle, her jaw clenching as she grits her teeth. The hardest part is yet to come as his broad neck folds over hers, pulling her to him.
She wishes this could be easy like it was for probably every girl he has ever embraced. But it’s not for her. She can’t fall into his embrace, can’t press fevered kisses along the slope of his fine neck, can’t press her chest seductively to his. Gently she extends her neck, freeing herself of the claustrophobic confinement of his embrace but she does not move away. Instead she steels herself, forcing herself to make some sort of leeway in this shit show of a romance. To make sure he doesn’t go away empty handed, that he doesn’t forget her.
He steps back and for a moment her willpower falters. What if she can’t do this? What if she can never have that desire again? Perhaps she was meant to walk through this life alone, forever. His mouth is pressed to the corner of her lips, the soft mumble of words settling her decision.
With a brazen look in the hardened eyes of gold, she takes a chance. Supple dark lips pressed to his, soft at first. Something rushes through her body and instantly she feels as if she is engulfed by fire. Perhaps she is, not forgetting the flames that licked his back, but this is inside her. The old heat stoked back to life deep within her. Lashes flutter as her kiss becomes firmer, building on years of need that had been left to fester. Biting softly at his lower lip with a soft exhale of breath before slowly, reluctantly, pulling away.
Baby steps, Liz. Baby steps.