Cid had put down for much-needed repairs, and now and again a rude clanging from the ship's interior disrupted the peaceful, lonely stillness of the Calm Lands as the Al Bhed worked late into the night. All but the engineers had turned in for the night.
All, that is, but two.
A heavy tread clanked on the ramp leading down to earth.
"You might have told me where you were," Auron said irritably.
The sorceress turned, a dark silhouette barely visible against the broken line of hills beyond. "Where else would I be?" There was a musical lightness to her voice that surprised him. "A storm's coming in."
He glanced upwards, although the vast brooding belly of the airship blocked out most of the night sky overhead. "I hadn't noticed." Lack of stars, lack of moonlight: all that meant to him was a time to be on one's guard. "It's dark. There are fiends about."
Lulu moved towards him, almost dancing, and he noticed her legs and feet flashing beneath her gown; she must have left shoes and stockings in her cabin. Her hands slid onto his shoulders. "Then I need you to stay with me." She tipped her head up, waiting with regal expectation. Auron relented, falling moodily into her soft kisses brimming like water cupped on the curl of an upturned leaf. She stroked the lines of his frown with the tip of her tongue until that feral smile of his burned its way through his stoic mask.
"Is this--" his breath fell hotly as he kissed her, withdrew, and kissed her again like the tide lapping against the shore-- "some kind of ritual?"
"You'll see." A shiver seized her wholly like a ripple of wind moving across the plains at her back. Her teeth flashed in a bright smile. "Ah, here we are."
Right on cue, light raindrops began to fall with a metallic patter, drumming against the struts and plates of the ship forming a roof over their heads. The rustle of rain from horizon to horizon began to blur the distant tappings and clankings of Al Bhed at work.
Lulu's fingers slipped into his hanging sleeve, massaging the knotted muscles of the arm he kept hidden inside his coat. Auron's smile deepened, and he sank the sword into the earth beside them to free his hands. Their bodies molded together as he cupped her hips and drew her in. Kisses and the rain picked up tempo. Soon their tongues were darting inside each other's mouths, warm and vocal above the susurrus of plashing water. Lulu's fingers whirled in his hair, loosening the thong until his ponytail spilled free; her other hand continued to caress the skin and sinew hidden beneath his coat.
A light wind dashed misty raindrops across their faces, and Lulu shivered again. "Won't you be cold?" he murmured.
"I never notice," she replied with a inviting gleam in her eye.
Auron thought it only courteous to accept the mute invitation. He raised his head and removed his glove slowly and deliberately, watching her lips part in anticipation. Unhurriedly, he traced a thumb around the neckline of her gown, slipping under the damp fur sticking to her skin. Her smile widened and her eyelids drooped as she moved against his hand. He reached for the laces of her corset and began to disrobe her. Minute drops flew as he peeled it down, leaning close and replacing fabric with his mouth. Lulu whimpered softly and twined her fingers in his gray hair as he set to work with hot, tumbling kisses wandering down the smooth fall of skin between her shoulders and breasts. He seized on one straining nipple and drew it into his mouth, suckling. Her whispery moan was barely louder than the rain.
Auron indulged himself for a while at the shrine of her breasts, fondling and stroking, then knelt to grasp the hem of her skirt. The belts were still a bit perplexing, but he had some practice by now, and lifted the gown up and over her head and shoulders in one swooping motion.
"Hmph." The guttural sound in his chest was a decidedly animalistic sound of approval as the swordsman gazed at her naked body, glimmering faintly in the chill air. "You started without me." She was not wearing anything beneath her dress. He set his fingertips on the curving shadow of a collarbone and skimmed his hand down across one breast, over the delicious velvet skin of her belly, around the curve of her upper thigh and in, feeling the heat there. Her mouth opened, her shoulders melted, and her chin tipped back.
"Mmm," she purred, lacing a hand over the back of his and caressing him, then backing away. With dancing steps she retreated until she was beyond the sheltering lip of the hull and the rain was falling freely over her head and shoulders. Her hair came spilling down her back and breasts as she plucked the wooden hairsticks free. Stretching her arms over her head and locking eyes with him, she spread her fingers. A blinding flash suddenly lit up the whole of the Calm Lands, illuminating the silvery rain sheeting down and the roiling low thunderclouds, and bathing her white, wet skin so that she glistened like a stroke of lightning in human guise. Lulu and the world flickered back into darkness, and thunder rolled in with a rumble that shook the ground. Her lips twisted into a smile.
Auron watched, transfixed, forgetting to be annoyed that she had pulled away from him. The mage began to dance, face tilted up slightly towards the sky, hips and breasts swaying, feet gliding over the wet earth, ankles flashing through the tall, drooping wet grass that clung to her calves.
"Join me," she coaxed, eyes full and bright.
Auron gave the rain a mistrustful look like a disgruntled old hound, and drew his arm back into his coat.
"Please," Lulu laughed. "It won't hurt you, I promise."
The rain picked up faster, Lulu began to spin across the grass with her wet braids swinging around her, and Auron realized he was going to have to catch her out there or endure a silent form of torture, as the intoxicating sight of her began to work its magic on his body. Grinning darkly, he reached for his sash and unbuckled it. The swordsman wasted no time -- no point in letting her get cold out there -- and enjoyed the way she watched him raptly as he shed his garments one by one and tossed them onto the steps. Lulu was more than a little distracting during the process, bringing her hands down to toy with the breasts he had been suckling a few moments ago.
Auron hesitated just behind the thin curtain of water falling down from the upper hull of the airship high above, but the wind had already sprayed him with a fine misty drizzle, clinging to his hair. Closing his eyes, he stepped through the artificial waterfall and out into the pungent grass. Lulu laughed and twisted away as he reached for her waist again. "Wait. Feel the sky, first." Another far-off flicker and rolling peal of thunder punctuated her words.
