Disclaimer: Jesus H. Christ. Do you honestly think I own all the wonderful things Tamora Pierce writes? Well, besides Neal. Neal is the exception. Hehehe...
Warning: It gets a little... er... smutty! Be warned!
Chappie dedicated to Min, Kate, Jude, and SheWhoPlaysWithFire, who dedicated her chapter to me. Luv ya'll!
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Lean on me
When you're not strong
And I'll be your friend
I'll help you carry on
For it won't be long
Till I'm gonna need
Somebody to lean on
Lean on Me - The Temptations
Underneath the Surface - Chapter 3 - Giving In
Cleon watched Kel with worry as they rode through the streets of upper Corus. She was yawning yet again. He was really beginning to think something was seriously wrong. Over the past couple of days, Kel had seemed uptight, almost jumpy. She had snapped at him over the tiniest things. Now, he understood perfectly that he was prodding a bit, but what were friends for? It was his job to prod, as Cleon of Kennan. He had a duty to find out everything he could about Kel's possible love life.
"Finally," Kel breathed. Cleon raised an eyebrow. "I'm finally home."
"Don't get too attached. We'll have to leave after the wedding," Cleon told her gently. He didn't want her to be even testier to him when they had to go back to the Scanran border, after all.
"I know," she replied somberly. "It's just so good to be back after almost a year." Suddenly, Kel swayed on her horse.
"Easy, there," Cleon told her as he reached over to steady her. Kel nodded her thanks and yawned.
Cleon glanced at her with sad eyes. It hurt him to think that she wasn't the same old Kel that he used to know. This Kel - she was someone different. Someone more mature; older and wiser. But she was tainted. She had seen what pain could be like. She had seen what men would do when pushed. She just wasn't the same.
Cleon decided that it was good for her to come back home after all this pain and war. The change would do her good. And he was sure seeing all their old friends would lift Kel's spirits some.
Somewhere in the distance, Cleon heard a shrilly scream come from one of the shops. His head snapped sharply towards the noise. What in the name of Mithros...?
"Cleon!" a voice called. Cleon looked into the crowd of jostled onlookers to see a familiar mop of brown hair racing towards him. A grin lit up his face as he jumped off his horse and into his lover's arms.
"Ermelian, my dove!" he exclaimed as he kissed her soundly, ears ringing. His wife responded warmly, sending a shiver up his spine. Kel simply stared on from atop of Hoshi, feeling a bit out of place.
When Cleon finally broke away, his cheeks had two distinct red spots of color spread across them. Ermelian was the same. They smiled to each other and whispered things that Kel could not hear from atop her horse. She was glad. She would probably be blushing like an idiot if she could have.
"Kel!" Cleon called to her. Kel held a hand up, lips tightened in a slight smile.
'Ah, how the gods love torturing me-'
"Kel, get off that horse of yours and come down here!" he called. Kel sighed.
'Joy.'
Fatigue reaching her, she stumbled as she dismounted Hoshi and led him and Cleon's horse over to where the two lovers were standing. She wondered if Cleon could feel her particular loathing towards him now.
Probably not.
"Kel, you've met Ermelian, right?" Ermelian nodded enthusiastically, while Kel just gave a curt jab of the head.
"It's a pleasure to see you again, Lady Ermelian," Kel said smoothly. The other brunette smiled at her.
"No need for formalities, Lady Kel. I feel like I know you, from all Cleon's told me about you."
Kel gritted her teeth. 'I bet he said a lot about me..."
Cleon, noticing Kel's agitation, stepped between the two. "All of it good, though, Kel," he said almost nervously. Kel glared at him.
Ermelian gave off a tense laugh. "Oh, come now. Of course it was all good." She looked between the two of them. Kel was looking at him angrily, while Cleon just seemed like he would like to be anywhere but here. The tension seemed to grow with every second.
'What in Tortall is going on?' Ermelian asked herself. 'She's acting like she - like she hates him. But I always thought they had a good relationship...'
Moments went by, and abruptly, Kel dropped her icy glare. "I'm sorry," she told Cleon softly. "I'm just a bit uptight." Cleon's eyes softened.
"Don't worry, love. I know." He put a hand on her shoulder and gave her a small smile. Unexpectedly, Kel leaned forward and onto his chest. Cleon moved to awkwardly put his arms around her. Ermelian's eyes darted between the two friends in a cross between shock and a suppressed possessiveness over her husband.
"Cleon," Kel breathed. "I'm tired." Cleon patted her on the back softly.
"I know," he replied. "Here, why don't we get you to the palace so you can get to bed? It's been a long ride."
Kel shook her head. "No," she replied wistfully. "No, I won't. I wouldn't want to miss seeing everyone." She shook her head firmly once more and looked resolutely at Cleon.
