Footsteps on the floorboards prodded Xena out of her fitful sleep. They blended in with the pattering of the rain on the roof at first so that she was sure she was hearing things, but the familiar rhythm of soft, even breaths drawing nearer convinced her otherwise—enough to make her open an eye and take a lazy look around the dark room, at least. She didn't see fit to rouse herself entirely. No bandits or soldiers would be bothering them here. Not in this weather.
A hand on her shoulder eased her farther out of her slumber and she grumbled her protests, squeezing her eyes shut again.
"Xena," came Gabrielle's voice in a vanishing whisper against her ear. She'd just finally fallen asleep and her head pounded with the burden of once again being awake on a hard day's work and little rest. Still, she had to fight a smile as Gabrielle's fingertips danced across her collarbones.
"Yes?" she whispered in response.
Gabrielle didn't speak, only loosely grasped her wrist and tugged at it.
"No," Xena moaned, kicking at the blankets the summer humidity had stuck so ungraciously to her legs. "Tired."
Gabrielle made a soft sound, somewhere between a snort and a chuckle, and pulled at her again, harder. Damn this woman, always pestering her, always causing trouble and interrupting her sleep and turning every comfortable routine she'd ever had right on its head.
She loved every moment of it.
Heaving a sigh, she pushed herself up to sit. Her bones creaked and popped as she moved. The warrior life did take its toll, and gods knew it'd been a while since she'd gotten a proper rest, but none of that mattered much anymore when she opened her eyes fully to take in the mischievous glint in Gabrielle's. She glanced over her shoulder at the snoring Ares and rolled her eyes.
Gabrielle looked at him, too, and then back at Xena. She brought a finger to her lips and shook her head. Xena could always tell what she meant to say without her having to say it. Careful not to wake that idiot up. Right. She nodded.
They tiptoed into the living area, stifling half-delirious giggles at all the drips and leaks they had to navigate through. The cabin was like a minefield of water. Explosions of thunder and flashes of lightning had them jumping and starting and clutching each other's arms hard. They made it to the still-crackling hearth in a rushing tangle of droplet-jeweled limbs and clinging half-wet clothes.
Gabrielle kissed her immediately, her delicate fingers threaded through her hair. Xena grinned into her lips and reached up to hold the back of her neck, pressing hard enough to feel the pressure of Gabrielle's teeth and the jumpy beat of her pulse under her skin.
"I couldn't stand watching him touch you," the bard murmured, her fingers running fiery lines down Xena's neck and chest even through the new chill of the rainwater.
"You know you're the only one I want in that bed," Xena said as she kissed her again, bit her lip, pulled, grinned, and kissed her yet again. Gabrielle inched up into her lap and then pushed her legs apart with her knees, inserted herself between them. Their breaths shallowed. Gabrielle's chest glistened in the dying glow of the embers as it heaved. Xena's heart stirred with pride and a deep, agonizing love at each hitch in her breath, each quiver of her lip when she touched her.
She couldn't stand it anymore. She shoved Gabrielle back against the side of the fireplace, the brick rough against her thighs as she shifted to face her. Gabrielle wore a look that married smugness and victory with incredible tenderness and satisfaction, and it only served to stoke the fierce wanting that welled up inside of her. Gabrielle was hers, and she was happy. Xena worried so much for her safety and her well-being. She worried that she hurt her, worried that she'd be forever unfulfilled, traveling alone and childless, never staying in one place for more than a few days… but the contentedness in her eyes assuaged those fears, and it thrilled her.
She hiked Gabrielle's shift up over her hips and raised an eyebrow at the resulting nakedness underneath. She lifted her gaze back to Gabrielle's face, silently questioning. Gabrielle shrugged, offering an innocent smile. I took them off a while ago, her expression seemed to say. Just wanted to speed things along.
Gabrielle reached between Xena's legs and pressed into the wet, slippery fabric there to drive home her point. Xena scowled, only mildly embarrassed, and pulled her hand away to gently bite down on her fingertips. Not your turn yet. Gabrielle flashed another innocent smile.
Closed eyes and a tight, half-opened mouth replaced that smile as Xena slipped her fingers down the slick, warm folds they knew so well. Gabrielle threw her head back and hooked her arms tight around Xena's neck, gripping intermittently at the flesh there with her nails. Sparks thrummed under Xena's skin as she increased her pace, energizing Gabrielle, running two fingers and then three fast along the length of her. Her body twitched and jerked in response, and high, whimpering noises slipped out in time with the waves of pleasure that wracked her.
The motion spurred Xena on, and she wanted nothing more than to flip her onto her back and ravage her, take all of her, but she'd learned to appreciate over the years that Gabrielle did best with a bit of patience.
And so she stopped. She withdrew her hand and paused, and Gabrielle's eyes flew open in a rage Xena wasn't treated to often. She couldn't suppress her grin.
"Xena," Gabrielle hissed, and she chuckled in response.
"I'm getting to it," she said, not even bothering to try to hide the cheekiness in her voice. "We should move to the rug, though." She tilted her head at the floor and slid off the hearth, the fabric of her shift catching and scratching against the bricks. Annoyed at the noise, she pulled it off over her head.
And then removed Gabrielle's as well. The bard sat patiently on the rug, her arms up, helping Xena in her derobing efforts as she stared into her eyes. Xena loved those eyes. So clear, so full of light and kindness even beneath their new world-weary surface.
