Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Resurrection I: Dead or Alive ❯ The Sorceress ( Chapter 3 )

Auron shook his head. "Lulu, I thank you, but you cannot possibly-"

 

Her eyes flashed. "I might. Don't stop me from trying, Auron." She reached up with both hands and eased the two halves of the armored shell apart, then slid it free of his sturdy frame. Again, she found herself wishing for more light. He was, after all, a striking figure of a man. She had to content herself with the sculpted feel of muscle and bone as her deft fingers wandered over his chest and sought to learn the unfamiliar territory.

 

Here, too, his skin betrayed his true nature: he smelled faintly of man, but he lacked any musk of the day's battles and exertions, to say nothing of this evening's. She quickly found the buckled lake of scar tissue on one side of his torso marring otherwise smooth, hard flesh. He tensed when her fingers drifted over the ghastly wound, and she immediately diverted her attentions elsewhere.

 

Auron's breathing slowed appreciatively as she massaged knots from his shoulders— evidently tension was another part of existence he had been unable to leave behind. He lurched in surprise when a shimmer of sparks danced across his back.

 

"What in Spira is that?" he muttered.

 

Smiling, she pressed two fingers across his lips. "Allow me."

 

He grunted. "You are dangerous, woman."

 

The technique took delicate concentration indeed, and it was not something she had risked on Chappu, although she had discovered it by accident years ago while experimenting. Most mages sought greater and greater power. Lulu sought control. Now she unleashed that secret on Auron's skin, tracing faint patterns of fire, water, ice and electricity over his flesh. The power she used was not great enough to cause damage, but ah, yes, to judge by his lidded gaze, the flare of his nostrils, and his occasional jerk, he was savoring every sensation.

 

Coaxing him down to nestle between her thighs, she sought his mouth and renewed what was already becoming a delightfully familiar dance. Her breasts brushed against his chest as he settled over her. She gave a purring sigh as he slid his hands up to squeeze them, rolling his palms across her nipples in light circles and grinding his hips into hers in unison with their kisses. Their legs twined together, and she again chafed at the clothes he was still wearing. She was not about to pause and do something about it, however... at least not yet.

 

Auron rumbled low in his throat as she teased and tormented him, reaching between their bodies to parade a tingling rain of sparks across his stomach. His kisses began to grow unruly again as she played over the surface of his body. She was finding it increasingly difficult to concentrate.

 

Gazing up at him to watch the raw flickers of pleasure tugging at his face, she found his features growing indistinct for a moment, then sharper. When she reached up to ruffle his hair, she found it much shorter. Lulu realized with a shock what had changed. She found herself looking up into the face of Auron ten years younger. Both his eyes were fully open; gone was the old slash across his cheek and brow.

 

He smiled. Actually smiled.

 

She drew a startled breath. "Sir Auron!"

 

It almost hurt to see the innocence in his unmarred face. "What is it?" he asked.

 

"Nothing," she temporized. "I suppose Maester Seymour never noticed you were beautiful either. He does not seem your type." She met him tongue to tongue before the words could deflect him from what she was doing to him.

 

She wished she could claw at his skin, biting and scratching, ravishing him as he had ravished her, but she was afraid of what she might do if she lost focus. She let the hint of that thought travel through her fingertips with a crackling bite that made him jump, then soothed it over with cool water and ice.

 

"I could get used to this," he whispered hoarsely, giving her breasts a hard squeeze.

 

An impish chuckle bubbled out of her, somewhat muffled by his weight on top of her. "You mean this?" she asked, tracing a burning line of heat down his back.

 

"Mmmmm," he groaned. Then, abruptly, his breath caught between his teeth and he stiffened and sank his full weight onto her, letting go to clench his hand against his chest. At first Lulu feared she had misjudged and hurt him somehow, despite her caution. Then she felt warm wetness trickling between his fingers and smelled the blood. He made no sound, fighting a silent battle with eyes squeezed tightly shut.

 

"Auron!" she snapped, jolted back to reality in a cold instant. "Don't you go dying on me!"

 

Curse it, she had not stopped to think, just for a change! What kept the Unsent bound to this world, apart from some burning need, anger, or grief that drove them? But if they let go of that single-minded purpose, if they allowed their spirits to relax, to find peace...

 

Lulu's accidental pun drew a hollow laugh out of him, but the sound faded unnaturally. Spirit-lights began to swirl before her vision, and the weight of his body atop hers diminished. She could see the forest through him.

 

The mage cradled him in sheer frustration, forming a useless cage with her arms, lacking a Summoner's gifts of healing and binding that might hold him. But she had her voice, which could be alluringly hypnotic when she put her mind to it. Sternly, she spoke in his ear, or where his ear had been a moment ago. "Sir Auron. Come back. Now is not the time to let go. Remember your promise to Jecht. Remember Braska's daughter."

