Puppet Strings - Chapter 10

By Kudara

Disclaimer: All the characters appearing in Gargoyles are copyright Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company. No infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All original characters are the property of the author.

Warning: none

Rating: Mature

Feedback: Always welcome, feedback is what encourages me to keep writing. Please let me know what you like and what you dislike about the story.

Revision History: 02/24/08

Kendra's skin was surprisingly warm, Demona had expected the woman's naked flight through the cold night air would have chilled her. The soft press of breast and thigh against her skin instantly rekindled the immortal gargoyle's desire. However, the aroma wafting from the cook pot intruded before she could act upon it.

Kendra turned her head toward the fire, "We need to eat," she said regretfully. She reached up and touched Demona's lips with one finger, trailing it lightly along their fullness, "Hold this thought though, this feels…" she closed her eyes for a moment and smiled, "absolutely wonderful," she finished huskily. She opened her blue eyes and with a protesting groan pushed away from the flame-haired gargoyle's warm embrace. "Food, then…" she muttered to herself kneeling by the fire and grabbing one of the shallow bowl/plates that had been inside the campfire cook pot when they found it in the survival kit.

Oh yes, Demona thought to herself, watching the play of firelight over the dusky bare skin, the flickering highlighting of breast and length of smoothly muscled thigh, the hidden shadowing of flat stomach. Food and then.

Kendra apportioned the stew into two servings, handed one to Demona, and then pulled one of the survival blankets around her as she sat next to the fire to eat.

Demona ate, but her mind wasn't on the stewed meat she was consuming. She couldn't keep her eyes off Kendra; the flickering light of the fire was inexorably reminding her of another scene by another fire. In the gargoyles mind the memory replayed, firelight flickered over muscular shoulders and the arms raised above the woman's head. It gleamed off the black hair spread wantonly across shoulders and bared back. It highlighted the play of muscles under the dusky skin as Kendra moved in slow sensual writhe and soft panting breaths as she pleaded in her dream. The slow sensual baring of the woman's neck, the soft yielding submissiveness of her pose so at contrast to the graceful, strong fierceness Demona knew the woman possessed.

"What are you thinking," Kendra's whisper drew Demona from her memories. The black-haired woman had finished her stew; the empty plate was sitting on the forest floor next to the fire.

"Your dream, I haven't been able to get out of my mind," the flame-haired gargoyle admitted, "You don't know how close I came to making it a reality that night, I had to leave."

Kendra drew in a sharp breath and her blue eyes darkened, "And now," she asked, her voice held a hint of challenge.

A swift rush of desire urged Demona to rise and claim Kendra, but she fought it, she couldn't commit to that type of a promise. "I can't. I'd be lying if I claimed I could make that type of commitment to you right now, and I know you aren't ready either. Less than an hour ago we admitted that we wanted whatever is between us to be more than just casual, but weren't certain what else we wanted it to be. Neither of us is ready to promise forever." Her voice held her regret; she really wished that she could promise that, her body definitely wanted her to. The startled look on Kendra's face following that statement revealed the other woman's surprise.

"Claiming me tonight would be something like an engagement or marriage?" Kendra sought clarification.

The gargoyle blinked, hearing it put bluntly like that she wasn't as certain anymore what it would mean between them. "Something like that," she answered hesitantly. "Between two gargoyles it would." At least between a male and a female gargoyle it would, her mind added.

Kendra looked troubled, "Demona," she started then paused frowning thoughtfully, "I need to order my thoughts here for a moment," she said frankly.

Uncertain why what she had said had disturbed Kendra, the redheaded gargoyle caped her wings about herself nervously.

The black haired woman started speaking again after almost a full minute of silence. "First," she gazed directly into Demona's green eyes, "It wouldn't mean that to me. Quite honestly, that sounds too much like ownership assertion to me." Kendra paused letting that point sink in for a moment. She took in a deep breath, before continuing, "I want you to claim me, to dominate me," she admitted, "but I don't want you to own me or think that you have the right to. I'll never want that. Each time I let you claim me it will always be for only that time, it will never mean you have some type of right or expectation of that in the future."

Kendra's words made Demona very aware of the fact that the black-haired woman wasn't only human. There was the untamed spirit of a jaguar in there with the human and right now it was making itself very clearly known. Kendra's sapphire blue eyes held all the untamed wildness and strength that had attracted Demona so strongly to the woman in the first place.

The immortal gargoyle nodded, "I can understand and accept that. I guess I've never really thought much about the inter-personal dynamics of my past relationships. Things were very…" she paused, thinking about Goliath and Thailog, "traditional in my two previous relationships." Very traditional, she thought to herself as she reflected on how both Goliath and Thailog rarely paid attention to her opinions and desires and how their decisions had always been the final ones. Since Thailog was a clone of Goliath, it really shouldn't have been surprising to her that the two males acted almost exactly alike in that respect.

