The Fade

by Nysidra

Occult Fantasy (MF, wraith, netherworld, magic)

Summary: Anisha crosses world in search of a better life. 

<->

I live near an area called 'the fade.' It began as a few pockets of strange phenomena, but grew. It's like walking under the shadow of a cloud, but this cloud causes everything to look covered in an orange-magenta haze. 

First came the panic, then military attacks, scientific laboratories, and attempts at containment. these were not solutions. The fade continued to grow, and when it became large enough, more than the color of the atmosphere changed. Dandelions had thorns. Fig trees bore thin-skinned fruit. Squirrels lost their fur in exchange for thick, wrinkled skin. 

The fade expanded, and people who were not native to our world appeared. 

You could tell what belonged to the other world and what didn't. They could not cross into our world; we could not cross into theirs, but the fade ate and transformed both our native species. It consumed the land from both worlds. 

What caused our two universes to collide? The warfront became these growing patches of sunset colored atmosphere. Each culture claimed the land as their own and fought to maintain it. 

Most of my information about the fade is one-sided. My side. It couldn't be that bad. They were people just like us. They had lives and aspirations just like us. 

Hopefully, a little different, a little better. I could not stay here much longer. 

I crossed in the shadow of a battalion. Instead of a place of inter-planar cooperation, the fade near my home was a constant battle ground, and a massive one. They entered covered head to toe in gear, masks, gloves, weapons held high. A cloud of dust rolled in their wake, and I traveled through it, my hood pulled close, thick boots landing as soft as cat's paws. 

Maroon dusk gave way to the normal shadow of night. In the distance, clattering, battle calls, cries. 

Was it possible to cross over, or was it a myth told to keep people like me from discovering a better life? I kept to the edge of the battle, rounding it, further away from home, closer to my destination. 

***

The scout refused to assign the creature a gender, not without a clear scent, and it did not make that easy. Covered in leather, cowls, gloves. It had to be uncomfortable, smothered like that. 

He had theories. A strong male would not hide. He had seen them. Bold and arrogant, traveling in packs, carrying lethal weapons brandished for all to see. 

This one carried no weapons, never joined with the pack, not even after they turned tail, dragging their injured back home. 

***

One thing that had not been a lie: the fade was large. When I was a little girl, I once rode by bike around it. Some of the older kids would place drunken dares to run through it. It grew so fast is so many different places that infrastructures were ruined. 

Time and advancement slipped backwards. The water was fine here, plants, edible. If I could find a place to live, I would never return. 

Most of the day and part of the night I journeyed until I found a large boulder. Two of them fashioned in a way that could provide shelter while I slept.  

***

The scout tracked the foreign traveler to its resting place. Huddled under a cluster of rocks. He closed his eyes and sent a message to the others. 

He got right on the creature without making a sound and had the feet bound before it woke. 

A scream, shrill and fearful, echoed off the small enclosure. It tried to gets to its feet, but fell, rolled. No weapons. The scout took the creatures arms and bound them, slung the body over his shoulder.

***

Exhaustion. Thirst. Pain. I'd fought the whole way, fear and panic more than anything else. 

My neck ached as I lifted my head. I expected a cell, even a dungeon. Benches, lamps, tables, a floor rug? I looked down at myself. I'd been stripped of all but my leggings and the undershirt. 

A large black door swung open. A massive hulk of a man stepped through. He looked down at me with a glare of annoyance. I expected mirth, violence, or outright derision, but he made me feel like gunk on the heel of his boot as he paced the floor of the great room. 

He said something that sounded like a question. Another word, almost familiar. 

"I can't understand you." 

He pinched the bridge of his nose, then faced her head on. The long cloak rippled around his feet like a pool of turbulent water. "I can hardly let you go, but I am loathe to kill you.  Why are you in my land? What stupidity led you here? Who are you spying for? Speak!"

I jumped, tugging on the ropes around my wrists, sending my pain to my neck and back. "I ran away." 

"Why?" 

"I wanted to see if I could change my situation." No sense in lying. I would probably face torture otherwise. Horrific stories about the fade were standard in the evening news. Times were dire, and our way of life was coming to an end. 

My life didn't seem to be at an end just yet. My judge had an intimidating stance, but he was not a drooling, deranged monster. 

He stepped closer, looked me over, put his finger under my chin. "Change from?" 

"I worked in a shelter house, took in people who lost their homes to the fade. I cleaned rooms, delivered meals. My employer didn't care much for the safety of his staff, and neither did many of the residents. The more rooms we filled, the more assistance we got, so ... I was expected to see to the comfort of the residents." 

