And Yet, Alone

The Club was still rather packed with people when they left. It wasn't that late after all, at least relatively speaking. Oberon had left Nisha's letter at the apartment before leaving, so he was now headed back there to pick it up. And since Ara and Eun lived right next door, the group found itself walking together down the road, street lamps illuminating the way as a fresh breeze blowed against them. Ara had ended up ahead of the others, apparently ruminating about something, while Oberon closed the line. Eun and Nisha were chatting, though about what exactly, the other two couldn't tell. Probably because they made a conscious effort to pay them as little attention as possible, for wildly different reasons.

Soon enough they reached their destination, where the quartet broke up. The twins disappeared inside their house while Nisha waited for Oberon to retrieve the letter. More than just a few minutes went by as the butler took the chance to change his clothes and get himself washed. Then they resumed walking, the butler following her, silence all around them.

... was that hypocritical of me? he wondered as his mind relived the events of that night.

In hindsight, he shouldn't have acted the way he did, he knew that. For starter, he shouldn't have accepted Eun's proposal since it involved Ara. And he also shouldn't have played along with her idea later since, again, they did that in front of Ara. Why did he even accept that? His gaze trailed off to Nisha, who was walking barely two steps ahead of him, humming softly, her odd overcoat fluttering gently in the wind, the answer too obvious to ignore.

Should I apologize to Ara? No, that would just make things worse. ... then again, pretending that nothing happened would be unbecoming for one of mistress Eve's servants.

"We have arrived" Nisha eventually spoke, her voice snapping him out of his thoughts.

The butler found himself gazing at a rather unremarkable house, a bit on the small side for that part of town. Rather than by the actual building, most of the field was occupied by the garden, which looked surprisingly untended to, though not quite abandoned either.

"Do come in" she invited him as she opened the front door.

"Thanks for having me"

The hallway he stepped into was rather empty, and the same went for all the rooms he could peek into from there as not a single door was closed. There was a bit of furniture, of good quality as well from what he could tell, but that was it. No ornaments, no paintings, no knick-knacks, no carpets, nothing. It kind of reminded him of his own apartment, which surprised him. Or, when he tried to think about it from a different angle, it looked like she had moved in recently and most of her belongings hadn't been delivered yet.

... she did say something similar once, maybe.

Then again, the lights were all off and it was night, so he didn't exactly have a good visibility of the other rooms either.

"Would you perhaps like to drink something?"

"I wouldn't mind, no"

"This way then"

Still humming, Nisha led him to what seemed to be a rather barebone kitchen. Oddly enough, it had no windows. He took a seat at the only table present, a fairly small yet tall one with several tiny flower vases placed on top, removed his helmet and watched as Nisha heated up some water while preparing two cups.

Both containing a flower, not a single trace of soil on their roots.

"... is this how tea is made where you're from?" he asked, his head tilted slightly to the side.

"I believe one could say so, yes" she replied as she poured water into both cups before sitting in front of him.

The table was tiny enough to make their legs cross each other underneath it as long as they kept them just a bit stretched out, but at that point he decided to just roll with it and didn't pull them back, nor aside. Neither did she, after all.

"I really don't mean to sound offensive, but this is just... odd" he commented as the flowers began to wither, dying the water of a deep orange as their stem shriveled and their petals fell on the water, dissolving into it.

He couldn't deny, however, that an alluring scent had started to fill the room.

"Do you like it?"

"... it's a nice view" he eventually replied, unsure of what was going on in front of him, the flowers having pretty much melted completely into the tea. Or whatever that beverage was.

She giggled.

"Would you like to see more?" she asked as she took off her feathered dress, placing it on the backrest of her seat.

"Are we talking about the flowers?"

"Only if you want us to"

In response, she closed her fingers around one of the blooms resting on the table and gently pulled it up, its roots sliding out of the soil with ease Oberon had a surprisingly hard time not thinking of as unnatural, though he quickly replaced that word with "staged" in his mind. She placed it on her palm then rested her other hand on top of it before beginning to softly close them, the flower quickly giving out beneath the soft pressure. Her palms then met, and the plant apparently disappeared. When she opened her hands, nothing but a fine powder of the same color of the petals was left, powder which she poured into both cups.

"... are you a conjuror?"

Impressed as he was, he couldn't help but try and come up with a rational explanation of what he had just seen, and that was the first reasonable enough thing that came to his mind. He remembered her talking in... odd ways about flowers before, too. Maybe that was part of the act? He could see that work entertaining an audience. Then again, nothing of the sort came up that time he had asked her about her job.