"Very traditional?" asked Kendra staring at her with a puzzled look.

Demona grimaced, "They rarely listened to me and their word was the final one in any decision making."

"You don't really strike me as the type to go for that," Kendra remarked bemused.

The immortal gargoyle snorted, "No I guess I'm not, both relationships ended rather badly." She chuckled dryly, trying to kill her first ex and holding the second to keep him from escaping as they both fell into a fiery inferno did count as ending badly didn't it?

Kendra cocked her head slightly, and gave the gargoyle a curious look, but let the moment pass. She would much rather discuss what might happen between them, rather than what had been between Demona and any previous lovers. "I would rather have a relationship between equals, where we listen to one another and where our decisions reflect the fact that we care about each other's point of view."

Demona's eyes widened in surprise, she hadn't expected this subject to come up so soon. "That sounds appealing," she admitted, and it did, it sounded very appealing as well as being rather novel. Tentatively she asked, "And fidelity?" no longer wanting to take that for granted, but really hoping the answer was yes. She didn't think she could deal with the idea of Kendra being with another while with her as well.

The black-haired woman snorted, "Reputations have a hard time dying don't' they," she reflected, "Yes, right after my mother died I did go through a few girlfriends, but I never cheated on any of them. That phase in my life didn't last for very long. I think I was trying to drive away my feelings of loss by being with them, but not surprisingly, since I didn't love any of them and they didn't love me either that didn't work out very well. I haven't been with anyone for two years now."

Demona hadn't actually known this; she had just seen the pictures, not known exactly when Kendra had been with any of the women. From what Kendra had just said, the immortal gargoyle deduced they had all been within a rather short time span. It didn't really matter to her, Kendra had just given her the answer she needed, and the knot of worry that had started to form in her chest unwound.

Kendra continued, "As far as I'm concerned, I'm involved in the very beginning of a relationship with you and you have the right to expect me to be faithful to you while we figure out where this is going between us and how permanent we want it to be. I hope you feel the same way," she eyed the gargoyle questioningly.

"Yes, we are in a relationship, and yes I will be faithful to you," Demona had no trouble answering without hesitation. She might not be certain exactly what she felt for Kendra, but considering she hadn't been intimate with anyone but Goliath and Thailog, to her last night mean that she and Kendra were now in a relationship.

Kendra eyed her thoughtfully, "I won't be owned, but that has nothing to do with my ability to be faithful. Fidelity is about trust in a relationship. People who feel they have to possess someone to make sure they stay faithful are really saying they don't trust you to be faithful unless they can directly control you, that they can watch and verify that you're not being unfaithful." She continued, her voice taking on overtones of outrage, "That's not real trust, and if the two you were with treated you like that…like they had to possess you, to own you, then they didn't really trust you like they should have, or like you deserved to be trusted." She added less angrily, "At least that's my opinion on the subject."

Demona almost replied, almost said something about Goliath and Thailog, almost said something about how Goliath had not done that he had just taken her for granted once they were together. She didn't though; as charming as she found Kendra's outrage on her behalf, she didn't want to get sidetracked into a discussion about the two males. Not out in the middle of the woods in the cold, and definitely not while Kendra was sitting naked with just a thin blanket around her huddled by the fire. She crossed the few feet of distance that separated them, and knelt down beside the black-haired woman.

"I suspect your right about that," that was all Demona wanted to say on the subject for right now, as there were much more important things on her mind. "I don't want to own you, I…" she stopped, uncertain how to explain what she wanted when the desire she felt for Kendra was so different from anything else she had ever experienced before.

Sapphire blue eyes looked questioningly into her own; she reached out a taloned hand and ran it through the silky midnight black long hair. "The first time I saw you in my office I was surprised by how beautiful you were and how much strength and power I could sense from you. The second time we sparred I was drawn by your strength and gracefulness, and when I pinned you on the mat." She shifted closer, lowered her lips to Kendra's.

The kiss started out hesitantly, then Demona felt the woman in her arms shift and Kendra's arms wound around her neck. The lips underneath hers returned her kiss passionately as she gathered the woman closer and caped her wings about Kendra to shield her from the cold night air. She broke the kiss, ignoring the black-haired woman's protesting moan and trailed kisses across her jaw to her ear. She took the lobe between her teeth and nipped it gently.

"I thought I was rubbing in my victory when I told you to surrender," she whispered in Kendra's ear. She felt a shudder run thru the woman in her arms at these words, "And then you did and I realized how much you were willing to surrender to me." Demona pulled back enough to look into Kendra's passion darkened blue eyes, "Something happened that had never happened to me in a thousand years." The blue eyes widened in surprise, Kendra apparently hadn't suspected this. Demona continued, "I wanted to stay there, I wanted to hold you down, I wanted to touch you, I felt desire for a human for the first time in my life."