"You ran away, here? Seeking shelter at the border with no currency or weapons. Is this the change you sought?" 

I looked around the room, within a house. "Yes." 

He arched a single thick, black eyebrow and untied my arms. 

I sank to the floor and massaged my sore joints. The ropes were a cruel overreaction. Tired from my journey and without a proper meal in days, I was in no condition to escape. 

Even with my current situation, I believed crossing into the fade, or the border as he called it, was my best course of action. 

Now what? 

"Better?" He sat on the floor in front of me and unfastened the shackles around my feet. 

"Thank you." One hand rubbed my ankles, the other my neck. 

One of his ungloved, massive hands took the other ankle. I held my breath as his thumbs pressed into my ankles, only to release it in a heavy sigh. "What do you want to happen?" 

Even the illusion of choice shocked me. My mouth opened, but no answer issued forth. 

He switched to my other ankle, and my weak hands got out of his way. "Do you want me to let you go or keep you?" 

"Why would I want you to keep me?" 

His took my wrist in hand. Large hands, not freakishly so, soothed my muscles up to my shoulder. He switched, doing the other arm. Each time, he moved closer to me on the floor. I didn't hear any other activity. The windows were covered. Was I still in the fade? He called it the border, but what side of the border? 

"You might welcome the change." He cupped my jaw, turned my head to the side. I grunted as my neck muscles ached in protest, then his fingers pressed into the side of my neck, pressing and pinching down to my shoulders. "Turn around." 

I shuffled around until I faced the wall. I lifted my eyes to see the rope hanging from an iron ring. The area looked designed to hold something, something like me, separate from the room. Perhaps this was a dungeon after all.

My eyes drifted shut as he massaged my neck, down my back. Things can't get much worse if your captor gives you a massage, right? 

"Why would you ... want to keep me?" 

"I have not encountered one of your kind that did not enter my land without a weapon or a threat." He grabbed me by my hips and pulled me into his lap. 

I kept staring at the wall, the iron ring, the ropes, the light fixture that was currently off. Did that mean it was day time? How long was I passed out before he arrived? 

"What is your answer?" 

"What do I have to do to earn my stay?" 

"You will see to my comfort and the upkeep of my home. You are familiar with these tasks." 

"Your physical comfort?" 

"Ah," he pressed a kiss to my shoulder, warm, firm lips. "I see why your kind would lust after you, but my pleasure is lacking when a woman is not willing and present. I do not lack for willing lovers. Meals, cleaning, and ... organize my duties?" 

I nodded. Not that I expected to runaway and return to my aspirations of chemistry, but at least this wasn't servitude and forced prostitution, just servitude, to one person. 

Words. Just words. He felt sorry for me. What reason did he have to charm me? I wasn't fooled by the gentleman ruse, but I was impressed, flattered that he even bothered. 

"I would like to stay. I can't go back, not ever." 

"You will do as I say?" 

Ah, here it comes. "Yes, I will do as you say." 

"I am Ekale. I lead those who defend the border. This is my home, should you ever need to find it again." He stood, bringing me to my feet with him. He must have felt me shivering, because he let me go and took two steps back. "Are you afraid of me?" 

Of course I was! Ekale sent wounded and tortured back with horror stories and warnings. Not that the militia heeded them. He was the reason I tried to get as far from the fighting as possible. Obviously, I failed. 

Fear? Hell yes, but I buried it deep, let it steep with the persistent fear for my life and safety. "Yes." 

"Then you know who I am, what I am?" 

Whoa. Stories were one thing. I shook my head and shrugged. 

"I lead those who defend the border, yes, and for my success, I was named High Lord of Quires Maw, the place you call the border or the fade. Quires Maw is a half land between your realm and mine. High Lord is a meaningless title, as this place is no reward, but it is mine, and I will hold it. It is like," he bowed his head in thought. "Swamp is unfavorable land to settle in your realm, yes?" 

I nodded.

"Quires Maw is swamp, a training ground for our fighters." 

"You're going out of you way to tell me you're not nearly as important as your title suggests." 

"Not nearly as beholden to protocol as my title would carry in other regions." 

Oh. A king without a council, a judge without a jury. Wait? Was he trying to make me feel better or worse? 

