Where Do We Go From Here?
Kitatanya
Chapter 24
A/N: Thank you so much for your support! You guys are awesome! Again, I really fricking hate spoilers but, also again, I have to put one here cause reasons.
SMUT WARNING!
Read on, loves!
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Catra's body was aching as she slowly drifted awake. For all that she was still fit somehow after everything that had happened, her weeks of general inactivity had definitely not done her any favors. The last few days now felt like a foggy blur and she realized she'd been much more exhausted than she'd realized. Her concern for her mate, her people, and the universe had kept her going, but this rest had been all too needed and she was thankful for it. She didn't move to stretch her aching form, because she sensed from the sound of her mate's heartbeat and steady breathing beneath her ear that she still slept. Feeling that, all she wanted to do was drift again, safe and warm atop her. She wondered what exactly had even woken her, when a soft laugh from outside told her. She heard whispers as a quiet conversation rekindled outside their tent.
"So, they saved you, huh?" Lonnie's whispered words sounded amused.
"Yes." That voice was the clone she and Adora had saved replying. "I know that the three of you watch over them, but I felt the need to check on my saviors. Apologies for interrupting your solitude."
She felt a burst of affection towards him and her former teammates as the whispered words registered in her drifting mind. Lonnie, Rogelio, and Kyle had been watching over them as they slept. It was only then that she realized Melog was not beside them and a sense of gentle alarm filled her for a moment, before dissipating in a rush of love and pride for them. Melog would be with their friends, helping them while they rested and had left them safe and sound under the protection of those who she now realized were still willing to stand and to fight with her and Adora as a team. More than a team, they were friends again and she knew it now without even speaking to them. It brought a rush of tears to her eyes, but she fought against them and tried to stay limp, not wanting to stir Adora from her much needed rest.
"Wait." Kyle called in a slightly louder whisper. "You're not interrupting anything. Come. Sit with us." His words were kind and surprisingly affectionate. Rogelio let out a low rumble that echoed it.
"Are you certain?" The clone asked, his whispered voice full of hope.
Lonnie chuckled. "Yeah, guy. If you're their friend, you're welcome here." She murmured.
The words sent an even stronger burst of affection through Catra and a purr rose in her chest before she could stifle it. Adora made a small sound in her throat and the arm wrapped around her tightened ever so slightly. For a moment, Catra thought she would stir, but her mate was deeply asleep again within seconds. The fact that Adora had responded to the sound of her happiness even in the middle of sleep, sent Catra's head spinning with a rush of giddiness and wonder. She could not help a smile, or the continuation of her purring, as she realized this giddiness she now felt was almost an echo of her mate's frequent and embarrassingly annoying mental cooing. Apparently, sharing a brain with her mate was having a much greater effect on her than she'd realized. At the thought, she had to stifle a laugh and resist the urge to nuzzle closer to her.
It was surreal, feeling this way right now, but she wanted to treasure it all the same. Too soon, reality would come crashing down around her, but for now, she just wanted the simple dream-like quality of this moment to last as long as possible. It was a selfish thought, she knew, but she still couldn't help it.
"So." Kyle asked softly, drawing her from her thoughts. "You got a name?"
"I…" The clone hesitated. "I have been contemplating on this matter since I was liberated by my sleeping saviors. I think I have found a name that expresses everything I feel in this moment, as I embrace the new life that they, and the rest of you, my Liberators, have granted me." He spoke the words like he was making an oath and again, Catra felt her fondness for him grow.
This clone was special to her, she couldn't deny it. He was the first true life she'd saved so directly. Yes, she'd gotten Glimmer away from Horde Prime and managed to reunite her with Adora and Bow and the rest, but that had been more like a game of chance. If Adora and Bow hadn't been there to catch the young queen, Catra would have thrown her right into a cold and terrifying death in the dark void between the glistening stars of space. It was the only option open at the time and she didn't regret it for an instant, but she knew all too well what the consequence could have been. She tore her mind from that train of thought before it could completely destroy her sleepy contentment.
"And that name is?" Lonnie prompted after a moment, when the clone didn't continue.
"Well, I…" The clone paused and cleared his throat and Catra realized he was embarrassed by something. "Perhaps I should wait for their permission before I reveal it. It is… perhaps too forward a choice." The rest of them made quiet sounds of cajoling amusement.
Adora moved beneath her again and this time, Catra realized she was actually stirring. She was confused as to what had woken her, when she realized she'd been unintentionally lashing her tail and it was brushing over their tangled legs. Immediately, she was contrite and lifted her head ever so slightly to gaze down at her sleepily blinking mate in apology. Adora smiled up at her, but there was confusion in her still tired eyes. Afraid she'd alert the others outside, she quickly reached for the bond and buried her face back into Adora's chest. Even if it was selfish and even though she knew that now that her mate was awake, that they really should get to work, she just wanted a tiny fraction longer to enjoy this little moment of peace.
Adora's slightly sluggish thoughts joined hers as she followed the tug to that distant place of shared comprehension. She let Adora feel what she was feeling and sent her waking memories in a rush. It took Adora a few moments to truly process, but as soon as she did, her mate was in complete agreement with her. Before they could do or think anything else, Rogelio's low rumbling voice spoke and from the tone, they got the sense he was trying to convince the clone to share his new name.
"Yeah, tell us." Lonnie's whisper prompted right after. She understood Rogelio better than any of them.
"We can keep a secret." Kyle gently urged a moment later.
The clone let out a low sound and they recognized it as his version of defeat. "Promise me you will not find too great an amusement in it?" He murmured, still embarrassed and now just a little frightened.
Immediately, the three of them let out sounds of denial and they waited just as eagerly as they knew their friends were to hear the clone's chosen name. He took a deep breath and let it out, obviously taking a moment to gather his thoughts before he spoke. The way it sounded reminded them so acutely of Hordak from that night in the crystal city it sent a pang through their hearts; yes, this clone was special to them and neither of them could deny it.
"I wanted to express my gratitude for them and to make my new life a legacy to their honor and their great mercy. They had no reason to believe a clone like me would truly turn from evil like I'd wanted. I stood in the army that faced all of you in the crystal city. I was full of the rage of my brothers, for the unlawful slaughter of the brethren who'd decided to stand with Brother Dak upon their arrival. The injustice of it riled me, filled me with hatred and fury… But there was one among us who knew the truth of why that injustice had happened."