"I believe this is the first time I have been called one" she replied, his question having apparently amused her.

"That looked good"

"Oh, why thank you"

At which point he decided to try out the tea. The beverage itself wasn't all that hot, almost lukewarm actually, but it still caused a sudden warmth to build up within him, the almost overly sweet taste filling his mouth, followed by a much milder aftertaste. Nisha started drinking hers too, her eyes fixed on him.

"May I ask how long you are able to stay?"

Straight to the point.

"Until evening at most"

"And how long are you planning to stay?"

That caught him off guard. His eyes fell to his drink for a few seconds, and he decided to take another sip to buy himself just a bit more time to think.

"... until lunch, at least"

Nisha didn't reply, simply smiling instead. And then she yawned.

"Oh, my apologies"

"It's quite late after all" he commented as he instinctively looked around for a clock, though he couldn't find one.

"I would like to take a shower, if you do not mind"

"No, of course I don't"

"Perhaps we should go in together?"

Maybe he was getting used to her odd lines, as that question didn't surprise him all that much. No, that couldn't be it, the question just before that had come totally out of left field after all.

"I'm afraid I already took a quick one when we stopped at my place"

"I see. I shall not insist then. There is a bedroom upstairs, you can wait for me there. Oh, or anywhere else you wish to" she said as she got up and grabbed the feather dress "Please, do make yourself at home. I shall not take long"

"You don't have to hurry, really"

A few steps later, Oberon found himself alone. He sat there for a short while, his fingers tapping the flowers placed on the table.

They seem real.

His gaze then moved around a bit and, after a few moments of hesitation, he stood up and walked to the fridge.

"Almost empty" he commented as his eyes briefly scanned its scarce content: a bit of milk, an half emtpy jar of honey and, for some reason, sugar and biscuits.

He guessed that she was planning on going grocery shopping the next day. He closed the fridge and decided to not check out the few shelves present, going back into the hallway instead. He casted another glance at the other rooms present on that floor, but refrained from actually walking in. From what he could tell, there was hardly anything to see. Besides, actually snooping around would've been just rude. So he walked upstairs, and the sound of running water reached his ears. He stopped to listen to it for a while, then looked around. All the doors were closed, something rather surprising since the opposite was true on the first floor. He picked one pretty much randomly and opened it, turning the light on only to find an empty room. The bedroom ended up being behind the third door he tried, the second one leading to another unused area. Even the bedroom was almost empty, with nothing more than a tiny wardrobe, a small bed and a bedside table.

He suddenly felt anxious. He stepped inside, leaving the door open and sitting on the bed. There was a window, but the curtains were shut. He looked around once more, maybe to distract himself from the sound of running water, and realized that there was nothing personal in that room. Actually, the closest thing to a personality of any kind he had seen in that whole house were the flowers. They had to be exotic, he'd never seen anything like those before.

Is she planning on moving?

The thought crossed his mind unannounced, leaving an unpleasant wake in his mind. No, that was unlikely, very unlikely.

The sound then stopped. Nisha, however, didn't leave the bathroom immediatly. Which was natural, after all. A few more minutes went by, or at least he guessed they did. There wasn't anything to signal the passage of time there. Maybe it helped her relax? A footstep distracted him from that thought, and a second one made him focus on the open door. Shortly after, Nisha appeared from the hallway and entered, her appearance surprising him.

She was wearing a pajama. A simple model, white, unisex by the look of it, and massively oversized, the fabric almost mixing with her skin tone, making her hair appear even darker than usual. She stepped on the trousers as she walked, dragging the excess cloth along. The only way they could actually stay on was with a belt around her waist, but the top covered her so he couldn't be sure. As for the top half itself, it wasn't any better of a fit either: the neck was so large it left one of her shoulders bare, and the sleeves reached way past her hands, all the way to her knees. Those clothes would have been large even for Oberon. On her they looked almost comical. Though the overall result was rather... endearing, in its own way. He noticed the usual flower was missing from her hair, too. And that he couldn't see any bra strap on her exposed shoulder.

She must be wearing something really form-fitting under there. ... and maybe I shouldn't be thinking about that.

"I have another one for you, if you want" she said, apparently having mistaken his stare for something else.