Kendra stared at her for a moment, and then she whispered, "Let's stay out here. The wind has died down. It won't be much warmer in the shelter than it is here by the fire and we can bring the blankets out here as well."

Demona glanced around the clearing, Kendra was right the wind had died completely down and if they stayed next to the fire they would probably be warmer than in the shelter. "Alright," she agreed.

As Demona pulled the silvery blankets and arranged them by the fire, Kendra placed more wood onto the fire. The wood caught fire quickly, the renewed flames casting a bright warm glow about the small clearing. "Besides, I want to see you," the black-haired woman said huskily, her eyes locked on the gargoyle's form.

Demona felt a thrill of arousal shoot through her; it wasn't just the words, but the desire filled look that accompanied them. Her hands went to her halter-top and then her loincloth, dropping each to the ground, "Then look." Kendra's gaze was like a heated caress across her body, every nerve ending seemed to come alive and prick as the darkened sapphire blue gaze wandered over her.

"You are so beautiful in either form," Kendra's voice was low and roughened with need. She crossed the few feet that separated them, leaving only a few inches between their bodies. Demona was actually slightly taller than Kendra now, the transformation having added several inches due to the physical differences between the gargoyle foot and the human foot. "I still can't see all of you," she whispered as her fingers lifted to the beaten gold band that covered the gargoyle's brow ridge, she hesitated waiting for permission.

Demona tilted her head down, "go ahead," she whispered. Macbeth had been the last person to see her bare forehead ridges she realized, but no one except for Goliath had ever touched her there. Thoughts of how it would feel to have the Kendra's fingers trailing over her ridges had her hoping the black-haired woman would be the second.

Kendra carefully pulled the golden band away from Demona's brow, exposing the bony ridge above the gargoyle's green eyes. It took a brief moment to kneel and place the band carefully upon one of the silvery blankets next to the fire. Demona was still standing with her head tilted slightly downward, her tail moving in a lazy arc behind her. Kendra reached up and trailed her fingers lightly over the ridges exploring them. She breathed in a breath when the flame-haired gargoyle closed her eyes in pleasure and leaned into the touch.

"Is this sensitive because you keep it covered, or is it just sensitive and that's why you keep it covered?" Kendra asked softly, not wanting to disturb the current mood.

Demona grinned lazily, her eyes still closed, "Brow ridges are sensitive, but mainly I use the band to keep my hair out of my face."

"Ah," Kendra murmured as she continued stroking Demona's face eye ridges then she trailed her fingers along the rigid spine that formed the upper edge of the gargoyle's ears. She heard Demona's soft moan as she stroked along the gargoyle's ears and she smiled, obviously this felt good for both humans and gargoyles. She pushed her fingers into the mass of flame red hair and covered Demona's red lips with her own, pressing against the gargoyle's warm body. Demona's arms wrapped around her and then she felt Demona's wings fold around her encasing her within their warmth. She shuddered as she realized that she was literally surrounded by her lover. Heated tingling arousal shot through her as if something had sparked trails of fire along all the nerve endings and she groaned into Demona's mouth.

Demona pulled away from the black-haired woman's soft lips long enough to comment, "You really like having my wings around you don't you." She growled softly when Kendra bit lightly upon her chin.

"Yes," Kendra whispered into the gargoyles skin, she could tell that it was thicker than her own human skin, but it was soft as well, and she wanted to test its resilience to her teeth as well as its taste with her mouth. "You realize," she bit lightly on the gargoyle's jaw, "that you surround me," she trailed her lips up to the gargoyle's ear. "That I'm," she bit lightly near the earring evoking another soft growl then flicked her tongue over the same area, "wrapped inside of you."

Kendra's words caused the muscles deep within Demona to clench, tightening and coiling in desire. She could feel herself grow wet and slick in reaction to them, her heart pounded in her chest, and without conscious thought, her hands moved lower. She just remembered not to grip too tightly with her talons as she ground her hips into Kendra's. She hadn't ever thought about it that way, but Kendra was right she was surrounded by the gargoyle's body. Demona became hyper aware of the feel of the woman in her arms, the press of breast and thigh, and the feel of soft tender skin against the membrane of her wings. She had reveled in these same sensations earlier, but she hadn't placed it in the same context that she did now, now it felt profoundly intimate in a way it hadn't before. She didn't want to let Kendra go, she wanted to take the woman like this, wanted to feel her cry out and shudder in pleasure while wrapped inside her wings.

But how? Demona's mind wrapped around the problem, she already knew she couldn't use her talons as she had used her fingers in her human form, and she had already thought about how her tail to please Kendra. This was more of a logistics problem, before she had imagined Kendra on her stomach underneath her, now she wanted to be able to touch the woman while holding her inside her wings. Her mind sorted through various possibilities, discarding each as too difficult or more often too uncomfortable for one or both of them.