His voice had been surging quietly with emotion, but at the last, his voice went flat and distant. The both of them felt a sense of sympathetic dread for what the sensed was about to be the full truth of why he had been in the state he'd been in when his brothers had left him to bait their deadly trap. They had heard some of it already, but he had always clipped his words before now. Something about the privacy of this quiet conversation, seemed to have made him brave enough to speak about it now.
"He had been there during Brother Blood's betrayal of Brother Dak's people. He'd hidden his true allegiance for his own safety and so lost his chance to escape when they did and knew that you, our Liberators had no way of knowing our brothers under Brother Dak had arrived in peace. I had no idea of any of this before, for I had only just arrived a few days prior to the battle, but after seeing the destruction and the lives lost in that city and learning of the fate of this very settlement… I felt in my heart that it was wrong." His tone grew dark.
"Horde Prime had always led us in this selfsame destruction, but I could not put the words Bother Dak had spoken aside in my torn thoughts. My brother seemed to notice my struggle, because he came to me that evening. Quietly, he drew me out into the forest to speak to me alone. It was then that I learned the truth and expressed my wish to him that we must defect. But before he could even express to me his response, our brothers surged from the trees around us and we were caught." His breath hitched and the both of them suddenly wished that they could offer him comfort in the face of the great grief he was expressing. They'd not heard this amount of emotion from him before and got the sense now that even though his time with his brother had been so agonizingly brief, it had had a profound effect on him that would forever remain.
"He was slain within moments and I feared that I was next, but instead they did not kill me." He took another deep breath and let it out in a despairing sigh. "When I tell you that when what I did not know then were my saviors appeared before my broken body in that forest, I wished then that they had. I do not jest in the least when I speak that sentiment. I did not want to be responsible for the loss of any more lives. I do not know how they survived the rush of my brothers then. I only remember pain and trying to warn them of the fate of this town before I died. But… again I did not die." There was awe now in his voice and the wonder they remembered seeing in him that day.
"They saved me. Restored me. Gave me a chance when I thought there was none to be had. Every breath I have taken from that moment onward and every breath I continue to take even now is because of their great mercy." Then He laughed then and the two of them could no longer fight their amazed tears at that wondering sound. "More than their mercy and my life, they've given me a purpose I never truly saw before. Everything I was was made for evil, yet now I sit here breathing the air on this living planet and get a chance to do something right." Again, the murmured words were spoken with great conviction like an oath and as he paused for a moment, the strength of them lingered in the air.
When next he spoke, his voice sounded very small and it sent a pang through the both of them that was as bittersweet as it was profound. "In the face of all of that, the name I chose to honor my saviors, might seem a little bit simple. But I am a humbled creature in the face of all they've done. The name I chose to honor them is Ramel."
At once, hearing it made their tears fall all the faster. It was their names and Melog's blended together and the way he spoke it was like it was a word of honor. It humbled them and amazed them and their surging emotions were like a tide of wonder and ringing respect towards this at least one life they had managed to save after they'd been lying weak for so long. The myriad of faces from Chrytsalyis and the faces of weary soldiers joined in the mix and again, it let them feel that sense of righteousness and gratitude for their power. They and he would hopefully only be the first of the many lives they hoped to save, but Ramel's wondering expression after they'd healed him She-Ra's magic shined brighter than all the rest.
"That's a really good name." Kyle spoke softly into the silence. "And now I can say it's an honor to meet you, Ramel." He echoed the name in the same tone Ramel had spoken it and they suddenly wanted to hug him too.
There was a slight fracture in their thoughts then, as Catra recoiled playfully from the thought of being mushy in front of too many people. Adora sighed a laugh and Catra felt her love for her surging in a tide of giddy affection. She couldn't help the peal of laughter she let out then, because it had reminded her of her own giddy mental cooing when Adora had first stirred. That memory had gotten swept along in the surge of information before, but now Adora felt it and Catra thought she'd never come down for the resultant surge from her mate.
"Sounds like someone's awake." Lonnie's sarcastic words cut through their thoughts.
There was a pang of regret in their mutually affectionate response and Catra wished she'd been able to stifle her laughter in time. Adora was sending her reassurance in the face of her guilt and Catra lifted her head as she felt her mate want to kiss her. It was brief, that gentle kiss, but it felt no less special than any of their kisses before. It was with that shared thought that they parted just enough along the bond to respond to Lonnie's words.
"Yeah, we're awake." Catra called out. "All of your howling could have woken the dead." She teased softly.
Immediately, the four of them let out sounds of apology and she was already laughing as Adora sent her a glare and a chastising burst through their bond. Her next thought stilled her laughter as Adora felt the need to go reassure Ramel. She winced, chastising herself for not thinking about how their laughter might have been received with them not knowing what had transpired between them. At once, they separated to that place of close conversation. As soon as she was alone in her own head, she rose above her mate and helped her to stand as she did. Neither of them stopped to bother with their disheveled appearances as Adora lead her by the hand outside. She stood beside her mate and almost flinched at the gently chastising looks Lonnie, Rogelio, and Kyle were sending them and the despairing and terrified look on Ramel's flaming face.
Adora stepped towards him at once and lay her free hand on his shoulder. "We weren't laughing at your name, Ramel." He started as she spoke his chosen name with all of their shared affection of before.
He looked up at them, gaping with an expression of great surprise that made her exchange a quick smile with her mate, before she looked back down into his surprised face. "We were laughing because we're idiots." She explained to him softly.
His surprised expression shifted into a hopeful look that reminded her endearingly of the expression Hordak and Entrapta had regarded them the morning Adora had taken them to ask them to breakfast. "Truly?" He asked, his voice again sounding small.
Again, she shared a glance with Adora and saw her swelling with the same storm of emotion she felt, even before it crashed between them through their bond. Her mate recovered first from that exuberant burst and looked back down at him again with a wide and happy smile. "Truly." She spoke firmly.