"No, I'm fine like this, thanks"

He only then noticed that her hair was pretty much completely dry, which made him guess she had avoided really washing it. Well, he could see why, drying that up would have taken quite a bit of time. She then yawned.

"It's quite late" he commented.

He realized that he had left his helmet downstairs. He didn't feel like going back down to get it back though, so he avoided even mentioning it.

"Shall we get some sleep?" she asked as she got on top of the bed "Or perhaps you had something other in mind?"

Innocent as her voice was, pure as her smile looked, Oberon just couldn't bring himself to believe that her question had no... physical undertones, so to say. Not at that point.

"This" he asked as he took out her letter, curiosity winning over some other, less innocent drive "When do you want me to open it?"

"Tomorrow morning would be ideal, I believe"

"Tomorrow then"

... let's just sleep for now.

He placed it down on the bedside table and stopped for a few moments, pondering wether he should have taken off something before deciding to sleep fully clothed and, following her example, lying down. It wasn't that cold, so they remained on the sheets rather than hiding underneath them. The bed was small enough for his feet to be left hanging off the edge. She snuggled up to him, also because they couldn't quite both fit on there is she didn't, and rested her head on his chest, her toes reaching just around his ankles even as she stretched her limbs. Yeah, that bed was a bit small even for Nisha. He could smell a nice scent coming from her. Soap, he guessed.

"Aren't I too cold?"

"Not at all"

Oberon was... calm, much to his own surprise. He reached for the light switch and turned it off, casting the room into complete darkness. He placed an arm around Nisha, slowly, in case she told him to stop. But she didn't. Instead, she pushed herself even closer to him. Had her clothes not be so overly large, he'd have probably felt her heartbeat. He found himself rather annoyed. Her attire made it hard to actually feel her.

There's still tomorrow he reminded himself, though what tomorrow was for exactly, that he wasn't sure yet.

As he closed his eyes, he realized that it was his first time sleeping with someone else. It felt surprisingly nice, having someone so close while resting. He had thought of sharing the same bed with another person as something exciting, perhaps even arousing -which did make the concept itself of sleeping together seem somewhat odd to him-, yet now that he was experiencing it himself he found it soothing instead. Reassuring even.

So he relaxed, until sleep eventually overcame him.

Nisha had fallen asleep first, and as soon as she did she entered what she had come to think of as her little private garden, if only because she had never met anyone else there. Pond-shaped dreams lied scattered all around, stretching far beyond the horizon. It had taken her some practice, but now she was able to head there as soon as her body fell asleep, which she always did. She could avoid her own dreams that way, as those had been nothing but nightmares for a long, long time. Decades probably. Maybe she could have shaped them from within into something else, something pleasant, but she never dared to try.

She walked around aimlessly, entering none of the dreams she walked by, not even casting a single glance at them. She just wanted to... do nothing for a while. That last thing Ara had said, that question, had upset her. No, maybe what she was feeling was closer to anger. She wasn't sure. She didn't really care about that either, or at least that's what she told herself. She postponed the opening of that letter to the next morning though. She just didn't feel like it. In hindsight, however, she probably shouldn't have dismissed her that way. She didn't know yet if things would go well with Oberon. If they didn't she'd have only Eun to fall back on, and it was unlikely for that to end positively for her either if she didn't keep Ara at least neutral towards her. Actually, the more she got to know the fox, the more her hopes regarding her shrunk. She could give Nisha what she deserved, but not what she needed.

... no, that is merely a craving.

Worst case, she'd leave that town. She wouldn't go back to the Black Forest, she'd never go back there, not alone, not now that she'd managed to drag herself out. No, she'd just find somewhere else to stay at and start going through people's dreams once more. Eventually she would find someone promising again, and then she'd give it another try with them. She'd spent years doing just that, though that was her first time actually leaving the Forest. Interacting exclusively through dreams had proven fruitless, so she had decided to try a more direct approach, and eventually came across Oberon's dreams. Those caught her interest, just like those of others before. Maybe he was the kind of individual she was looking for. Then there were the twins too. She actually knew nothing of them, they'd been a surprise, and a pleasant one. They were interesting too, the fox in particular, and that had gotten her hopes up a bit. After all, she ended up finding three promising individuals all together while being after just one. But Ara had already rejected her, and Eun likely had eyes only for her twin, at least in the sense Nisha was interested in.