He growled. "I'm more interested in you."
She spun towards him again and lifted one of his hands in both of hers, kissing his palm and gazing at him over his knuckles. "Come, Auron. I've watched you at dawn. You do know how to dance."
He raised an eyebrow. Then, still watching her -- another flash of lightning bathed both of them in silver -- he drew his arms up and together, palms pressed flat against each other, and lowered himself to a crouch, acutely aware of the muscles of his calves and thighs under the wet sheath of rain. Silently Lulu glided forward, circled behind him, and settled her fingertips lightly on his shoulders. "Go on," she purred in that deep earthy whisper that dissolved coherent thought.
Auron shivered. The rain was drumming against his muscles, cooling his skin, but at the same time the gentle massage was reminding him of every surface and plane of his own body, as if he were acquainting himself with the heft and edges and habits of a new sword. The warrior began to move through a series of slow stretches, bends, and turns. Lulu had been studying him in his morning exercises more carefully than he had suspected. Dancing behind him, she stayed with him like a coat, so that the muscles of his shoulderblades rolled under her fingertips. When it would not constrain his movements, she squeezed against him, thighs and breasts sliding against his back and buttocks. When thunder crashed again, he could feel the vibration through her ribcage.
The pace of his twisting moves and lunges began to quicken. Lulu broke away and spun around again to face him, dropping to one knee with one leg outstretched behind her, the top of her foot braced delicately against the ground. She lifted her arms in lithe, flashing movements that he had seen her use in battle for different spells. It was his turn to tease, as he swooped close and then feinted to one side. Lulu watched hungrily, tossing her head to cast wet hair back from her eyes. Now and again Auron felt an eerie wave of heat roll through him with the thunder, or else the rain beating down seemed to strike him more fiercely for a moment, but Lulu was restraining herself and her odd symbiosis with the elements-- barely.
His final lunge usually ended with his palms flat against the earth, but instead he pounced, wrapping his brawny arms around her and curling against her at the end of another long rumble that ended in a crash. Their skin was chilled, but the wet kisses between them were fierce and heated. Auron started to ease her backwards, then stopped, stroking her hair. "Too muddy?"
She laughed and rubbed against him. "Earth and water and you, I want them all tonight." Taking matters into her own hands, she grasped his shoulders and tumbled backwards. Lightning illumined her again, framing her full figure against the ground, hair tumbling against the earth and blending with the lush grass that twined around and between her limbs like the fur ruff of her dress. The few smudges of mud that marred her skin seemed to suit her, some earth spirit come to life before his eyes.
Auron dropped over her as the thunder crashed and felt the wet earth shake beneath his knees and shins. They rolled together, wrestling and twisting and striving skin to skin, until finally the sorceress wound up draped over him with her hand snaking down to enfold the beginnings of his arousal. Auron sank back against the earth and gasped out as Lulu began to stroke him, leaning over him and shielding his eyes from the rain.
Her hand moved faster. He jerked again as a nearby bolt of lightning shook the ground and split the sky with a resounding crack in the same instant that she twisted her hand so that her nails teasingly grazed the sensitive flesh. The swordsman gave an involuntary cry. When he had mastered himself again, he gripped her shoulders forcefully. "How-- how do you do that? You can't be controlling the storm."
Lulu grinned fiercely, lowering herself so that her breasts nestled against his chest. A haphazard kiss skipped against the corner of his jaw. "I just know. How do you know when to strike?"
The swordsman didn't answer. His head was tilted back, his breathing hoarse, and he lay there for a few moments basking in the rain while she pleasured him. She drew close to his ear, whispering sweet breathy murmurs in time to her strokes while the rain pattered against her bare back. Suddenly he grasped her waist, eye snapping open and locking on hers. "I just know."
Laughing, Lulu let him flip her beneath him onto her back. She tipped up her head to soak in the sight of his hardy shape poised in an arc above her. Then her head fell back with a cry as he sheathed himself in the liquid warmth of her body. Her hands curled on either side of his ribcage as he moved, taking her with insistent, shallow thrusts.
Soft yearning sounds tumbled from her throat. He bowed his head and caught one of her breasts in his mouth again, lifting it up ad teasing her in time to the irresistable dance of his hips sliding between hers. It dropped with a slap as he moved more forcefully, driving her into the grass. Lulu's knees fell apart and she tilted her hips, drawing him in at a deeper angle, and now when they kissed the salty taste of sweat mingled with the rain. Auron began to lose control, pounding and lunging, all the more so when she slipped a hand down to caress herself and touch him where their bodies met.
Lulu began to gasp with every thrust, rocking with him. At last he broke and plunged into her with a roar, flooding her from within. Lulu's whimper was drowned by another growl of thunder, and she drew her arms around him, holding on weakly until the fierce onslaught began to ebb. Quieting, Auron bowed his head and lavished her with deep, sensuous kisses, still pumping in and out of her as he softened, until at last she fell shuddering beneath him, crying and moaning against the grass.
Bodies and kisses slowed. They drew together quietly, Auron supporting his weight slightly on his forearms while they nuzzled and lapped at each other's faces. Abruptly, he realized she was crying, adding her tears to the rain.
"What's wrong?" He kissed her tenderly. "Lulu..."
She smiled tremulously and moved under him, another faint aftershock of her climax making him groan, for they were still sheathed together. "Nothing at all," she sighed contentedly, reaching up to tease his dripping forelock. "Only... the rain's beginning to taper off."
"Hm." He smiled. "Insatiable, aren't you? You'll catch cold if we stay out here much longer."
Lightning flickered again, revealing Lulu's sated, dreamy expression. "I suppose." She kissed him and lay back. "But for now, your hands are still warm."