The days after the visit to Lotus’s ho passed in a gentle rhythm. My magic felt different now: Deeper and steadier, like a river that now had its banks.
It rose when I called it, steadily but strong, and without the wild surges that used to leave scorch marks on the grove.
I practiced in the grove with renewed focus, and even our insincere Tamar grudgingly admitted my barriers were "almost acceptable."
Progress, I guess.
Sara watched every session with her hand often finding mine when we rested, her smiles so soft and pleased.
Yet... sothing had changed in her. She was modest in the evenings, her touches lingering a little longer, and her eyes searching mine as if looking for answers to questions she hadn’t yet spoken aloud.
I felt my new bond with Lotus bustling quietly inside , like so really good, warm milk chocolate. And I wondered if Sara felt it too.
Not that I plan to keep secrets from her, but... she’s been a bit off, if I could say.
One afternoon, after I’d finally managed to weave a perfect barrier of light that held for minutes instead of seconds, Sara kissed my cheek and stepped back.
"Go rest in the treehouse," she said with a gentle voice. "I need so ti alone. The upper falls... I want to bathe there and think."
I hope everything is okay with her.
I nodded, respecting the weight behind her words. "It’s fine. Take all the ti you need."
She smiled, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes.
I watched her climb the vine paths, auburn hair catching the light, until she disappeared among the higher platforms.
Sothing in my chest tightened—concern, perhaps—but I trusted her. She’d co back bright again when she was ready.
SARA’S INTERLUDE
The climb to the upper falls always cleared my mind.
By the ti I reached the hidden pool, my breath was steady again, the warm cascade spilling into crystal water that stead gently in the late afternoon sun.
No one ca here often; the climb was extre, and the Amazons respected each other’s need for solitude.
I slipped out of my leaf-woven clothes and stepped into the water. The water felt perfect; It was warm from the sun—silky, lapping at my thighs, my waist, my nipples as I sank deeper.
And then I closed my eyes.
For a long while I simply floated, letting the water hold . I leaned against a smooth rock and let the current hold .
Then the thoughts ca, uncontrolled and inevitable.
Benjamin.
His face appeared behind my eyelids: those piercing blue eyes that had looked so lost when I first found him.
The way he had trembled under my touch that first night, awed and grateful, as if I was the miracle god-touched instead of him. The sound of his voice saying my na in the dark, breathless and worshipful...
I carried him when he could barely walk. I gave him his first kiss, his first everything.
And that night in the treehouse... he’d looked at like I was the only woman in the world. His hands shaking, and his voice rough when he said my na as he poured his seed inside for the first ti.
I truly loved those monts...
"Mine... HE’S MINE!"
...But was he?
No, he currently wasn’t just mine anymore. Those... thieves.
Images flickered: My hand moved without thinking, sliding down my stomach, between my legs. I was already so wet, and not just from the water.
I spread my thighs wider, my fingers finding my clit, rubbing slow loops that made my breath hitch.
Heka ca to mind... her quiet smiles when she helped Benjamin with his spear forms. The way she leaned into him just a little too long.
"So infuriating."
Martha’s laugh, loud and free when he wrestled with her on the training platform.
"No, don’t touch him!"
Lulu blushing every ti he praised her magic.
"Chea... Cheap whore..."
That Tamar snapping at him, but always standing closer than she needed to.
"...Untruthful spoiled brat."
And now, that Lotus too. Prehistoric, wise, and beautiful Lotus.
I didn’t know exactly what happened on that balcony, but I felt so heightened level of bond between them.
I could imagine it too easily: Benjamin’s gentle hands on her ancient body, his mouth on her breasts, moving his tongue inside her caves, slow and reverent, giving her sothing she hadn’t felt in thousands of years, I presu.
The image stung ; sharp, hot, and unfamiliar.
Was this jealousy...?
I had never felt it before, not truly.
Amazons shared strength, shared pleasure, shared the future of the tribe. Bonds were ant to multiply, not divide.
I had stood proud during the Rite, watching him with the others, telling myself it was right, it was necessary.
But now, alone in this water, I couldn’t lie to myself.
I wanted him only for .
My other hand moved to my breast, squeezing hard, pinching the nipple until I gasped. My fingers below moved faster, dipping inside, then back to my clit, now glossy and swollen.
I wanted to be the only one he touched, the only one he looked at like that, the only one he filled with his sen.
I then pictured him above that first night... so cautious and uncertain, but then hungry, filling my hole so perfectly. The way he had looked at afterward, like I was his entire world... I don’t get that anymore... It hurts.
Then another contemplation fell into mind: Lotus, silver hair loose, golden eyes dark with long-buried desire, Benjamin moving his cock inside her with more than the reverence he had ever shown .
The jealousy flared hotter, but so did the heat between my legs.
My breath quickened. I fucked myself harder, two fingers inside now, thumb on my clit, palm grinding against it. My hips bucked in the water, breasts bouncing with each thrust of my hand.
I pinched my nipple again, twisted it, the pain mixing with pleasure until my head fell back.
"I want him only for myself," the thought ca out, raw and fierce. Followed by drizzling tears. "I found him! I’m the one that saved him. I loved him first, before even those...!"
...Eh...?
The word stopped in my trails.
Love.
I stilled as my eyes unwillingly widened, water splashing gently at her breasts, my heart pounding.
Yes. Love is the term.
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