She knew she shouldn't have rushed things, and in hindsight she could have handled her meetings with Ara much better than she ultimately ended up doing. But she was getting tired. A part of her believed that her mistakes were simply due to inexperience. But maybe she just wasn't handling her loneliness as well as she thought, which led to errors.

Loneliness? Was she lonely? She wanted to think of it as something else, though what exactly, she didn't know. Whatever that feeling was, however, it couldn't be loneliness, for being lonely would have been the same as thinking that her and Laby were truly apart.

Her hand closed around her pendant, the mirror hosted in it black and unreflective, the dream held within sealed shut from the inside, nothing leaking from it, not even sadness.

She kept wandering without a destination, for hours, Ara's last words eventually leaving her mind. Yes, her mood was improving. She started gazing into some dreams, and at some point she even considered entering one, at least until something shook her body. Her physical body. That probably meant it was time to wake up. She spent just a little while longer walking around aimlessly before going back to the waking world.

Her eyes opened slowly. She got up on the bed as a yawn left her mouth. Oberon wasn't in the room anymore, but the light was on. Considering how they'd been sleeping, what she felt must have been him slowly pushing her aside. She moved the curtains a bit, just barely enough to see that the sun had risen already. Her gaze then moved to the door. Should she wait there? She looked around, and noticed that he had taken the letter with him as it was no longer on the bedtable. So she stood up and headed downstairs. Walking in that outfit was somewhat awkward, but she was confident in her ability to not slip and fall. As she had expected, the light in the kitchen was on too, and inside was Oberon, his back to the door as he tried to get something resembling a breakfast ready with what little was aviable there.

She appreciated the thought, but at the same time the fact that she did was as far from pleasant as it could be.

Perhaps I should enjoy such things? Or must I not?

"Good morning" she greeted.

"Good morning" he replied as he turned around and placed a few things on the table.

Which is to say, what little stuff she had in the fridge. She hardly ever ate there, so she never felt the need to go and actually fill it up. Though, now that they were orderly put in display all at once, she realized that they actually made for a rather good breakfast, if maybe a bit plain.

His helmet was there too.

"You really should not have"

"... professional deformation" he said after what she saw as a brief moment of introspection.

She giggled, maybe more out of habit than for actual amusement, as she took her seat, the butler sitting right in front of her, and she crossed her legs with his.

Was she going too fast? No, she doubted that to be the case. Some of the people she had approached in her search had been turned away by her hastiness, so she had made sure to take things more slowly. Well, not with Eun, but the fox seemed plenty proactive herself after all. She was sure she could push Oberon all the way on that morning. And the way he'd react to the letter would determine if he, too, would end up disappointing her. Were that to be the case, she'd simply disappear from his life.

Were you here, would you scold me for acting like this?

As she drank the milk she realized that there wasn't really much sugar in it, so she dropped several spoon's worth of it into her glass, then poured some honey inside as well and started mixing, laughing ever so softly at Oberon's slightly surprised look.

"Would you like to have a taste?"

"I'm afraid that's far too sweet for my palate"

"Is that so?"

The biscuits, on their part, didn't taste like anything, at least to her. She couldn't even remember where she had gotten those from.

Breakfast went by rather quickly, and Oberon then began to move cups and everything to the sink and washing them. Considering what he had said just a few minutes earlier, that was probably an habit he had taken on at work, since most people wouldn't go that far while being guests in someone else's house. Probably. Regardless, Nisha walked around the table and leaned against it while facing the butler, who then turned around.

"Shall you open it, then?"

Hesitation? He remained silent. How long went by? Merely a few seconds, probably. She was slightly nervous. He liked her, of that she was certain. How much, or even just how, she couldn't say for sure yet but, if everything went as it should have, she'd soon find out. She had gazed in his dreams for quite some time, and she knew there was a side of him she could use. What she wasn't entirely sure of yet was if he would act on it. She had led him along that way for some time, and now she had even brought him to a place where he would, or at least should, have felt more at ease doing such things.

I believe I should thank Luciela again. Perhaps. she thought, her mind briefly going back to the actual owner of that house.

"... alright"

Oberon took the letter and opened it, pulling out a small sheet of paper. She had written nothing more than a few words on it. A simple question.

"How much longer do I have to wait?"

She smiled. What kind of smile she made, she wasn't entirely sure, but his face told her it was the right one. Nisha was about to tell him that there was still something else in the envelope when the butler reached for it himself.

A pair of panties. Simple as that.

"... right"

"I believe we have reached a point at which you are able to accept them, I think"

He seemed to get lost in his own thoughts for a brief moment.