"But, love, I'm sure they'll understand-"
"No. No sleep. Besides, I'll dream..." Kel's voice trailed off to a whisper.
"Kel, are you sure you're all right?"
She smiled strangely at him and raised an eyebrow. "Cleon, you weren't this concerned about me when we were courting for Mithros Sake. Why the sudden worry?"
Cleon blanched and looked to Ermelian. She was regarding him with a rather calm look, strangely enough. 'The calm before the storm,' he said to himself nervously. 'I knew I should have told her before... Now she's going to bite my head off...'
"Er... Kel..." Suddenly, Cleon felt Kel leaning forward onto him. Cleon's eyes widened as he caught Kel before she sunk to the ground. "Kel?"
Kel had fainted.
'Well,' Cleon thought. 'This certainly gives new meaning to the phrase dead on your feet.'
* ~ * ~ * ~*
Kel walked through the vast field of wildflowers, a calm tranquillity spreading over her. It was peaceful here. No one to bother her, no wars to fight, no lives to save. It was perfect.
She yelped when she felt an arm grab her roughly from behind. Grabbing the culprit's hand, she flipped him over onto his back with a yell. So much for peace and tranquillity...
"Thanks so much, Kel," Neal said sarcastically as he lay on his back. Kel looked at him sheepishly.
"Sorry. I didn't know it was you."
"Well, who else would it be?" Neal asked, his sarcastic tone replaced with a happy grin.
"I don't know. Here, let me help you up." Kel reached out a hand for Neal to take. He did, and yanked her on top of him.
"Neal! Why did you do that?" Kel snapped at him.
He grinned devilishly and raised an eyebrow. "Thanks, but I think I like you better when I'm on top," he said as he rolled over so that he was straddling Kel.
Kel felt a steady heat edge over her cheeks. "Much better," Neal said as he bent over and ran light fingers over Kel's collarbone. Kel bit her lip.
"Kel, Kel, Kel," Neal muttered. "We do have a problem, now don't we?"
"Yeah?" Kel asked, he breath coming faster as Neal leaned down over on top of her chest. "What would that be?"
She saw him smirk. "You're not screaming my name yet."
With that, he seized her mouth for his own, caressing it lightly one moment, pressing bruising kisses onto it the next. Kel's breath was hot and moist as it mingled with his. Her hands moved up from her sides to his hair, entwining slender fingers through brown locks.
Neal steadily kissed down her chin and across her jawbone, moving down her neck slowly. He bit her gently, taking small nips at tender skin. Kel could feel herself throbbing. How was he so good at this?
He suckled her neck a bit longer, then moved down to collarbone. His hands reached the line where her shirt and pants met. Fingers danced across skin.
Kel shivered.
Neal paused in his kisses to edge her shirt up and over her head. He carelessly discarded it somewhere off to his left. It didn't matter where. He returned his attention to Kel. She was lying there, eyes closed, breath laborious. Her hands had fell to her side when Neal had removed her shirt. Neal grinned.
Slowly, he fingered her brestband.
"Oh, gods," he heard Kel whisper. Neal's grin grew.
"I never claimed to be a god, you know," he told her. Kel's eyes snapped open as she looked at him. How could he be so bloody calm?
"Shut up."
"You haven't screamed my name yet. I won't stop until you scream my name."
"Who said I wanted you to stop?"
Neal grinned. "Fine then. Be stubborn."
He flicked skillful fingers under her brestband and removed it.
"Well, well, well. Look what we have here." He raised an eyebrow in appreciation.
"Fuck you, Neal." She grabbed his head and pulled him up to her, giving him a bruising kiss. He pulled away and smirked.
"I'm working on it," he replied before returning his mouth to hers. They exchanged scorching blows, and somehow, Neal's shirt found it's way to the pile where Kel's was located. Kel ran fingers over his chest, wrapping her arms around his torso. She could feel him above her, pressing down on her.
"Neal," she murmured into his mouth.
Neal pulled away. Kel looked up at him in agitation. "Well, it wasn't a scream, but it was close enough I guess." He grinned.
* ~ * ~ * ~ *
"Gah!" Kel cried out in frustration as she bolted up from wherever she was laying at the time. "Why won't he get out of my head?" She kicked something off her feet. Covers, she realized. Someone had put her into bed somewhere.
'Cleon,' she mused. She faintly recalled fainting in his arms after telling his wife that they had been courting. She blushed. 'I suppose I shouldn't have done that.'
Someone cleared their throat from behind her. Kel whirled around. Someone was here?
"I hadn't realized you had taken to murmuring my name in your sleep, Lady Kel."