Ramel was frozen for a moment, before he tucked his chin to hide a sudden pleased blush and a tiny smile. The endearing action filled her with a burst of affection and Adora's immediately resurgent giddiness ringing from the bond almost made her laugh again. Once her mate started cooing, almost nothing could stop it. She shook her head, sending her a burst of gentle and affectionate exasperation. She truly loved her mate more than anything else. Rather than letting herself give in to the sudden urge to kiss her, she tugged Adora's hand, guiding her to sit beside her, facing Ramel and their friends.
Already as the burst faded, she felt the tugging call of duty in her heart and knew that their time to linger in this peaceful moment was drawing to an end. Adora looked at her then, smiling softly and she saw that same feeling of soft regret in her eyes. Still, even if it was drawing to an end, it wasn't quite over yet and she wanted to take at least a moment to talk to their once again friends. When she looked to them, she saw them watching the both of them with affection and a strangely knowing eyes. For some reason, it made her slightly nervous and Adora's quick squeeze to their linked fingers let her know her mate echoed that emotion too.
"What?" She prompted after a moment when they didn't speak.
Lonnie, Rogelio, and Kyle exchanged a series of grins and she found herself confused as they shared a wordless conversation with those short glances. It was Lonnie who looked to them first, but both men wore the exact same, almost giddily amused, expression. "Congratulations on finally realizing you loved each other." As she spoke the words, her grin shifted into a mischievous smirk that Kyle and Rogelio mirrored simultaneously.
For a moment, she was too frozen with surprise to do anything but gape at them, but then they laughed and a rush of acute embarrassment filled her. That same embarrassment was ringing from Adora, but she squeezed their fingers together when her mate went to pull away. Already, she was pushing aside her embarrassment. She wasn't ashamed of her feelings for Adora at all and there was no reason to hide it in front of anyone. As Adora looked her with gentle surprise, Catra shrugged and sent the thoughts with a lazy smile. Instantly, Adora was beaming at her and all of that giddiness was back in a rush to nearly overwhelm her.
She hissed at her giddy mate and then sent them a playful glare. "Now look what you've done!" She snapped, belying the harsh tone with a flick of her ears and a playful lash of her tail.
The three of them dissolved into laughter. And then, she was gently surprised when both Lonnie and Kyle leaned into Rogelio between them. The laughing glances they shared then, opened her eyes to the sudden realization of the truth of their bond. The three of them were in love, just like she and Adora, and all of that unspoken communication between them expressed it just like it did between she and her mate. Another realization quickly followed that thought and she realized that others had seen this in them just as clearly as she saw it between the three of them now. She shook her head with exasperation at the fools they'd both been. Adora sent a questioning pulse through the bond and she all but rolled her eyes at the obliviousness of her mate.
You really are an idiot, Adora. She sent the words with a burst of all of the love and exasperations she felt as she smiled.
Adora's instant pout and petulant huff made her laugh. Rather than egg her mate on any further, she sent the realizations she'd made. She could only laugh louder in the face of Adora's complete and utter shock as she absorbed the information.
Okay. Yeah. I am an idiot this time. She grinned as she murmured the admission through the bond. And then Catra got to be pleasantly surprised as she watched her mate's sheepish expression transform into a smugly mischievous smirk within seconds.
She quirked a questioning eyebrow wanting badly to know the thought that put that very attractive expression on her mate's face, but Adora simply quirked one back in a teasing response. Then her mate looked over at their friends and her eyes flashed with humor. Catra followed her gaze and saw the three of watching them with confused and nervous expressions.
She realized what Adora was about to do and was already chuckling as her mate spoke. "Congratulations to you three too." She spoke the words in a loftily pleased tone and Catra could not contain her purr of delight.
Her mate acting arrogant and smug should have annoyed or exasperated her, but she found that when it wasn't directed her way, it was almost sinfully delightful to witness. Adora's often hidden diabolical streak was one of the things Catra adored about her mate. She turned then, to enjoy the fruits of it, and saw with even greater delight the utterly shocked expressions on their friend's faces. A moment later, the three of them were blushing and glancing shyly down and away from them and each other, but all three of them were smiling as they did so.
Adora's smug satisfaction pulsed through the bond and Catra let her mate feel all of her delight in return. She looked again to see that expression on her face and a sudden hunger curled in low in her belly. Adora's sparkling gaze darkened and she knew her mate had seen and sensed her sudden hunger and the knowledge only made her more so, even before it rippled through their bond.
In that moment, she made a decision. She was going to be selfish. Even if it was only another stolen moment, she would take what she could get. The day had not even begun. They had a few hours before they absolutely had to work and she was going to take advantage of them. She looked away, out over the camp, and suddenly wished that Melog were there because she now felt the acute need to escape. She wanted to leave behind the smiles and laughter of their friends and the camp and town full of eyes and ears for just a little while and be in solitude with her mate.
Almost before the thoughts fully formed, she saw Melog stalking their way through the tents. From the way they walked towards her with purpose, she knew they'd felt her emotions and her sudden need and were more than willing to comply. Gratitude form them filled her, but it did not overtake her determination. She flicked her eyes back to Adora and saw her mate regarding her with confusion now instead of hunger and she knew that selfish determination was ringing to her through the bond.
Instead of answering the question in her eyes, she stood in an agile motion and pulled her mate to her feet with a strong tug. "Yeah, congrats." She said to her friends. Then she looked to Ramel who had been silently watching them all with a fond smile. "And love the name." She waved at the four of them and started walking. "Gotta go." She felt Adora's utter confusion, but she didn't resist as Catra tugged her along.
When they reached them, Melog swelled their size to stand as tall as Swift Wind and then, she felt the realization of what was happening strike Adora as her confusion gave way to delight. Are we really doing this? The almost giggling burst of thought was like an echo of a memory of their mischievous adventuring as naughty children.
She flashed her mate a wide grin as Melog knelt to let them climb onto their back. "Yep." She answered aloud, letting her mate feel everything she was currently feeling through their bond.
Adora giggled aloud then and it drew a snicker from her and they were clumsy with laughter and a shared sense of giddy pleasure at the thought of sneaking away. Yes, the both of them knew it was selfish. Yes, they knew it might be a little wrong in the face of all they knew, but surely, the cosmos couldn't blame them for taking just a little time to be alone in the face of everything they had to do. The foreboding thought did nothing to still their mutual determination to go and as Melog stood and turned towards the wall, she could feel their pride in them for finally taking a moment for themselves amidst the chaos.