"Refusing them at this point would be rude, wouldn't it?"

She laughed, softly, so softly he almost didn't even hear her.

"I must say, not having them on me was a more thrilling experience than I had expected"

Their eyes met.

"You didn't put any on?"

"Would you like to see for yourself?"

With the not yet empty envelope still in hand, Oberon took a step forward. Nisha felt her heart beat faster. Soon. Very soon. They were almost there.

"Shall I?"

His voice was almost calm, but she could sense excitement deep inside of it. Still leaning against the table, Nisha moved her arms a bit to the side, to give him easier access to her sides.

"Please, feel free to"

His fingers lingered at the hem of her pajama for a second, maybe two, before finally sliding underneath it. They reached for her waist, found a simple belt and unbuckled it, letting it fall to the floor with a weak thud. With nothing to hold them up any longer, her trousers followed immediatly, leaving her legs bare, if only from the knees down, her massively oversized top covering them. His palm then fell on her hip and slowly moved down, caressing her skin, the coldness of his touch dampened by his gloves but not to the point of not sending a shiver up her spine. No, maybe that wasn't actually from his temperature. Was she more excited than she had expected? It was a possibility, she saw no point in denying it. His hand moved up and down a couple of times, confirming that she wasn't wearing panties.

She looked up, and their gazes met. At the same time he leaned down and, to reach him, she got on her tiptoes. Her eyes closed at the same moment their lips touched. Cold as he might have been, there was warmth in his touch, a longing, a craving even.

Deep down, Nisha felt disgusted. Not by him, no. By herself. She was enjoying it, greatly even, and the fact that she could find pleasure -of any kind- from the presence -let alone the touch- of anyone other than Laby was nauseating. At the same time, that kind of contact, of intimacy, was the only thing that could make her forget her solitude, her regrets, if only for a short while.

And so she welcomed his tongue past her lips, entwining her own with his, their saliva mixing together in her mouth. His hand then moved from her hip to her inner thigh, and from there it crawled upward, his fingers sliding along her skin, all the way to her entrance, her wetness dampening his gloves. She felt him begin to caress her, a fainth warmth beginning to accumulate as weak pleasure spread through her crotch. With her hands still on the table, she pushed her hips against him, further stimulating herself. As she did so, she felt his tongue grow more aggressive.

She indulged in him for a bit longer before breaking their kiss, a single trail of sticky fluid still connecting their lips.

"There is still something inside there"

Her eyes never moved away from his, but her fingers had reached for the envelope Oberon was still holding in his other hand.

He didn't answer. He was nervous, she could tell from the fact that he was hesitating, from how his gaze wavered, from the way his fingers were shaking, if ever so slightly. He already knew what was left inside there, or he at least had a good idea about it, that's what she believed. She really doubted he'd have left it at his apartment rather than bringing it to the Club otherwise.

"... right"

He took a step back and reached for the last time into the envelope, which fell to the floor as he pulled out a single item.

A knife.

No, a dagger.

It was a small one, but the blade seemed sharp.

The silence that followed almost deafened Nisha, but she beared it. She couldn't be the first one to speak. He had to understand what was going on first.

"... what is this for?"

More hesitation. Why? No, calm. Stay calm. Keep your composure. Yes, she had to remain calm. Lashing out at that point would have ruined everything. She walked around the table, leaving the trousers of her pajama behind, and reached the wall opposite from Oberon, standing just a single step away from it.

"I believe" Nisha said as she showed him both palms before overlapping them "That you already know the answer"

She followed his gaze, all the way to her own hands. He was standing still, silent, observing her, his fingers tightly closed around the knife.

"I am here" she said "But I you insist on remaining there, I am afraid I will have to leave. For good"

She kept herself from shaking. It was at that point that most of her previous attempts had failed. Be it inside a dream or in reality, people were quite opposed to hurting one another, especially as badly as Nisha needed. The fact that she tried to establish a deep enough connection before getting to that made things even harder, and the fact that she had only done so through dreams up until her current attempt might, in retrospective, have been a wrong choice most of the time. Stabbing a stranger was difficult enough already, stabbing what was essentially a lover -or more- was something almost all the people she had previously tried with simply refused to do. And the few who were willing to go that far all turned out to not really care about Nisha, or to have accepted only to try and talk her out of getting herself that badly injured.

Will you disappoint me too?

