The skies darkened, and rain began falling in a slow, musical patter. Epona had always liked the rain, and the wind that brought it. She turned to face the wind, eyes close. It feels like a cold kiss. It meant a quiet day beside the fire, a book and sleepy, quiet, people. In the provinces, farm work would be at a standstill, and people would gather for merry nights.
Tara seemed restless, eyes always scanning the horizon. Frowning, she spoke: "We'll keep moving. It'll be hard to follow us in the rain; we should keep going." Epona was inclined to agree. Pursuers always seemed to dog them, and this would give them the chance to disappear. They could just be another pair of travellers. "Maybe we should. We'll be safer afterwards." Tara didn't answer, her frown deepening. Epona felt a sudden unease at the silence, until the red-haired woman gave her a brief smile. She speaks in other ways. She smiled back, trying not to let the fluttering in her stomach overwhelm her. Tara's eyes were warm and luminous. I've never felt like this before, never.
Epona had never been blind to beauty, whether it be of the world, or animals, or people, but she had always felt distance. Men and women seemed superfluous, a temporary distraction at best, something easier left to the side. A part of her had always been frozen, a distant observer, even as she moved and acted. Sitting and reading books seemed far more pleasant than rushing around. And then she had found numbers and their spiralling dance and that cold, wonderful place had enveloped her... but people kept dragging her back... dragging her down... that was what I was meant for... built for... but it wasn't enough! They wanted more... She had left her old life to learn at a harsh, unforgiving school. A challenged she relished. She would succeed where her father and mother had failed. Those first months it had seemed as if she was possessed with endless, frenetic energy. Many people fell to the sides, unable to withstand the onslaught questions and numbers while she laughed and laughed and spun and wheeled.
And those left after the initial culling of questioning were not the friendliest of people. Sneers and blusters. Some had endless boasts of how cleverly they had cheated on their examinations, how they replaced machinery with prohibited pieces, how they skipped the lectures and used knowledge the way a the barbarian would. All they needed was a good cover, and that the work be done as quickly as possible. These were her fellow truthseekers? The future builders of the world? And those who had seemed most deserving were not rewarded, it seemed. She had not been alone... a friend of a friend took his own life before their examinations. Her friend was a tiny, brilliant man who could emit an endless stream of words, went reeling: "He seemed fine when I left him." Words he repeated endlessly all night until they lost meaning. Maybe I should of kissed him that night. Or just hugged him. Soon, he was gone too. He left me behind without a word: the same way I left my family behind. They had both been blind. She knew truths, but not enough. And suddenly, cracks spiderwebbed around her.
And finally, disaster struck her unexpectedly but predictably. One of her brothers, a kind and gentle soul, went berserk. He had sent her letters with strange undertones. She had replied with amusement: it's simple! In truth, the swirling dance of the numbers had dizzied him, and he had been too proud to ask her help. He had been unable to do even the simplest of mathematics his military training required. And she had been too blind to see.
Her final examination was exactly what she had expected; she had stared at those very same questions night after night. But the words she wrote made no sense. She walked in a daze, lost in a labyrinth. Without a second thought, her teachers ended her journey. "Such as shame! You seemed to be enjoying yourself." Ignorance was fine, but failure was unacceptable. She had returned to her family home, shaken and shamed. Accusations flew: she had been the weakest one of them all, it seemed. What would she do? Was her work done? Was her life? I had never feared death. My father saw to that! But now she knew that worse things existed. Proof enough of souls, she supposed.
And then... Tara had smashed her way into her life. She had seemed so noble. So pure... Beautiful. She was an Avatar of everything that could be made right again. That the broken could be made stronger than before. Tara understood everything she didn't! Epona would have followed her regardless of her capture and slavery. And then... that night... it had been so quick... she barely understood how it had happened. A new story had swallowed her, that of Epona and Tara. She loves green eyes. She loves my tired green eyes. She still didn't understand how Tara had known what she needed. She had pinned her to the ground, and sent fire blasting into her. I think I'll take it slow... Desire like she had never known before, a rush so powerful she would have bent and broken her had the flood not been stopped... she was pinned under a new world, shocked and alive. Tara called it rape later... and perhaps it had been... I knew I would never be the same after that night.
It was the most wonderful and horrible thing that had ever happened to her.
And now she pretended. That everything was fine. Her machinery was covered. She was lying about what and who she was. But Tara knew that... I'll tell her anything she wants to know... but she won't ask...I don't know what to do... if I lose her? What then? Will she hate me? She should be with Drea... shouldn't she? Drea could so much more for her than me... could make her so much happier. But I LOVE HER just as much! It was likely that she would die at Tara's hands, one day or another, and she knew she would deserve it.
Of course, the world didn't stop turning. They still had far to travel. It would be the height of selfishness if Epona interrupted Tara's story. Tara's own needs were as great as her own. But maybe she could help. I've never been good with anything except words and numbers... and listening to the music of others.
Even now, with this spectacular person before her, she was immobile. Do something! Epona's placed a foot forward, and another, strange instruments that would bring her what she wanted if she could only figure out how they worked. Tara pulled her in closer. "Do you want something?" Her voice was low, amused. Epona was voiceless. She leaned into the warm form, tilted her head back, feeling rain peppering her face. Tara's arms enveloped her. Epona was weightless. "I think you want something! But what could it be?" Tara spoke with wry amusement. The woman peered around. "What do you think Bran? Maybe she wants a carrot?" The horse turned with mild interest at the sound of his name. "An apple? Hmm... maybe later. We have to get going." Out in the rain? We should... stay here... but how to convince her?
