He is not there as soon as he should have been; he has grown languid in his duties as her keeper. As her fatigue seemed to grow so did the fire stallion's appetite for wandering. She rests on their secludes island and he traces the shores of Tephra and sometimes further, his dark and brooding eyes avoiding those of others and his stride held an energy and purpose. It would be hard to tell had no end in mind. But still, he was back with her every night to make sure she and his growing child in her womb were safe and warm.
Almost every night.
She never asked where he had been, a gentle pleading of her soft, blue eyes was the worst she ever gave him. A wicked grin was the worst he ever gave her.
But whatever she may think he had remained true. Although they had never agreed to such a thing, although he had no idea if their bargain would last beyond the dawn. The pale hollows of her stir his loins the same way her robust curves had. The fragility of her, the soft yielding to his advances, ignite the fire in his belly and his need to have her - to keep her. He had yet to look beyond her for company of any sort in the last year.
They had a rhythm and he had always been a creature of habit.
By the time he finds her in the jungle their son has been born, and his sweat soaked blue-bird rises to stand. Parting ferns and fronds, he comes to stand beside her pressing into her for support as he admires the blinking colt who seems healthy enough. But something is not right, he realizes, as she shudders beside him, and Levi turns abruptly as Rapture's eyes widen and roll in pain.
She collapses at his feet and fear strikes him hard and true in his heart. He is willingly her servant again, frantically trying to help yet feeling useless, ready to repentant of his wandering and willing to sacrifice it all - as it would have made a difference. But zealous dread soon turns to happiness as her pain gains context.
A second child.
"Rapture," he breathes her name, covering her neck and face with hot and urgent kisses as she cleans them. They seem healthy, both beautiful in their own way, but his attentions are completely absorbed by their delicate mother.
Levi
so scream you, out from behind the bitter ache.