His gaze moved up, and their eyes met once more.

He took a step forward, and her heart pulsed.

A second step, and another pulse.

A third.

Until he reached her.

"What do you want me to do?"

"Anything you want"

She knew what he wanted, after all.

"Are you really fine with this?"

"I consent to everything. I am ready to repeat it as many times as is needed"

His hand moved. Slowly, so slowly it was excruciating, yet at the same time his having finally started to act had her excited beyond her own expectations. The tip of the blade reached the top of her pajama, and then began to slide down, slicing it cleanly in two, revealing the lace corset she was wearing underneath.

Almost there. We are almost there.

With her hands still together, she brought them over the knife.

"You know where this can go, do you not?"

A second went by. Just a second, but Nisha felt like she and Oberon had been staring at each other for hours. Then, at last, the blade turned, its flat side now against her palm. He moved it, pushing her hands up above her head, and then against the wall behind her. Oberon changed his grip on the knife as he turned it around, its tip placed against her skin.

Then, at last, a single motion pushed the blade through her palms, piercing them both before reaching the wall, getting stuck there, nailing her hands together and in place.

At last!

At last!

Blood poured down from the wounds and along her wrists, a few drops falling on her hair. Expected as it was, the sudden pain still caused Nisha's smile to twist into a grimace for a moment.

Ara was right, she didn't like pain. Not one bit. She hated it. The blade hurt, it really hurt, it was painful, her body was telling her to stop, begging her to, her palms were pulsating, her flesh felt like it was on fire, it was horrible.

But that was exactly the point.

She felt guilty for what happened back at the Black Forest. She had failed Laby, and then she even betrayed her, causing the two of them to fall apart. Her loneliness had eventually grown too heavy, but even then, simply trying to alleviate it felt wrong. Did she really have any right to? After all, she had brought it forth herself and, most importantly, she had casted that onto Laby too.

Thus the pain. She deserved it, for her shortcomings, for her mistakes, and even for the very act of seeking comfort from others. The suffering of her body alleviated the suffering of her mind. That's what she kept repeating to herself.

"Yes" she said, their gazes still locked, her breath heavy "Just like that"

She noticed he wasn't bliking. Did he think that was just another daydream she was showing him? It didn't matter. She would tell him something once they were done. Everything? No, he didn't need to know everything. Just what she considered necessary to keep him close to her. But that was for later.

"Indulge yourself"

For me.

He bent down and pushed his lips against hers again, but this time there was more passion in his touch, less gentleness, more craving. She could feel her hands pulsating, but the pain wasn't distracting her. No, it filled her mind, but at the same time it liberated her, it allowed her to let go, to just enjoy another person's company, the intimacy, the lust, the sadism even and, most important, their desire for her.

Their kiss was brief, his mouth parting from hers to move downward, leaving a cold trail on her skin as his tongue ran over it, following her collarbone. His fingers reached for her breasts, left bare by her lacy corset, and his hands closed over them, his palms rubbing against her hard nipples as they roughly, almost violently massaged her chest, a tingling sensation spreading through her, her limbs quivering slightly. She felt his tongue running back up, his teeth briefly sinking into her skin at the base of her neck, then his mouth reached hers again. She saw him stop for a moment, close enough to feel her ragged breath on his face, before sealing her lips again.

She heard a very faint rustling sound from beneath, and moments later a cold hand, no longer hidden underneath a glove, slided beneath her corset and started to tear if open, the ruined garment quickly falling to the floor, leaving nothing but her sliced, oversized top to cover her.

A jolt ran through her as his hands moved down and firmly closed around her rear, pulling her up to deepen their kiss, fluids dripping down their joined lips, her mind constantly going back and forth between him and the blade stuck in her hands, the pain refusing to abate, torturing her flesh, soothing her mind.

Once again, he pulled his lips back, allowing her to breath in deeply as he ran his tongue down, grazing her pendant, tracing a line all the way to her navel as he got on his knees in front of her. She felt his hands move over her body, one going up and down along her leg while the other went behind her back, pushing her forward, forcing her belly button against his mouth as he began to lick her.