That's my fault. She knew it was, and she was sorry, but she took some comfort in knowing Gabrielle would always be herself no matter the scruples Xena got her involved in. She touched one smooth, perfect cheek with her clean hand and kissed her.
"Xena," Gabrielle mouthed, a small smile playing on her lips. Xena gently pushed her down and nudged her legs apart, propping herself up on one elbow.
She trailed kisses up her thigh as she slipped a single finger inside of her. Gabrielle stiffened, her breaths coming harder again. The noise spurred Xena on and she slowly—torturously, agonizingly slowly, she thought with a secret rush of glee—slid another finger inside, wetness pooling between her own legs at the way Gabrielle stretched and then clenched tight around her hand.
A louder, more insistent moan echoed out over the rain. Xena shot a frantic glance in the bedroom's direction. Ares barging in was the last thing they needed. Gabrielle grasped at her hair and dug her nails into her scalp. Xena smiled wryly. Gabrielle knew how to be quiet; she was just bossing her around. Xena answered the demand with her mouth, and the bard, for the first time all night, went silent.
She was struggling to breathe, Xena noted with amusement. Normally it took her longer to get to this point. The poor thing must have been waiting for this for quite some time. She'd make it worth her while.
She took all of Gabrielle into her mouth, tasting her, sucking just hard enough to make her jolt and gasp and then retreating until she writhed and begged in strained and broken whispers, the edge of the rug bunching under her feet. Her free hand moved over Xena's shoulder as she worked, squeezing and clawing and rubbing at a repetitive, even pace. The motion helped her stay in control. Countless nights of making love just feet from Joxer as he slept clued Xena in to the little tricks Gabrielle used to keep quiet, and she was very, very good at it after years of practice.
Which made her little squeaks and moans all the more gratifying. Xena pressed hard into her with the whole flat of her tongue and twisted and curled her fingers. She grinned into Gabrielle's wetness at the shudder that wracked her body. No one could do this like she could. No one knew her as well, no one loved her better, and no one ever would. Xena thrust into her with redoubled aggression. Teeth grazing her clit got a gasp out of her so loud Xena almost worried about Ares again for a moment.
The sharp, sweet pain of Gabrielle pulling her hair and digging her nails into her shoulder shifted her focus back to where it belonged. She slowly pulled out, pausing to smirk at the way Gabrielle's back arched at the slide of her fingers. She pushed herself up to hover over her, overtaken by a sudden need to watch her face, every twitch of her mouth, every squint, every deep and gasping breath.
She added a third finger and shoved them all back in with all the force and precision of a final killing blow, and the last few threads of Gabrielle's composure unraveled and snapped. Her body convulsed violently and she jerked upright, grappling desperately for purchase on Xena's back.
Her nails raked beautiful stinging lines between Xena's shoulder blades as she dragged her arms up to wrap them around her neck and cling to her, her mouth open and twisting, forehead pressed against her sweat-slick shoulder.
Xena wrapped her free arm around Gabrielle's back. Her chest was bursting and on fire. Gabrielle went rigid, helpless in her grip. Xena held her up and clung to her, scrabbled at her back in return, wanting to be closer to her, always closer even in the heat of their bodies pressed so tightly together it hurt. She thrust in again, pressing and rubbing wildly outside with her thumb as she reached for the most sensitive inner depths of Gabrielle's body.
Gabrielle bit her shoulder, shaking. Xena recognized the moment she cried out, but in a pitch so high and tight that the noise was imperceptible to all ears but her own. Xena only touched her harder and faster until the pain and pleasure razed her, made her suck hard, urgent breaths in through her teeth and quake and sob.
Xena pulled back to look at her face. She'd never seen anything more beautiful. Gabrielle's eyes half-opened, overcome, delirious. She arched forward again, her blonde hair plastered to her forehead, and rode out her climax with another strained, silent cry.
Xena released her abruptly and threw her arms around her to cradle her while Gabrielle trembled and whimpered and said her name over and over. There was no sweeter sound in all the world than her name tumbling, parched and shaking, from those perfect lips.
Xena touched them, then, her fingers still wet and glistening in the moonlight. She became suddenly and painfully aware of her own heart pounding in her chest. The thunder paled in comparison—this intensity, this passion, they were what shook her to her core as Gabrielle kissed her fingertips and then her lips, gentle, slow, the taste of her arousal still faintly present but fading between them.
Nothing was said; nothing needed to be said. Xena held her lover close and rocked her, soothed her, ran her hands over her tired back and drooping shoulders. Gabrielle kissed her throat and her neck and the hollow between her collarbones until she was sure her soul had spilled out and vanished into those lips and those fingers that traced so lightly down her breasts and her stomach.
She could hardly bear it, the force of this love. She craved it, feared it, venerated and sanctified it. She would break her body and hang it on a thousand crosses in a thousand lifetimes to feel this closeness but once more.
She opened her mouth to speak, trailing her fingers, trembling with adoration, across Gabrielle's cheek, but the words wouldn't come. Nothing she could say would ever do her feelings justice. Gabrielle's shining eyes searched her own, waiting and then softening. She sat up on her knees and pulled Xena to her chest and encircled her and held her.
"I know," she whispered, and the love in her voice was ethereal and overwhelming. "I know."
Xena wished for once that the rain would find new cracks in the ceiling so that it might fall to hide her tears.