The pain was starting to take a toll. Strapped to a table, battered, broken. Takeshi was somewhere in the twillight of consciousness, hovering between the wakefulness that ushered in the excruciating pain of the now, versus the memories of her from the past. No, he would rather stay here, with her, for just a little while longer.
Quellcrist. God, did he miss her. And now, in this place, she was here. Alive. Standing on the veranda, watching the sun set. She was glorious, bathed in a golden red light that literally made her appear as if she was a Phoenix, rising from the ash of what was, becoming what is now. Approaching her, he wrapped his arms around her, nuzzling his head into the crook of her neck. She sighed at the contact, and he released a breath he did not realize he was holding.
"Takeshi. You know our time here is short. You must return to the now."
"Quell, I'm tired. Tired of navigating this...life without you. Would it be so bad? For me to stay with you, here? I want that. I want to be wherever it is that you are."
"I only exist in your memory. You can always find me here." Turning in his arms, she placed her hands on his cheeks. "I will always be with you. Here, in this place, and here." she gently touched his chest, feeling the strong, steady beat of his heart.
"I did not ask to be brought back. Had no desire to wake in that time. As always, I am a weapon. A means to an end. And without the reassurance that you provided, the reality that someone actually cared, loved me? What is the purpose of such a life?" His breathing hitched, and Quellcrist looked up to see wetness on his cheeks.
Taking his hands in hers, she led him through the open doors and sat him down on the couch. Kneeling in front of him, she was able to look up onto his eyes.
"Takeshi, there is always a mission. In this, it appears, there is a need for the skills only you possess. And yes, someone else needs you. Maybe not in the way in which I needed you, but there is still a need. You just have not found them yet. " Reaching up, she tilted his head down, wiped away the tears wetting his cheeks.
"I love you. Nothing will ever change this fundamental fact. If you were ever able to find me, retrieve my stack, what life then? We could see exactly what we would have been were we given the time to do so." she kissed his cheek, her warm hands lingering on his chest.
Takeshi looked down at her. Then startled with comprehension. "You are still alive. Somewhere. Tell me where I can find you. None of this matters. None of it. The only thing of importance is finding you. " he grasped her, pulling her to him and pressing his face into her stomach.
Carding her fingers through his hair, she whispered, "The only way to find me is completing the mission. The clues to my where are scattered throughout that world, held by people you have not yet encountered. I know not who they are. I only know that by you completing that task, it will provide you with the means to complete this one."
" I am being used, as a tool, as an instrument. A means to an end. I don't care about them, what happens to them. I can't even trust them. I need allies. And the only ones I can trust are Poe and Vernon. I don't know what to think of Ortega. Her feelings are too tied up in the fact that my sleeve is that of her dead lover. That definitely complicates things."
"But, my time here with you is short, and I will not waste one more moment of it."
He looked down into her eyes, dark, their depths nearly bottomless. And she moved before he did, grasping his shirt and pulling it up and she stood to ease it over wide shoulders. Sliding back down, she peppered kisses down his face, chest and neck, running her fingers over the muscles and sinew of him.
He busied himself with stripping her of the leather corset and form fitting leather pants she wore, kissing his way up her torso. Lifting her easily, he carried her and placed her gently on the bed.
He looked at her, committing once again the sight of her lying in his bed, waiting. Taking advantage of the opportunity, he divested himself of his pants and briefs, and approached the bed.
Quellcrist sat up, kissing the velvet cap of his penis, then pushed forward, engulfing him. But, he had other plans. Plans that included tending to her so he steeled himself and set about doing. For although he would love nothing more than to allow her to lavish her attention upon him, it was not his aim.
Stepping out of her reach, he moved to join her, hovering over her body. Placing kisses down her neck, alternating between light nips and kisses to her breasts. Pulling her up he sat her straddling his hips. She looked down into his face, grabbing a handful of hair at the nape of his neck to pull him in for a kiss.
Studying her, he pulled her hips forward, molding her to the cradle of his body. Pulling her down, he thrust forward, rolling his hips against hers. He continued to do so, all the while lapping at her breasts.
"Oh God….please…" she whispered, running her hands up and down his back.
"Not quite, but maybe I could help…." He moved to lay her on the bed, but she wrapped her legs around his hips and used the leverage to roll him under her.
"I don't mind you controlling this ride, only that you flip the switch." He smiled up at her, running his hands down the contours of her strong back.
They looked at each other, studying the other. He stilled underneath her, until she moved enough for him to push forward. The moment they both reveled in, the push, the slight give of her body as she took him in, then the feeling of euphoria, of being whole. She sighed and swayed slightly atop him, the feeling overwhelming her momentarily.
This was the dance. The roll of his hips, the ebb and flow, the expand and contract of muscles moving, the swell and the crash like a wave. No words were spoken, none needed at this moment, only the occasional sigh or moan.
Takeshi looked up into her face, watching for the moment he loved. Then he saw it. The blissed out look of near completion. She took her lip between her teeth and began the mantra." So close, so close, so close….Takeshi, touch me!" And he did. He knew, at this moment, the source of all her pleasure was the pulsing throb focused between her thighs. Only a slight stroke of his fingers against her, then a light pinch to her pearl, and she was off. Her body convulsing, the tremors swamping her, pulling him further into her body. "Damn it baby….mmmm." Takeshi whispered.
Grasping her body, he rolled her to the side. Face to face, he watched the completion of her pleasure. Her skin glowing like a burnished penny, he body warm and the hair at the nape of her neck slightly damp. "My God, do I love you." He sighed.
She pushed her leg over his hip, running her hands down his back. She loved the feel of the muscles flexing under her hands. Him orchestrating her pleasure with such precision. He allowed her to decide when to begin again, and she grasped his bottom, pulling his hips forward and starting the dance again.
Easy, a slow roll of his hips and lift of her pelvis to meet it. He knew he needed to hurry, but he couldn't force himself move faster, even though she wanted him to. " So good, baby. You are going to be the death of me….maybe literally." He smiled at, her, and she frowned slightly finding the joke worried her.
She shifted again, the heel of her foot pressed to the small of his back. Her arms, wound tightly around him. Then she began to work him, harder, faster, wrestling his pleasure from him. "Give it to me." She whispered.
And he could do nothing but comply. Gasping as he allowed the pain of the present begin to come. Allowed the rush of endorphins fill him, let them begin to galvanize the response he would take against his torturers.
Rolling on top of him, she looked down into his face. Kissed him deeply, full of hope and longing. "I love you, my heart. Find me, Takeshi. If the construct does not fit, bend it to your will. Change it. Use the tools you have been provided, the ones you have honed, to get to the bottom of this deeper mystery."
"I will. Nothing, absolutely nothing, will stop me from finding you. Do you hear me? Wherever you are, hold fast. "
Nothing could describe the vengeance he would exact, nor the pain he would endure. For her, he would do anything, be anything. For now he knew he had a reason to continue. The relative short misery of these moments would be worth anything to see her again. And, he would. It was just a matter of time.