 

With a wrench he was fully there again, right back to the grizzled grey locks of the present day. "I'm not... going anywhere." He seemed to be willing himself to breathe, brows knitted in concentration. "Touch me."

 

His body still seemed to have scarcely any weight, or else she was feeling giddy. She wrapped her arms around him and rolled him beneath her, looking to see whether the old wound was still haunting him. Blood pooled over his chest and covered his hands, but beneath her gentle probing fingers she felt only scar tissue once more. As for the rest of him... Her heart skipped a beat. Well, that would save time unclothing him, but she was no longer sure whether Auron was in any state to appreciate it. If not, she might have to visit the cold water of the lake herself before she could sleep.

 

Lulu kissed his forehead gently. "A pity. I quite liked that old face of yours, but let's not try that again, shall we?" she murmured, trying to make light of what had just happened. She called up a few handfuls of water to rinse the blood away. Auron didn't respond: his good eye was shut tight, his breathing labored, and he seemed to be composing himself in more ways than one.

 

Caressing his cheek, she began to let her fingertips drift here and there over him to help draw him back to his body. Despite his command, she was half-afraid that it might have the opposite effect. This time she used more old-fashioned methods to breathe life into his skin, blowing on his damp flesh and kissing and nipping it as she moved across it, raking her nails lightly across his stomach and chest. He felt cooler, but the heat of her hands seemed to be helping. Finally his eye snapped open and he gripped her hair where her braids met her scalp, growling two words. "Touch.me."

 

Lu made a soft wondering sound in her throat, tracing the muscles of one of his legs with a toe as she slid her hand down slowly across his belly, through dark curls, and over what had caught her attention a short time ago. "Here, you mean?" she whispered. "Mm. You are still warm there. Very warm."

 

He smiled ferally. "So you tell me."

 

She could not help noticing its size as she wrapped her hand around his shaft and began to work her magic on it— very ordinary magic this time, sliding her palm around silky flesh in a rhythmic pulse. Was it her imagination, or was his whole body growing more solid beneath her? He growled again, tugging at her hair. She gave a throaty laugh and heeded the hint. Leaving his face with a last lingering kiss, she reversed position over him and lowered her head to his cock, slowly licking along his length. Then she eased the head into her mouth, still stroking him firmly with her hand. His fingers tangled in her hair. "Yesss..."

 

At first she thought she was making no progress at all and might have to cede the game, but suddenly she felt a pulse jump beneath her fingers. Encouraged, she threw herself upon him with renewed fervor, coaxing, licking, taking him fully in her mouth. She could feel more than hear the faint, panting growls rumbling through his chest. His mouth sought the curve of her hipbone, kissing her urgently. His fingers began to slide back and forth along her legs in an unconscious mimicry of what she was doing.

 

Lulu's jaw was beginning to ache, but she paid no heed. She no longer had to hold his shaft with her hands to keep it in her mouth; it was standing on its own. Auron gave a strangled cry as she took him deeply into her throat, tonguing him. Abruptly his hands clamped on both sides of her waist, squeezing with unmistakable urgency.

 

Gently she slipped free, kissed the tip, and turned herself around to face him again. Very human need and strain was drawing his features taut. "Hurry," he mouthed.

 

"Gladly," she whispered in return, and sank into a lush kiss. Guided by his hands at her sides, she adjusted her body over his. She reached down, tracing a fingertip along his shaft as if casting a blessing over it, then gently positioned him at her already-slick entrance, her body thrumming with anticipation.

 

Brown and amber eyes met. Lulu plunged her hips downward, drawing him into herself. Both of them gasped together. Seeking half-remembered movements, she began to circle her hips, rising and falling and reveling in the luxurious sensation of him sliding in and out of her. Auron bucked to meet her, his strength returning as he fairly lifted both of them off the ground with the force of some of his thrusts. Eyes locked together, each glimpsed the fire in the other's soul as their tempo built. The stoic swordsman began to lose control. Wildly he drove into her, the sounds of their lovemaking loud in the silent clearing.

 

Breathing in short, staggered gasps, she found it difficult to speak, but she wrenched free of his mouth to say hoarsely, "Wait."

 

"Mmmrrrph." He seemed disinclined to obey. After a couple more powerful strokes, she almost lost the will to show him what she meant.

 

"Be still," Lulu commanded.

 

Incredulously, he paused, back arched, buried to the hilt deep inside her. Half closing her eyes, she took a careful breath, and began to squeeze and release the muscles of her inner walls, clutching at him. He hissed between his teeth. "I think you're killing me again..."