"What are you thinking so hard about," Kendra asked, amusement clear.

Demona smiled down at her, "How to do this while holding you, but I think I have an idea now." She knelt slowly, supporting Kendra's back with her wing forearms, and guiding the woman's hips so that she sat on top of the gargoyle's parted thighs. Kendra's legs were on the outside of her own, and her own legs were parted enough for her tail to easily slip under and up between them. Demona stared down at the woman on her lap, taking in the soft breasts, the shadowed intimate softness spread so open for her touch between Kendra's parted thighs. "Oh, yes," she whispered huskily, "I think this will work quite nicely."

Many minutes later…

"Give yourself to me," Demona commanded as she bit deeply into the thick muscles where Kendra's neck and shoulder met.

Kendra yowled hoarsely, "Demona!" sounding remarkably cat like. She shuddered, convulsing strongly in her pleasure.

That was enough to send Demona over the edge; she released Kendra's shoulder as the beginning crest of her orgasm caught her. She barely registered Kendra's movement as the woman lifted her head; turned, and bit into the same place on Demona's shoulder where the gargoyle had bitten her. The sweet, lancing pain of the mating bite hammered into Demona and she cried out Kendra's name and arched into her lover as her pleasure intensified and deepened.

Soft gentle licks over the bite marks on her shoulder brought the immortal gargoyle back. Even her wings were still quivering Demona realized as she drew in a shaky breath still recovering from the intensity of her release. Incredulous she looked over at her lover, confused as to how Kendra's human teeth had managed that.

Kendra's sapphire blue eyes met hers, "It worked," she whispered looking at the bite marks on Demona's shoulder.

The gargoyle saw the flash of fangs within Kendra's mouth, "What exactly worked?" she inquired looking blankly at her lover's mouth, unable to believe what she had seen.

"Partial shape change, another thing the priestess taught me the other night though I gathered she hadn't really explored that ability very much," the black haired woman answered. "Still it's not that important right now, hold me?"

Demona realized the quivering she was feeling was not entirely from herself. She looked at Kendra's shoulder in concern and saw some blood there, but the bite marks were already healed. Concerned, Demona asked, "Are you alright?" the topic of partial shape changes and fangs could be addressed later the gargoyle decided this was much more important.

Kendra replied, "I'm still shaking inside."

Demona pulled Kendra more tightly to her body, "Did I hurt you?"

Kendra shook her head, answering hoarsely, "No, no you didn't hurt me at all. I've just wanted that for so long and no one could give that to me until you." Kendra wrapped her arms around Demona and held her tightly.

Demona said softly "No, I guess your other lover's couldn't do that for you could they?" Kendra shook her head and then buried her face in Demona's shoulder and started crying softly. Demona cradled her, rearranging her wings so that they covered more of her lover's back, "Why are you crying," she asked softly.

Kendra shook her head, "Too… too many things to feel at once. Too strong just hold me, protect me for right now."

A sweet welling emotion filled Demona's chest, the immortal gargoyle reassured the woman cradled in her arms, "I've got you. I'll keep you safe."

Kendra's tears dried after another minute, she admitted softly, "I've never surrendered any part of myself to anyone before, it was sort of frightening, but it felt so freeing at the same time, not to have to always be in control of myself." Kendra sighed and fell silent.

Shortly afterward, Kendra's breathing changed and Demona could feel her slip into sleep. Demona kept her wings tight around them both protecting Kendra as she slept and only moved to pull up the blankets to cover them both.

Demona did not sleep, and in the dim light she pondered Kendra's words. At first she had thought that Kendra meant that she was the first to be able to do the mating bite, but then she realized that the woman was talking about surrendering. It moved her deeply to hear that she was the only one Kendra had ever surrendered herself to. That Kendra felt Demona was strong enough that the black-haired woman didn't have to be in control all the time.

The immortal gargoyle looked down at the woman wrapped in her arms and stared into her sleeping face, stubbornness, strength, honor were all revealed there in the square lines of jaw and chin. Tonight she had given Kendra what they had both wanted and in a surprising turn had received just as much. She had dominated and Kendra had willfully surrendered, and they both had been shaken by the passion and intensity of the moment.

All of these thoughts flowed disjointedly though Demona's mind, the last remaining with a sudden clarity. At the last when they had held onto one another desperately, in the moment that they both had shuddered in release, just who had surrendered to whom? In that moment hadn't they simply held onto each other, needing the strength and solidity of the other? In that moment, had they both experienced the same thing? When the world seemed to fall away and the protective walls shattered had both of them felt that curious mixture of vulnerability and freedom?