As they loped away, clearing the wall with a single bound, they spoke. 'The mages here are almost as knowledgeable as our mothering sorcerous. I have left the others with the knowledge of a rune in which to communicate with me. If anything happens or there is need for us, they will do so. I have told them I wished to speak to you alone.' She was acutely surprised at the smugness of their tone as they stated the information and their blatant lie and Melog chuckled in response. 'It is not a falsehood. We shall simply speak before the return journey.'
Their words and attitude made her feel even more like a naughty little child, sneaking around in the dead of night with Adora back in the Fright Zone. Her mate's strong emotions were echoing her thoughts perfectly and they laughed together as Melog all but bounded through the dense forest. Catra had no idea where Melog was taking them, but as Adora's hands left her waist and her mate pulled her more fully back against her body, she didn't care. Especially when those hands then began to stroke along her stomach and ribs and Adora began nuzzling into her neck. The hunger smoldering inside her took on a brighter hue within seconds.
She sent a pulse through the bond, warning her to stop there, because as much as Melog wanted them to be happy, it was another thing entirely to this sort of situation. They couldn't very well distance themselves if she and Adora were on their back, after all. Adora chuckled as she sent the thought, but her hands and nibbling lips retracted and Catra sagged back against her with a mixing of relief and regret.
Then, Melog suddenly turned and began climbing up a sheer cliff that had risen to their right. The sudden change in direction and pitch, had Adora's arms wrapping around her for an entirely different reason, and Catra had to fight not to accidentally claw Melog as she leaned forward, scrabbling for a better hold in an effort to make sure she and her mate didn't slip from their back. They clung even harder as Melog scaled above the trees and the chilly mountain wind began to buffet them. She couldn't be afraid however and instead found herself thrilled by the adrenaline now coursing through her veins. It was akin to a wild ride on a skiff and Melog let out a rumbling sound of amusement as her mate's echoing thrilled emotions surged her own even further and it set the both of them off to laughing again.
Finally, when they were all but breathless, Melog crested the top of the cliff and the wind cut off with an abrupt suddenness. When she lifted her head, Catra could only feel a sense of awe at the sight that greeted her and felt the same echoing from her mate frozen against her. It was a small valley between two low peaks, ringed almost entirely by walls of stone that glittered with milky crystalline veins. Hardy wildflowers and pale green grass covered the ground almost entirely. A small gurling waterfall trickled from a gap far above them and fed into a stream that snaked its way along to another gap in the walls, where it disappeared. The misting, moonlit water filled the air, giving the entire meadow a slightly ethereal feeling and the wispy clouds hanging like gauze in the starry sky above them only made it seem moreso.
Melog chuckled again and she realized she and Adora were still simply sitting there on their back like idiots. Adora leaned back so that she could sit up and she descended first, holding up a hand to steady her mate as she slid down Melog's side. Immediately, Melog let out a low roar and she sensed their magic flowing into the air. She and Adora watched, frozen again by surprise, as dome of their magic twinkled to life over the meadow, before winking out of sight an instant later.
'There now. You will be safe. I shall return for you at dawn's light.' With that, Melog turned and the dome flickered into sight for another tiny instant as they stepped over the edge of the cliff, descending headfirst as easily as they'd climbed up.
Catra could do nothing but gape at the place they'd disappeared for a long moment, still holding Adora's hand limply in hers. And then, her body began to tingle as she started to realize what this meant. Adora's fingers tightened in hers and she looked over to find her mate's shock was fading quickly into delight too. In an instant, Adora was pulling her closer and Catra found herself caught up her strong embrace only a fraction of a moment before her mate's lips were on hers. She was responding within seconds and her mind was finally truly comprehending their situation and it almost had her swooning in Adora's arms.
This time there would be no distractions. There would be no interruptions. Where earlier today they'd both accepted the fact that they would not be allowed to get lost in one another, now, suddenly they really, truly could.
Even if it was what she'd ultimately wanted, she could scarcely believe it was real, and the full reality of it set all of her on fire for her mate in an instant. All of her stifled hunger, all of her denied need, was suddenly there in a rush. All of the parts of her, mind, body, and soul were all suddenly roaring for nothing but her mate before her. And Adora was echoing it all right back.
Always before, these hungry flames devouring her had been filled with a sense of urgency. Always, the need had been to take as much as she could all at once, but now? Now those hungry flames had settled from a raging inferno threatening to devour her into a steady blaze that felt like it could burn her slowly for all eternity.
That slow, deep kiss they shared echoed it perfectly. She let herself savor every touch of their gliding lips in a way she'd never gotten the chance to do before. Slowly, it deepened and Adora's tongue slipped out to meet hers in a gentle, almost playful motion. The dance they found themselves in now was no less powerful than before, but it was slow and it was steady and it was exactly what the both of them wanted.
With that same slowness, she gently squeezed her mate's shoulders, before tracing her hands up her neck and into her hair. She met that familiar resistance of her ponytail and it made her smile when Adora tensed a little as her fingers moved towards the band holding it up. This time she did not cut it, instead gently tugging it free, letting her claws play along the length of it as she did so. The gentle tug made Adora shiver against her, and the kiss picked up a small degree in tempo. She responded to the gently increased fervency in an instant as she let the band fall to the ground at their feet.
Adora hands were no longer idle on her back as she began tracing her claws through those freed golden locks. Now they tugged above her belt, trying to free her shirt. Feeling those tugs and the wanting from her mate, she decided she wanted something more. If they were doing this, if this was really finally happening, then she wanted it all. Slowly, she broke their kiss and blinked up into Adora's eyes as they blinked open to regard her too. The gentle question in them made her smile, but she didn't respond aloud or verbally through their bond. She pulled away with the thought to let her actions speak for her.