* ~ * ~ * ~ *
GAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!! I CAN'T BELIEVE I WROTE THAT!!!!! I MEAN, JUDE DOES CALL ME SMUT GIRL, BUT THIS!!!!!!!!!!! OMG!!!!!!! WOW!!!!!!! I MEAN, NOT WOW!!!!!!! I'M NOT SUPPOSED TO BE THIS CORRUPTED!!!!!! Well, you have to admit, it did sorta fit. And I like it. Heh... Sorry to leave you with a cliffie. But hey. It's fun. For those of you who haven't tried it before, you should. It makes you feel so evil. ^_^ Thank you to all my reviewers. I think I got 24 in one chapter. I'm not sure if that's even happened in Rebound... well, actually I think it did. Whatever. I don't care. I just wanna say that you're all sweet. Oh, I met TP and she inspired me to get going with this chapter. Heh... the only thing I was sad at was that she said that Kel and Neal would end up killing each other in a relationship. Oh well. Whatever. I'll fill the rest of you in online. Right now I have to go type the thank yous and I wanna post really soon, so... here they are. Oh, and btw, at the beginning of every chapter I'm putting in a song. Just for the hell of it. This chapters song is about Kel and Cleon's friendship. If ya didn't get that. Oh, and do you think I have to up the rating? I don't really wanna cuz it won't show up on the main page, but... whatever. Here's the thank yous:
Ti-Ti - See? I continued.
Kate - You updated! Everyone is updating today! Oh, and I have to talk to you about that follow up to PD. I probably won't end up seeing The Ring, just b/c the only horror movie I've ever liked was Interview With the Vampire, and that was cuz of Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt. ^_^
Flicker Fire Fly - I wonder if you knew that chapter 3 was up at the time. Huh. Well, whatever. Glad you liked it. I love that part too with the bantering.
Arimel - Gah. No. Besides, someone else I know is doing one. Plus, I don't wanna be scarred for life. Actually, when I think of it though, it could happen... if K/Raoul could happen, then hey! Anything's possible...
Sami - Torturing Kel is so much fun. She is in big trouble... *evil grin*
Caffeine addict - Ah... Dom smells. Heh... well, I don't know if he smells, you wouldn't get that unless you read Philosophical Disagreements... thank you for your review. Rox is a funny word...
The Pen Mage - Gaaah... it's such incredible fun... heh... we should all torture Kel. Oh, and cliff hangers are fun too. Fuuuuunnn... everyone's been telling me that Cleon is cool here. So... I guess he is. Heh...
Shivohnsongbreeze - You have no idea how many times I had to look back to ff.net to spell your name... the dreams are so much fun to write. Heh... they're all lusty and fun... sexy Neal...
Arctic Princess - Thanks! Oh, sorry for not getting back to you. I haven't been checking my email at all... *sheepish grin*
Queen of Fluff - Ooo..... a Cleon killing party... funfunfunfunfun... hehehe.
SiriDragon - Thanks for beta-ing the last chappie.
Chelle - gah. My teachers gave me soooo much homework over the weekend. It wasn't even funny. Gaahh... Kel's really having emotional turmoil now, isn't she?
Aura - Alas, my job as a writer calls to give you more. Well... are you happy?
Merry - Gah. I haven't checked my email in the longest time. Sorry. ICBW stands for It Could Be Worse, and it's really long, so leave some time to read the entire thing. Scratch that. No one could read it in one sitting. Its freaking 500 pages, and that's just season 1. That sad thing is I'm not exaggerating...
The Outre Dramatic - Oh, now you're ordering me about? Well then. *looks indignant* Humph. Heh... jk. Here you are.
Judie - Galoshes. I'm not trying to put myself down. I'm just being... er... humble. Yes, that's it. Humble. YOU UPDATED YOU NINNY!!!! Lol Sorry, but I'm making this short. Everyone else's is taking up so much space, and I can just talk to you anyway.
Sekhmet - sorry for not getting back to you yet. I have had a major email sabbatical. Sorta. Yeah. Thanks so much for your review. I hope you liked the new chappie.
MEE!!! - Heh... well, here it is. More. Yes... MOOHAHAH!!!!
Lady Marie - Thank you! I am updating! See? *points at new chapter*
Verilidaine - Well, everyone loves Neal. That's a given.
Jossie - How do you not have ANYTHING? I have to go to school for another 7 1/2 months! Why??? It's unfair!!! But try not to expect the chapters that often. I don't have that much free time. ^_^
Natalia - I hope you liked the new installment of the "screaming his name" saga, as I fondly call it. Heh... I have no idea which languages some of them were. Oh well. Im me or something.
Min - I finished! Yes! MWAHAHA!!! Heh... Min of Stone Mountain. I like the sound of it. See, Cami of Queenscove sounds better than Stacey of Queenscove, so I don't use that. But M and M, man. Well, if you think of it that way, Min Mathers would sound good too! Gah! I don't know...
Thanks everyone!
Much love,
Stacey