A warm, intense, almost violent, tingling feeling began to spread from her navel as her privates started to throb, wetness running down her thighs as her body squirmed, causing the blade to dig into her flesh, sending sharp pain through her body, clashing against her arousal while at the same time leading it along, making her feel at ease. Her breaths grew heavier and ragged as her hips started to shake, his tongue digging into her navel, each of his strokes making her grow hotter, sweat starting to cover her skin. Then his other hand moved from her leg to her entrance, his fingers sliding inside her with a single motion, causing her legs to twitch, pleasure spreading through her body like a wave as he scraped her insides, every motion of his hand bringing her more delight while his tongue kept assaulting her belly, increasing her arousal, every spasm of her arms drawing more pain from the wound in her hands, blood pouring on her hair.

His thumb began to play with her clit as his mouth pushed her against the wall, his hand leaving her back to move over her breast, fondling her flat chest, pinching her nipples with enough strength to send jolts of pain through her together with the pleasure, until her muscles began to grow stiff, her body tensing up as the pleasure reached the tipping point. Her breathing stopped for a brief moment as her orgasm shook her, her hips quivering against him as her legs gave out for a few seconds, nothing but the blade and his hands to support her, his fingers still running against her sensitive spots, prolonging the ecstasy, until the pleasure started to abate, only to come right back, almost immediatly, another tide spreading through her, her fingers closing on her own hands and the knife as much as they could, her breath loud and broken, her mind focused on nothing but her own body and on his touch.

Once the shaking in her legs stopped, Oberon pulled away, getting back on his feet, resting his forehead against her, one hand on her sweaty, unsteady hip, the other on the grip of the knife.

"I am... glad... " she guided him, smiling, red stains adorning her otherwise black hair.

His mouth opened, but he said nothing. That worried her, if only a bit. But she doubted that to be hesitation. No, his eyes told her something different. Was that doubt?

"... is there something wrong?"

She felt his grip on her side tighten.

"Are you alright?"

She laughed, softly, oh so softly.

"Do not worry, please. I can handle more than this. I can handle much more than this"

She felt the blade turning around slightly, pouring more blood from the wound, the pain cracking her expression, her lips barely keeping themselves twisted into a smile. His hands then left her as he pushed his face against hers, snuggling for a few moments before closing his mouth over her ear, biting down not too softly, his tongue occasionally running over her lobe, a mixture of warmth and cold spreading through her as a certain sound reached her eardrums and, shortly after, she saw him placing his member against her. Her hips quivered in anticipation, but the trembling in his touch told her he was just as eager as her, if not even more.

A part of her didn't care one bit about that though.

She rubbed herself against him, a silent, almost obscene invitation which he accepted immediatly, placing himself on her entrance and penetrating her with a single, slow but uninterrupted motion. Wet as she might have been, Nisha had a petite build and Oberon was taller than average, which led to an initial, if only slight, discomfort as she felt her inner walls being pushed aside, her insides getting filled as his hips touched hers, his whole length entering her, dragging a broken breath out of her lips.

With her ear still in his mouth, she felt the knife twisting around again, the detestable, liberating pain increasing, the wounds pulsating, her blood still flowing from her hands, a burning feeling filling them. At the same time she felt herself getting lifted up a bit to accomodate for their height difference as he began to move back, almost pulling out entirely before going back in, gently, tenderly, sending a loving wave of pleasure through her, the warmth spreading through her lower half completely different from the one in her palms, the two feelings clashing against each other.

His lips left her ear and she found him staring at her, their eyes meeting once more. His breathing was more composed than hers, yet at the same time he was louder, his voice occasionally leaving his mouth while Nisha had never let out a single cry, scream, moan nor gasp, the only sounds coming from her being that of her breathing.

She got pulled in, the gesture somewhat resembling an embrace, as she felt him move back and forth inside of her, their hips meeting almost rhythmically, every motion sending pleasure through her, his hand leaving the grip of the knife to move over her breasts, grabbing her chest, a nice tingle spreading within her while his cold skin kept sending shivers along her spine as it slowly warmed up, sapping heat from her. Nisha got on her tiptoes, reaching as far as she could for his mouth, and he meeted her, their lips closing on each other again, warmth leaving her mouth as they kissed.

She eventually felt him begin to throb, his hips stopping as he rested inside of her, his member pulsating, her insides pushing with even greater strength than before against him as his cold seed entered her, sending a chill much deeper than earlier within her, his weak panting filling her ears as their tongues kept embracing each other. Just a few moments went by before she felt him move again, maybe because he knew she hadn't gotten to her climax yet. But she was close already, her limbs quickly tensing up, her muscles growing stiff as her inner walls clamped down on him, making the stimulation even more intense, her breathing stopping as another orgasm resonated within her, pleasure somehow -and regrettably- overriding the pain if only for a second, ecstasy filling her mind for but a few moments, the pulsing, burning feeling in her hands quickly entering her thoughts again, arguably delighting her even more than the pleasure, albeith in a completely different way, directly opposite even.