Adora was watching her curiously as she took a step backwards to stand fully apart from her. Her smile widened as she felt a little burst of mischievous pleasure in what she was about to do and watched Adora's eyes shoot wide as she reached for the clasp of her own belt. She removed it slowly, unbuckling every clasp with a deliberate motion and then held it to the side and let it fall unceremoniously to the ground. As she reached for the hem of her shirt, Adora's surprise had faded into an almost painfully acute expression of tenderness. It was then her turn to be surprised as Adora stepped forward, stilling her hands before she could lift the hem more than a few inches.
She was confused for a moment as her mate leaned down to brush a gentle kiss across her lips. "Let me." The soft words were full of love and a longing tone she'd never heard from Adora before.
The need she felt then from her mate and all of the devotion that came pouring into Catra's mind, sent her swooning all over again and stealing her breath with a gasp. All she could do was nod helplessly as Adora leaned back with a question in her eyes. All Catra could do was watch, her body tingling and shivering like never before as Adora reached down and began to slowly lift her shirt. She was surprised when her mate leaned down, but when Adora's lips met her stomach, nibbling and tugging on her fur and the flesh beneath, all she could feel was pleasure. Adora's hands left her shirt, instead snaking beneath it and lifting it as her hands traced slowly upward, caressing her in pleasurable tandem with her lips. When she met her bra, Catra couldn't help her needy moan, and she felt Adora's lips shift into a smile against her ribs. Those lips left her flesh, but her hands didn't stop. They traced over her breasts, thumbs flicking over her still covered nipples as they passed and Catra was helpless to stop another gasp at the tingling pleasure of the brief sensation. Adora kept tugging her shirt and distantly, she realized that she had to lift her arms to let her mate take it fully off. It was gone in a moment and Adora let it fall in the same manner she'd dropped her belt. Her hands were on her arms a moment later, stopping her from letting them fall. Then, with a quick motion that belied everything else, she reached for her bra and then that barrier was gone too.
As she let her arms fall back to her sides, the look in Adora's eyes, drinking in her half naked form with unabashed delight and a quickly rising primal hunger, made her shiver again with an acute burst of anticipation. Now, there was a rising urgency in her need, but she tried her best to stifle it as she felt Adora's want to savor every moment of whatever it was she was about to do. And then, her mate leaned forward again and Catra had only a breath's warning before Adora's lips sealed over one of her nipples. Catra was instantly lost in pleasure as those lips began to move and Adora's arms went around her, holding her tightly as her back arced, pushing her chest up unconsciously into the sensations those lips were sending coursing through her.
Her arms snapped to life, fingers winding into Adora's hair and claws tracing over her scalp, begging her with every moaning breath not to stop. A low sound rumbled in Adora's chest that was almost a growl and then her lips parted and Catra shuddered as a white-hot pulse of pleasure went hurtling straight to her core when her mate's tongue darted out to join her lips in teasing her sensitive nipple. Her teeth then grazed over it too and the resultant pleasurable pain had her crying out as her entire body arced into Adora's curling over her. She was almost bent over double, held up only by Adora's arms around her waist and fisting in the fur and flesh between her shoulders and her hip. The sudden pulse between her legs had her moaning again with every breath as Adora kept giving her more and more.
She needed something, anything, to stop that almost aching need in her center and one of her thighs lifted, almost unbidden, to wrap her leg around Adora's waist. Her mate let out a low moan into her breast and the vibration of it shot her spiraling need even higher. Her leg tightened around her mate as her fingers fisted further into her hair, and then Adora did something that stole her every thought. She moved her hips, pressing them forward between her spread legs and the feel of her pressing against the center of all of that aching, pulsing need arced her body ever further and tore a near scream from her lips. The pleasurable sensations of her nipple increased as Adora began sucking, pulling and tugging the sensitive flesh between her lips, never once stopping her tongue's motions as her hips began to move, rubbing delicious friction against her throbbing center.
Catra lost control. She lost every other sense. There was nothing but Adora's mouth on her flesh and that oh, so delicious friction sending her higher and higher.
But then, suddenly, those touches stopped and she was again helpless to do anything but drift in the suddenly blank space inside her head. All of that need, all of the hunger was still there, but all she could do was cling to her panting mate, gasping and trembling in the absence of the pleasure. Adora lifted her head and Catra blinked up at her through a haze of dizzy passion. The acute and desperate need in those sparkling blue eyes, stole her breath all over again.
"Catra." Her name was a ragged, pleading gasp. "I need more." The desperate edge to those words hit her deep inside, right in the center of all of pleasure of before.
"Yes." It was all she could say in response to those words.
She didn't even quite know what she was agreeing to, but she didn't care. There was nothing she would not do for her mate in this moment, and she let it all show in her eyes, even as she sent it coursing through the bond. Adora moaned, body shuddering and Catra felt her echoing need surge even higher as Adora righted her.
At once, Catra reached for her shirt, needing to touch her mate as much as Adora needed to be touched. She wanted to savor it, like Adora had, but that desperate need was too great for her to ignore. She all but tore at Adora's clothes, part of her not even caring if she damaged then, and Adora's hands were helping her with that selfsame urgency. Within moments, Adora stood before her half-naked too and she lowered herself to indulge in her flesh, like her mate had indulged in hers. She opened her lips, placing kisses over the muscled flesh of her stomach, tasting the salty sheen of the sweat that had beaded on her skin. She wanted more of that taste and opened her lips wider, grazing those hard curves with her tongue and brushes of her fangs. She wanted to feel every inch of that sensitive, trembling flesh and her hands came up, tracing her fingertips and claws delicately over every inch of it that she wasn't currently devouring. Slowly she rose, following the frenetic rhythm of her mate's pounding heart, drawing gasps and tiny, pleading moans from her shivering mate. She paused over the pulse of her heart, placing a delicate kiss there over that precious sound that had once defined the entirety of her existence.
The action drew a tiny, adoring sound from her mate and the resulting pulse of need she felt from her stole her own breath. Adora's fingers were suddenly fisting in her hair, tugging gently and pleading with her to please come higher. She followed that tug and Adora's body rocked as she finally sealed her lips over her taut and rosy nipple.