My words! Gone!
Epona brought a hand to those soft lips and softly trailed a finger along those delicious edges. Tara's eyes darkened. "Oh... A new game? We'll you aren't going to beat me at it, twerp!" With that said, Tara placed the tip of a finger against Epona's mouth and moved it across and around it, rainwater letting it glide smoothly along. Her other hand trailed down to the small of Epona's back, pressing lightly into her with a gently, insistent, rubbing. Epona's shivers betrayed how badly she was losing this fight. Tara's lips curved in a smile. Epona nipped at the delightful digit before her, and Tara's low gasp told her she might just win this contest. "You little cheat... ha..." Tara's words trailed to a soft growl as Epona managed to capture another digit, and pulled them in until her tongue could press against them completely. The feeling of it was wonderful.
With half her armaments captured, Tara was open. Epona trailed a hand up and down her neck, while the other pressed against that curving, smiling ruby. So soft! Tara's smile eased, and Epona felt her breath quicken. I'll win this! She let that hand moving on her neck slip downwards until it was wedged between their bellies, she could go no further. Epona released Tara's hand, and shivered as Tara withdrew it slowly. Rainwater had begun to darken their clothing. Epona gave her mistress a defiant look. "Ma'am... please let me pass." Tara's eyes were incandescent as their gazed locked once more. "Well... I think we need to get back on the road... we can't waste any time with games." Her voice had an iron timbre that told Epona that she would fight till the end. Only a few months ago, Epona would have agreed. But not now. Epona's need was verging on the painful, but it was an ache that she would happily endure if it meant she could win this most important of games. "Please... Tara... let me... please!" She said it softly.
"Mhmm... Oh... Epona... if only you knew... where my fingers had been!" Wait, what?! "Wh-wha-what?" Epona stuttered, eyes wide. Tara gave the girl a quirky grin. Epona leaned back, letting Tara snag the hand she had placed between them. "Gotcha!" Tara's laugh was delighted. "Oh ma'am! You cheated!" I lost! Tara kissed the hand touching her face. "Don't worry... we won't be riding just yet... I've got a game I want to try. Good thing were both right-handed!" The redhaired woman took her hand and led her until they were beneath a larger tree, where the ground was still dry. Tara gently pushed on Epona until her knees touched the ground, and Tara followed suit, so that both where kneeling in front of the other, Tara placing her legs askew so they were the same height. New game? Tara wrapped a strong arm around her shoulders, pulling her into a hug, they're chests half-touching, while her other went to tug at the front of Epona's leather pants loosening then enough for her to be able to... Oh! OH!
Yes!!!
Epona collapsed against the woman in front of her; she would have fallen over otherwise. Waves of pleasure pounded against her cliffs, the roar echoing throughout her body. Sudden tears where in her eyes, the relief of this dearest touch bringing fire from her depths, once again. "Unnh...ah... ah!" The game was in deadly earnest now, and Epona knew Tara would it end soon to resume the journey under the rain. She couldn't support Tara leaning on her the way she was leaning against her... but she could help. She encircled an arm around her love, and pulled at her leathers until she could slip her hand to where it belonged. "That's right. Yes... right there... right... ha...ah!" Tara's usually low voice climbed an octave and she began rocking back and forth. Soon, they matched each other's tempo. Epona felt Tara bury her head into her shoulder, and her encircling arm moved to clutch at Tara's hair. She felt Tara give a shuddering sob; her rocking became erratic. Epona felt a sunrise in her breast, feeling her fingers of sunlight moving through the rain. The arm around her shoulder tightened, a powerful vise Epona would give anything to never leave.
Tara fell back to a sitting position, legs askew and folded beneath her, and Epona followed her. Tara's fingers against her stilled and shudders started running through the warm body she was holding. Epona held on, as tightly as she could, until her delight relaxed against her. Epona buried her face into the hair that spilled around her. The smell of it! Tara's hand was inert, but exactly where she needed it to be. Epona managed to sit upon a folded leg, trapping Tara's hand between on her own thigh and against Epona's need. Her own rocking was restrained by the beauty leaning upon her, but Epona would not want to be anywhere else! "I'm sorry Tara! I can't stop! I can't! I'm yours! Oh! .... ah! AHH! " A silver disk burst in front of her eyes, lightning screaming through the rain. Shockingly, the felt the fingers against her come to life again, and lightning crashed again. Tara murmured wordless sounds into her ear, the vibrations alone causing colors to swirl across her sight. Epona mewled, a sound almost of agony, as her passion overcame any semblance of reason she once thought she had. Her wildness was restrained by the warm iron band around her. At last, Epona relaxed, slumping against the arms that held her.
The rain was easing, and Epona felt Tara's lips press against the top of her head. "You definitely deserve an apple after all that." Epona curled a hand in the red hair. "Mmm.... you get one first..." Epona breathed in again, the smell of her lover a luxurious perfume. "Epona... I need..." Epona leaned into Tara again, planting a kiss on her nose. "I'll give you anything ma'am... everything!" Tara gave her easy smile. "I need you to move, my leg's asleep." Epona felt her face go scarlet. "OH!" The older woman shook her head. "Don't worry about it. Well just have to stay just a bit longer. I don't object to that."
That was just fine with Epona.