Oberon stopped, and Nisha found herself resting against him, their bodies still joined, his hands still holding her, their lips apart just enough to let them speak. But neither of them did, no. They simply remained there, feeling each other's ragged breaths, their sweat mixing together, Nisha's abnormally sweet scent filling the room.

Maybe a minute went by, maybe half an hour.

"Did you really like that?"

Why is he still conflicted? ... oh, am I smiling? I should be smiling.

She didn't know if her lips were already curled into a smile or not, but she made sure they were as she replied, her eyes briefly resting on his cheeks as she wondered how red hers were.

"Why would you doubt that?" she asked, her voice as innocent yet as seductive as she could make it sound.

"... you were quiet the whole time, aside from that... short exchange"

Oh.

That surprised her.

"I am quite silent, yes. I have been told that on more than one occasion, if I might add" she replied with a soft giggle.

The pain was making it harder than she'd have expected to keep herself smiling. Or maybe she was just tired?

"You don't like being heard?"

I wonder, is it really such an unusual trait?

"I truly have nothing against moaning. Nor screaming" she added, his expression growing heavier as her words echoed in his mind "If you want to hear me, then please, go ahead and try. I would very much appreciate it"

A brief silence, then another jolt of pain ran through her arms as the blade suddenly got pulled back, her hands falling down. She felt his grip on her shoulders as he stepped back, dragging her along and almost slamming her on the small table, pushing the flowers and even his helmet off, her legs too short to reach the floor, her feet waving in the air. She heard a tearing sound as the blade sliced the back of her pajama, leaving the two halves of the garment hanging from her elbows.

A shiver, unpleasant yet welcomed, ran through her as the tip of the knife ran over her back, leaving a red trail accompanied by a stinging pain in its wake, until the blade found its way back to her hand, filling the hole it had previously left there, nailing it to the table. She felt his fingers grasping her other hand, his palm pushing down on hers, right on the wound, hurting her, soothing her, his fingers sliding around her thigh and to her entrance as she felt his length entering her again, his body leaning over her. A ragged breath left her mouth, but only that.

He moved slowly, even more than before, to last longer she guessed and, while her three previous orgasms had gotten her much more sensitive than she usually was, that by itself would have probably left her a bit frustrated, the pleasure too shallow to satisfy her, something also caused, if only partially, by her own arousal. However, Oberon's other hand had closed over her privates, his fingers roughly caressing her entrance while aggressively teasing her clit, each touch causing her to tremble, her fingers trying to grasp his, his hand moving down to hold hers, his grip painfully firm around her wounded palm, her breath growing heavier and heavier, his mouth closing on her neck and sucking on her skin, leaving dark marks behind.

His thumb then poked her wound directly, her smile disappearing for a few moments as the pain ran through her, abating the pleasure. She eventually felt his pace speeding up, her insides clamping down on him for her own pleasure, each thrust sending more warmth through her, until he stopped. Just as she felt him release his seed inside of her for the second time, his fingers grabbed her clit, pinching it, sending a liberating mixture of pain and pleasure into her mind, her body tensing up as another climax filled her every muscle.

Then it all stopped. Oberon let himself fall on her, his weight pushing her down on the table, his heavy breath hitting her ears, one arm around her waist while the other still held her palm.

"That was... truly... most enjoyable" she whispered.

"... you still kept quiet"

"Did I?" she asked back with a soft, weary laugh.

"It... makes it hard to understand if I'm doing it right"

She giggled again.

"Do rest assured, I had nothing to complain about, really. But, if you truly wish to hear me" she added "There will be plenty of other occasions. Please, do feel free to try as many times as you wish"

"... I might just... take you up on that offer"

"Shall I make some tea?"

"... would you mind staying like this for a bit longer?"

"Oh no, of course I would not"

He briefly let go of her palm, for just a second, the time she needed to turn it around, and they held each other's hand.

They remained there, together.

It just took nearly 30 chapters but I finally got to write a full sex scene with Nisha, which technically was the reason why I started this whole fic in the first place to be honest. I just had to have a couple of blades lodged into her I guess...

Anyway, thank you for reading and hope you enjoyed.