Catra wasted no more time teasing her. She parted her lips, sucking that sensitive nub carefully between her fangs, and flicked up her tongue to return the amazing sensations her mate had given her. Adora's body arced and a breathless cry tore from her lips. Catra instantly wound her arms around her, holding her close and let the claws of one hand graze delicately up her mate's bowing spine. The sound Adora made then was almost a desperate sob of pleasure and her hips jerked forward, seeking relief from the aching need Catra could feel coursing from her. She needed with everything she was to meet that desperate need and there was a scent coming from that place of pleasure between Adora's legs that was calling her like it never had before. She wanted to taste that scent and the urge to do so had her dropping to her knees on the grassy ground before her, before she even quite realized what she was doing.
Adora was quaking, gasping, fingers still winding tightly in her hair as Catra reached up almost in a daze and put her fingers to the fastenings of her pants. She paused then and gazed up at her mate and the sight that greeted her was more fantastic than anything she'd ever seen before. Adora was gazing down at her from between her full breasts that were swaying with every gasping breath she took. Her skin was flushed, glistening with sweat that sparkled silver in the moonlight. The universe of love and need in her eyes shamed the starry sky above her with its radiance.
Everything in those eyes and all of that desperate need ringing through their bond was pleading for her to continue, but still, she needed to speak the question aloud. This was a barrier they hadn't yet crossed, for all that they'd wanted to. Just as Adora hadn't been able to cross their last big barrier without permission, she found herself unable to cross this one without permission too.
"Can I taste you?" The fervent question was almost a whisper.
She knew Adora had sensed how much she needed to ask, because the need in her eyes gave way, shifting that universe in her eyes into a dazzling display of love. "Yes." She whispered back, all but breathless.
Catra swallowed, hard, and surged up onto her feet to kiss her. Their lips met in a fervent kiss and within moments, all of that hunger and need came roaring back as their lips and tongues danced once more in that primal rhythm that was becoming all the more wonderfully familiar as they explored each other's bared flesh with touches that grew more and more frantic with every beat of their hearts.
Adora's need was again too acute to ignore and again, that heady scent was calling to her like a siren's song. She lowered herself more slowly this time, brushing an open-mouthed kiss over her other nipple, drawing a shaking gasp from Adora. She lingered only for a moment, before moving on, kissing downward, almost retracing the exact same path as she'd ascended before. She was fully on her knees as her lips met fabric and she was trembling just as much as her mate and she reached up to undo the fastenings that had stopped her before. Slowly, she undid them, peeling the tight fabric down Adora's toned legs, eyes tracing every inch that was revealed with an even greater hunger.
Adora's boots and socks stopped her and she was suddenly frustrated in the face of yet another barrier. With a growl, she reached up, guiding Adora's hands onto her shoulders so she would be steady as she removed them with quick, almost angry motions. Finally there was nothing stopping her from leaning forward to explore this new territory of toned flesh with her hands and mouth. Her frustration faded within moments as she nipped delicately up the inside of one of her mate's muscled calves, while her fingertips and claws mirrored her lips and fangs on the other. Adora was gasping again, breath hitching with quickly growing moans as Catra's path drew her up past her trembling knees.
Needing more room to explore the taught flesh of Adora's toned thighs, she lifted her other hand and nudged her mate into a wider stance. Adora's hands had still been clinging about her shoulders, but as Catra leaned forward, taking a section of that sensitive flesh up in a greedy kiss, sucking it almost roughly between her fangs to indulge in the taste, those hands shot to her head in an instant. Adora's form jerked, almost dislodging her mouth as the writhed.
Again, the sound she made then was almost a desperate sob of pleasure and the fingers twisting and knotting in her hair were begging her further upward. She was unable to deny that tug, the desperate need echoing to her, or her own hungry urge to take in everything that scent was promising her any longer. She grazed her lips further upward and Adora's breath hitched when her lips again met fabric. This barrier did not frustrate her like the last. Instead, this one filled her with an entirely new indulgent urge to explore.
She opened her eyes, taking in the wetness glistening through the thin, white fabric of Adora's underwear. The wetness had reduced that whiteness until it was all but sheer, offering a tantalizing glimpse of what awaited her beneath it. She trailed her hands up the inside of Adora's trembling thighs and grazed the outer edges with the pads and claws of her thumbs, tracing them upwards in quick motion to her hips, drawing a hiss from her gasping mate and another pulse of acute need through the bond. The new edge in that need and the keening, pleading moan from her mate, let her know that her indulgent exploration had to come to an end. As much as she wanted to savor every moment of this new experience, she wanted whatever awaited her on the other side of this one last, thin barrier even more.
In a quick motion, she grasped the hem of Adora's underwear and drew them down her legs. Adora stepped out of them instantly, resuming her stance with her body tight with tension and desperate need. Catra wanted more from her though, more room to explore this new treasure before her, and reached up to nudge one of her mate's thighs over her shoulder. For a breathless and wondrous moment, all she could do was stare as the center of all of Adora's need was suddenly spreading before her. She took in every glistening fold, committing the sight to memory, before finally leaning forward and taking her first taste of the nectar of her mate's swelling passion.
The flavor that met her questing tongue was almost as delicious as the sudden, ecstatic cry that tore from Adora's lips. Her hips rocked forward as Catra began to explore, chasing more and more of that hot, wild flavor of her passion. At once, Catra grasped her mate's rocking hips, holding her in place with a firm grip and claws pressing delicately into her flesh. The sound Adora made then was somewhere between a moan and a scream and the fingers in her hair tightened into an almost painful grip as she shuddered. Catra growled against the sensitive flesh beneath her hungry lips and tongue as the pleasurable pain of that action sent her hunger roaring even hotter and the sound and feel of it only made Adora cry louder.
All she wanted was more of this taste, more of these wonderful sounds and reactions and those feelings echoing from her mate. All of this was only for her and she wanted it all and more. The jealous, almost selfish, edge she felt shifted the flames inside her once more and now again it was that white-hot raging inferno threatening to devour everything she was. Let it. She would not stop this feeling even if the world burned to ash around her, laid to waste by these white-hot flames of hunger and devotion to the woman she loved, who's flesh she was devouring and giving her what she'd so desperately been craving for all this time.
