Sorry folks – yesterday's update needed a quick edit that it didn't get, and there are some embarrassing errors. Also, forgot to thank T. Pierce and note that the characters aren't mine. But also, I've aged Daine up a bit. If she was 16 when she met Numair and he was 26... and it's been 4 years... then it is slightly less abhorrent than the 16/30 student/teacher thing.
Daine needed to collapse; she held herself up just long enough to avoid crushing Numair's face with her weight. She rolled herself next to him, curled around his head, and panted, desperately trying to catch her breath. Numair's chest was also heaving: together they lay, still and quiet, reveling in the afterglow and soaking in the joy of being together in total, uninhibited abandon. In time, Daine felt Numair shift, reaching for his shirt off the floor and using it to clean himself. She looked up. "I didn't realize… Did you… orgasm just now?"
Numair looked a little embarrassed. "Mmmhmmm."
"I didn't know that men could, that you could spontaneously – without being touched, I mean…" she broke off, unsure of how best to finish her sentence.
"It's rare," Numair admitted, kissing her. "It hasn't happened to me since I was a much younger man, and even then, not very often. But with enough stimulation and excitement – yes, it can be possible. Most men are ashamed when it happens, because it displays a lack of control over one's own body, and usually means that some further activities have to be postponed for a spell, but in this case I hope you see it as further evidence of my desire for you." He looked at her hopefully.
"Well I think it's wondrous," Daine declared, and Numair laughed.
"Truly, that is all that matters."
"Sarcasm?" She asked, unsure from his tone.
"Absolutely not," Numair responded. "Making you happy, satisfying you, pleasing you – that is my life's work, now."
"How about we make it our life's work to please both ourselves and each other?" Daine asked, only half joking even as she laughed. "You don't need to be singlehandedly responsible for my happiness."
Numair looked at her through admiring eyes. "Magelet. You are still and always the wisest person I have ever met."
"Coming from the smartest man I know, that's high praise," she answered, pleased.
"I may be smart – intelligent, even. But you are wise. You never fail to amaze me." Numair kissed her again.
"And I hope I never will," Daine said, kissing him back.
They dozed like that, naked, warm, satisfyingly spent after their morning's exertions. Hunger roused them an hour or so later, and the realization that despite the honeymoon-like feel of the day, work and responsibilities beckoned.
"Breakfast," Numair murmured as he began to get up. "We need breakfast. And then I have a meeting with Jon in the midmorning."
"And I should go to the stable and check in at the mews. Some of the King's Own are in residence, and I want to look over everyone before they get called away again." She stood up, stretching and twisting her back to relieve some of the stiffness that had set in while they slept. Looking over, she discovered Numair watching her with a hungry expression that she was beginning to recognize already. She grinned. "Master Salmalin? I believe you said something about breakfast?"
"Or we could lock all the doors, stay in this room, and I could devour you," Numair's voice was husky, and he was almost purring as his eyes drank in the sight of Daine's naked curves.
She stepped toward him and he reached out, trailing his hands over her arms and shoulders. The sensation was gentle, his skin barely brushing against her own and yet she felt each touch like pinpricks of electricity. She sighed softly. Daine had nearly convinced herself to forget the responsibilities of the day and give into Numair's vision for the day when her stomach growled. She pulled away with a rueful look. "I know for a fact there's no food in these rooms. And as much as sending a maid to the kitchens to serve us some breakfast in bed sounds tempting, I think we'd better get up."
Numair kissed her gently. "You're probably right. Join me for a shower before we officially start the day?"
"A shower?" She asked, incredulous. "We've never done that before."
"I didn't think my self-control would stretch that far. But now," he picked her up, her arms and legs immediately wrapping around him as he carried her to the bathroom, "Since you've insisted I let some of that control go, I think we can try all sorts of new things." He set her down in the bathtub and turned the water on before stepping in behind her.
Numair's shower had always seemed unique to Daine – it had two shower heads, one on each side of the tub. She had never really thought about the reasons for that luxury, but when the shower started she suddenly realized that this was the exact scenario Numair had planned for when he designed his shower.
"I know I've said it already today, but you are the smartest man I know." When Numair looked at her questioningly, she gestured to the dual streams of water. "We don't have to take turns being under the water." She leaned back, resting against Numair's chest as the water sluiced over her. Numair soaped up his hands and very gently moved them over her body, cleaning away the sweat and residue left from their earlier activities. Daine made a sound that was half contented moan, half revelatory exclamation.
"Penny for your thoughts?" Numair murmured, lips pressed against her damp hair.
"This feels different." Daine frowned, trying to get her mind around what she was realizing. "Different than when you're touching me for sex. And I can't figure out why, exactly. We're both naked. Your hands are on me. It feels so good. But it doesn't feel like the point is sex. I'm trying understand what's different." Numair wrapped his arms around her, laughing quietly. "What's funny?"
"Nothing is funny, Magelet. I'm just... Goddess I'm so fortunate. And overcome with not a small amount of nostalgia." He could almost feel cocked eyebrow , even though she was facing away from him. "I'm reminded of you seeing your first ocean. You were 16, and everything was so new and fascinating to you – but the ocean. I just remember watching your face while you took it in. Awe, curiousity, excitement, and determination. You wanted to learn and understand and experience it. And I wanted to help you do those things. I never would have been able to guess that four years later, I'd have the opportunity to watch you grow into another new experience with the same sense of wonder and curiousity."
"Watch? Daine asked, humour evident in her voice.
"Participate." Numair said, firmly. "Enthusiastically and rigorously."
Daine turned in his arms and leaned her forehead against his chest. "When I saw the ocean for the first time, you were a better teacher."
"What?!" Numair looked mock-offended.
Daine laughed. "You didn't answer my question."
"Some things the student has to discover for herself."
"I'm looking forward to it."