 

"Shhh." She planted another kiss and continued to milk him with delicate strength, making every tiny movement an exquisite torment as she gripped and released him. The exercise had its tantalizing effect upon her, too. She felt the pleasure beginning to mount like water piling up behind a dam. Both of them were trembling.

 

"Go," she gasped, unable to bear the torment she was inflicting on him any longer.

 

He snarled and thrust into her again, struggling and fierce now. She met him in kind, biting and clawing at his shoulders as she had longed to do before. Now she was barely aware of what she was doing. Their moans blended. Finally she felt the dam give way, and she was suddenly lost again, shuddering and spasming as the pleasure lifted her from the inside out, pouring through her in waves. Dimly she became aware of his staccato gasps, his thrusts becoming short, sharp pulses.

 

He fell beneath her, the cry of "Braska!" hoarse on his lips.

 

Lightheaded and faintly amused, she held onto him and let the last lingering waves spill through her with a contented sigh, hips jumping each time another aftershock caught her. Auron came to himself a little later, and stared up at her.

 

"What did I say?" he whispered hoarsely.

 

She was unable to suppress a throaty giggle. "Nothing I had not already guessed."

 

Auron grimaced at her. "You notice too much. I'm sorry."

 

She kissed his cheek. "Don't be. It proves that I succeeded."

 

Dizzy and sated, they lay in tangled each other's limbs and immersed themselves in quiet, moody kisses for some while before they realized the sounds of the forest had speeded up again. Auron suddenly halted and turned his head, eyes narrowing. "I lost track of the time."

 

Again, she laughed low and softly. "So I see. I suppose we really had better go check on our Summoner, before she comes looking for us."

 

Exhaling, he reached up to touch her cheek with a gentleness that she would not have tolerated sooner. "Agreed." His voice deepened. "Thank you."

 

She said nothing, but the fond smile that lit her features might have astonished her as much as it did him. Then she was back to her usual brisk practicality. Disentangling from him, she summoned water to clean away the remaining blood before turning to their clothes. Sitting up and slipping her dress back over her shoulders, she arched an eyebrow. "Um...Auron?"

 

He looked down at himself and snorted, sitting up and rubbing a hand against his thigh absently. "Now you know why fiends don't bother." He grimaced, apparently collecting himself, and suddenly his boots and trousers were back in place.

 

"Convenient," she remarked, beginning to buckle her skirts back together.

 

Auron knelt to assist her, muttering something about needing another Hastega just to get her bundled back into her clothes before sunrise. Eventually it was done, and he donned his cuirass and threw his coat around his shoulders. Hastily she pinned up her hair, and they hurried back to camp.

 

"Auron! Lulu! Where were you?" Tidus' stridently clueless tones breaking over them as they emerged from the forest were a much-needed slap of incongruity that helped Lu wipe the glazed look of contentment out of her eyes. Her legs, however, were still a little wobbly, and she stumbled over her skirts as they stepped into the clearing. Auron reached back and caught her elbow, righting her.

 

Yuna, looking a little flushed and dishevelled herself, hurried towards the older woman. "Lulu...are you hurt? What happened?" She reached for the woman's cheek. "You're bleeding!"

 

The black mage laughed. "Oh, I'm fine." She pulled away, dabbing at her cheek with the back of her hand. "Auron healed me." Her eyes twinkled. "I promise to let you do it next time."

 

Auron snorted.

 

"Dang, Lu," Wakka said, coming over and peering at her. "You look pretty beat up! What happened?"

 

"The sorceress," Sir Auron interrupted, choosing his words with care, "tackled a powerful fiend singlehandedly. It was a ghost that haunts the lands around Bevelle, a warrior monk who rebelled against his order and was slain. His form was all but impervious to physical attacks, but his sword was real enough. Lulu, however, dispatched him quite efficiently."

 

Wakka massaged the back of his neck and stared hard at Lulu, a mixture of incredulity and respect in his blunt features. "Ya? So what's the guy's name?"

 

"The Unsent."

 

Lulu averted her face, struggling to suppress a bark of laughter, but luckily Yuna saved her by interrupting. "I'm sorry... we... we should have been here to help." She darted a shy glance towards Tidus, who spread his hands apologetically.

 

Lulu's eyes twinkled. "No. Don't trouble yourself. We were all enjoying ourselves tonight, each in our own manner." She winked at Yuna's bashful expression.

 

Wakka folded his arms and glared at Tidus. "Idiots, the lot of you, wandering off like that. Now get your sorry butts to bed before I start crackin' heads, ya?"

 

Rikku giggled from her perch, eavesdropping. "Wakka's jealous he missed all the fun."

 

Lulu arched an eyebrow and glanced at Sir Auron, whose expression was now as inscrutable as ever. The sorceress smiled. "I'm sure."