She felt from her mate that something was happening inside her now, reminiscent of those hungry touches in the tent so long ago. That something was building in her higher and higher with every heartbeat and Catra wanted her to experience it with everything she was. And, then, she felt new flesh swelling under her lips and exploring tongue. A peaking nub she'd been passing with each hungry lick along the channel of Adora's center. She felt that something in her mate shooting even impossibly higher each time now in quick succession as it swelled. Her leg was tightening around her and the fingers in her hair were tangling and grasping with that same desperate, surging rhythm. Her breathing had changed, every breath now ending on a keening moan and Catra wanted more of every single one of these wonderful reactions
She stopped her sweeping strokes and focused her lips and tongue on that peaking nub and almost at once, Adora's body bowed and her hips threated to dislodge her hands and working lips and tongue. She was screaming now with every breath and the wild flavor of the nectar pouring from her took on a new and even wilder taste. Catra tightened her fingers as much as she dared and redoubled her efforts, wanting even more.
And then, like a kaleidoscope inside her head, all of Adora's surging passion met a sudden and shattering peak. Every single line of her was suddenly taught with an even greater tension as she bowed and writhed, forcing Catra to loosen her grip or risk damaging her precious mate. But even as she was forced to lessen her grip, she rocked her head, meeting every frantic surge of Adora's hips, not stopping her ministrations even as more nectar surged from her mate, almost threatening to drown her with her passion. Adora's quaking leg around her body and the fingers raking nails across her scalp in lines of pleasure and pain, held her sweet prisoner to that all-consuming, primal urge to never stop.
Then, after a moment that could have lasted an eternity, that surging tide of ecstasy from her mate began to still and Catra knew it was time to stop. Slowly, she slowed her lips and tongue, arms reaching up to hold her mate as her trembling body began to sag. She ended her touches with one last open kiss, drawing a hissing gasp from Adora and another quaking spasm. It made her smile as her mate's drifting mind left their bond like it did when they slept and sagged even more right after, no longer able to stand. She twisted her shoulder, letting her leg fall to the side and lowered her limp mate down into her lap as she sat back, crossing her legs beneath them. Adora was panting, still trembling as her head fell forward onto her shoulder and Catra held her close, soothing her further with gentle strokes to her back.
For her part, she was simply amazed by what had just happened. Every single moment of it had been a kind of perfect she'd never even dreamed possible. She silently thanked every star above her head that she'd wanted this time alone with her mate. Everything between them had been building to this moment, but she never could have predicted how awing and all-consuming this experience had been. She felt like she could spend every moment of the remainder of her life doing what she'd done and drawing all of those wonderful reactions from this gorgeous woman slowly quieting in her arms.
Adora took a deep shaky breath and lifted her head, pulling her from her thoughts. She was more than a little surprised to see a guilty apology there and let it show. "I swear I didn't mean for you to only pleasure me when I stopped touching you." She murmured softly, leaning forward to brush a kiss over lips. Catra was too surprised to respond, before Adora continued. "But when you started touching me, everything else just stopped. By Etheria, Catra, you had me totally lost and a part of me never, ever wanted to come back. You're amazing." She punctuated the wondering words with another kiss. "I love you." Again, another kiss, this one firmer. "Please, can I touch you more now? I want you to be able to experience all of that too." The pleading words and the hungry kiss Adora captured her lips in then, finally snapped her from her surprise enough to respond.
She kissed her back, meeting all of that hunger with a sudden, rekindled surge of her own, but she pulled away only a moment later, needing her mate to understand one very important thing. Rather than try to find the words to speak aloud, she pressed her forehead into Adora's and tugged on the bond. The moment their thoughts connected in that shared, tumbling space of thought, she deliberately pulled every single moment of what she'd felt when giving her mate that pleasure. She lingered over every sweet touch, every thrill from her reaction, every single ounce of the pleasure she'd felt while sending her mate spiraling into that kaleidoscopic peak and each, wonderful and all-consuming moment after. By the time she was through, the both of them were trembling and gasping and she tugged away along the bond until they were back in that place of intimate conversation almost immediately.
She opened her eyes, gazing into Adora's before her as they fluttered open too. She swallowed against the dryness of her mouth so that she could speak. "That is what I felt while pleasing you, so don't you dare apologize for it." She was almost incensed by the thought, but the look in Adora's eyes was no longer apologetic or guilty at all.
Instead that gaze darkened into an almost predatorially primal hunger. Adora's lips were on hers in a flash as it roared through the bond, leaving her helpless as her mate toppled her back onto the grass with a not-so-gentle push. She could only lie there, gasping again for air as her mate settled across her hips, looming above her in all her naked glory.
"I want to touch you, Catra, and I'm going to. Say yes, because I don't want to regret anything I'm about to do."
The possessive, almost growling, tone of her words and that look in her eyes and that hungry, hungry flame coursing through her from her mate, left her helpless to do anything but whimper as everything she was was suddenly reduced to an aching line of need. She reached up, needing Adora with everything she was, but her mate resisted, locking her body in place above her. That possessive demand was still in her eyes and Catra realized that her mate, for all she had declared she was going to touch her, would not move a muscle until she verbally responded.
"Yes!" She gasped the word, tugging at her again. "Please, please, Adora, touch me!"
She barely finished the words before Adora was surging down to capture her lips in a devouring kiss. Catra responded in an instant, lifting her hands to bury them in her hair, trying to pull her even closer. She felt one of her mate's hands curl against her hip and then her fingers trailed upwards, nails pressing just hard enough to firmly caress the skin beneath her fur. Catra hissed into the kiss, arcing up into Adora above her as she cupped her breast in a firm, but gentle grip. She drew her thumb over her nipple, teasing it with quick, firm strokes and Catra all but writhed as it sent pleasure coursing through her. But that pleasure did nothing to quell the ache of her need.
After everything they'd done, she needed more. Her body was now at an almost painful fever pitch. As much as she wanted to enjoy every moment of Adora's touch, everything in her pleaded with Adora above her and she knew her mate felt it when she broke their kiss with a heavy moan.
"Oh, Catra!" She gasped. "I don't want to rush this, but you make me lose every shred of my control."
As she spoke, she was moving down her neck, leaving trails of nibbles and tugging kisses along her flesh and through her fur and Catra could scarcely comprehend anything beyond the fires of hunger and need spiraling through her and echoing from her mate. Adora's lips sealed over her nipple and Catra let out a shout of pleasure she barely heard as that throbbing, pulsing need within her took on an even keener, desperate edge with every gentle tug of Adora's lips and hot, wet flick of her tongue. Her mate did not linger long, before trailing more of those, nibbling, tugging kisses down her middle. Her tongue flicked out, darting in and out of her navel for a brief, pleasurable moment, before she moved further down.
She felt those kisses meet the hem of her pants and felt the question Adora was going to ask even before she lifted her lips from her flesh. "Don't stop!" She pleaded, fingers tangling desperately in her hair.
Adora let out a heavy, shaking breath that set the fur of her hips dancing in a rush of heat. She hissed, trying her best not to let her hips jerk in a desperate motion as she bit back another cry of pleasure, because she could still feel that hunger in her mate to shower her with devotion and to savor this experience and she did not want to rush her. "Don't." The word was a ragged plea from her mate. "Don't you dare hold back."
She felt Adora's fingers scrabbling with the fastenings of her pants and then felt a flash of heat as Adora's teeth bit down on the flesh she revealed when they snapped open. The feel of that pleasurable pain, so very close to the place she so desperately needed to be touched, tightened her body even more. Catra couldn't have stopped the cry or the helpless writhing of her body if she'd wanted to; and after hearing that ragged plea, not a single cell of her wanted to. Those teeth left her flesh as Adora pulled her pants the rest of the way down and off, taking her underwear with them and leaving her fully bared before her in moments. When no touches followed, she blinked open her swimming eyes and looked down at her mate through a fog of need and passion. Her breath left in a broken rush of air as she saw Adora crouched near her ankles, drinking in the sight of her newly naked flesh with those darkened, hungry eyes. And then, Adora began to move.
Catra watched, claws digging helplessly into the grassy soil beneath her, almost frozen with awe and her ever quickening need as Adora crawled forward and then slowly, almost reverently, grasped her thighs, pulling them apart. She watched those already hungry eyes take on an even greater smoldering hunger as Adora settled onto her stomach on the grass between her legs. She reached up with one hand, parting her wet folds and Catra's head fell back, eyes rolling back into her head at the amazing pleasure coursing through her at that one, innocent touch. She realized only then that her mate had been controlling her emotions, because the hunger that roared through her then from her mate sent her screaming, even before she felt her hot tongue dart out, licking her in a long, firm stroke.
Catra was lost, helpless, in what was happening inside her. Pleasure, undiluted pure and blazing pleasure, was all she could feel. There was nothing then but the feel of Adora's tongue, her lips, and her fingers still parting her wet folds. It wasn't just her own pleasure she was feeling. She was suddenly feeling just how much Adora was loving giving it to her right alongside it and the possessive edge within her mate that loved she was the only one who could make her feel this way and how very much she wanted to savor every single drop of her passion. The sudden knowledge rocked her body and a huge and impossibly larger rush of tingling, coursing, surging pleasure consumed her. She was pulsing, writhing, bowing under those touches and her entire form seemed destined to explode.
And then, her mate focused her attention on the direct center point of all of that pleasurable sensation. She felt Adora kiss her there, devouring that flesh like she'd devoured her lips before. For a single, shining moment, every single part of her was a single pulse beneath that kiss, before everything she was was suddenly disintegrating into ecstasy unlike anything she'd ever felt before.
She knew she was screaming, fingers and toes clinging to the grass beneath her as her hips surged upward, rocking into every touch Adora was still giving her, but all of this she knew with only a fraction of her mind. The rest of her was pulsing, soaring higher than she'd ever dreamed on that surging tide of ecstasy Adora was pouring into her. Impossibly, that tide shot even higher and with a surge almost as powerful as the everything, she came entirely undone. Nothing existed outside that surge. Nothing but the touches of her mate she slowly felt drawing to a stop.
Her body was still tight in that long bowing pulse and, for a terrifying and ecstatic moment, she thought she'd never come back down from that soaring place inside her head. But then, from one moment to the next, she felt the rush begin to abate and all but collapsed back down onto the grass beneath her. Her entire form was limp and tingling and all she could do was lie there and gasp through that lingering rush as she felt Adora rising above her again.
"You are perfection." Adora gasped, and she felt her mate settled slightly above her, brushing a gentle kiss over her parted lips.
The devotion in those words and that action made her want desperately to respond, but it was still another long moment before she could try to blink open her eyes through that lingering haze of passion. Adora was looking at her like she was looking at the source of all the wonder in the universe and she was trembling, shaking, as she held herself only inches above her body. Catra didn't want those inches between them. She wanted every line of her mate's body against hers, so she reached up with trembling arms and drew Adora down into her. For a wonderful, brief moment, she embraced the weight of her mate above with all that she was, but then gently, Adora tumbled them over until it was she now looking down at her mate.
Again, the devotion in the action drove her to respond, but she found she still could not speak. Her mind seemed to have been reduced to fragments, but none of those fragments cared. As she leaned down to brush a kiss over Adora's softly smiling lips, she reached within her, beyond those fragments, to the shining wonder of their soul-bond.
All she was was suddenly drowning in gentle flames of pure devotion and Adora was feeling everything she was feeling with every part of her. Each time they took a new step forward in their lives together, it was always, always, perfect. There was never anything beyond what they already shared and yet somehow, somehow there was always more. She wanted to drown herself in everything that Adora was and knew Adora wanted to drown right along with her.
Suddenly, all of their tiredness was returning in a rush and there was no way to fight it. The sky was still glistening with stars above them, so they knew they have time to savor one last indulgence before the morning came. Catra draped herself across Adora's body, feeling every naked inch of the both of them pressed together in the most wonderful of ways. This was something they'd never gotten to do before and they savored it, just like they'd savored every moment of this wonderful experience they'd just shared. And then sleep came to wrap them up and Melog's magic lingering in the air let them know they were utterly safe. They drifted into that gentle darkness with one, last, wondering thought.
I love you.
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And there we go! Thank you so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed and I hope to see you along as we follow our soul-bonded lover on towards the future.
Until next time, love! Stay safe and read on! Ja!