He walked over to one of those long chairs and sat in it. Reclined as if they were having drinks and late night conversation. "High Lords fight for their rank. No one will fight for swamp. I am going out of my way to tell you that my position will not be threatened by others. What I decide will not be challenged so long as your people never reach the border. They will not." 

Understanding brought profound calm, quelled my cold terror. 

Anything was better than being manhandled by sweaty, drunken, angry residents who left me with broken ribs and abraded spirits. 

"Do you want to stay?" 

"Yes." In a few days, he would show his true colors. I'd come to know how he ruled Quires Maw and led his fighters. He was only one man though, not a constant rotation of hundreds. This was better. 

He straightened and nodded.  

The door opened and a diminutive male carried a stiff brown rectangle over to him. 

Ekale opened it, flicked his finger over the surface. 

My legs were tired. I settled onto the floor and admired him, his massive profile. By all rights I could have a fit of terror, scream to be sent back home. No, in fact, I was regretting that he didn't want more. 

Minutes passed. Ekale closed the folder and handed it back to the smaller man, well shy of five feet, if not four. He hurried off and closed the door behind him. 

"I'm glad you decided to stay. I don't enjoy killing the unarmed." He rubbed the dark stubble of his chin and got to his feet. 

I focused on getting back on my own. I'd managed to get my feet under me when he lifted me onto his hip. His body was all muscle. This was not a man I wanted to piss off. 

I pressed my lips to his cheek, then again at he corner of his mouth. The third time, I couldn't lie to myself and say that I was just being grateful, trying to be nice. My tongue curled over his lips until he kissed me back. Tender, patient, perhaps more surprise in his movements. 

He pulled back and narrowed his eyes. "A little forward for a terrified runaway, don't you think?" He didn't wait for my answer, and carried me out the great room and down the hall. 

It was a hell of a lot forward. I was sick of being snatched around, yelled at, disregarded. I wanted to be safe. I liked him for the mere gesture of offering that safety. 

Eventually, he would want my body, and I wanted him to know that I wouldn't resist, that he could have me if he wanted. Messed up? No question, but as the radio was fond of telling us: these were dire times. 

The rest of the place was much of the same, clean, utilitarian, but nicer than I expected. He turned into a room lit by flickering soft yellow light. 

He set me down and took off his cloak, pulled a long, holstered blade away from his hip and set it aside. 

I saw plainly what I had only felt before: solid muscle, the kind of build professional fighters and rugby players possessed. His dark bronze hair formed a pony tail the middle of his shoulder blades, bound tight by leather twine. 

What would it look like when free? Straight? Slight curl? Either way, stunning against his red-apricot skin. Did all generals dress like him? Under that cloak his pants were skin tight, showing every bone, muscle, and bulge. 

I looked everywhere but at him, out the window, at the bed, the smell doorway opposite the way they came in. 

He picked me up and set me down on a desk. "Lift your arms." 

My shoulders ached, but not as much as earlier. He lifted my shirt, set it down beside me. 

I don't know what he thought as he looked at my breasts. 

His fingers worked on the collar of his shirt, unlacing the front, then he removed it as well. "Are you uncomfortable?" He untied each side of his pants, if they could be called that. "Answer me." 

"No. I'm fine." 

One arm under my arms, the other tugged on my leggings, pulled them off, leaving me sitting on his desk naked. Ekale looked me over with a critical eye, inspecting each cut, each bruise, even my old wounds, scars I had forgotten about. 

His fingers traced a particularly large bruise under my rib. "I'll get a mender in to see you at first light." 

Odd to have a male look at my naked body so intently and not have more of an effect. His significant bulge lay flaccid. Good sized scrotum. 

This close, naked, I could see how he differed from a human. The uncanny valley - he stood in the midst. Bone structure, shape. His muscles did not line up, like they were of, almost like a bad drawing. Rich, ruddy pink-orange skin. Different enough to send shots of adrenaline through my body. Primal warnings that I may be in danger. Silly brain, I was always in danger. 

He pointed to the small door. "If you need it, the waste chamber is beyond that door." 

Yay! I hurried there and back. It was sparse. Just a hole to piss in and a small fountain. Enough to wash my hands and face, splash some water on my girl parts. 

"What is your name?" 

"Anisha." 

His nails were nicely shaped, a millimeter or two beyond his fingers. They whispered under the curve of my bosom, rounded, but did not touch my nipples. "When was the last time you slept without concern for your life?" 

He walked over to the bed and pulled the blankets back, then signaled me over to it. 

"People do that these days?" 

He chuckled and tucked my body against his warm one. "Give it a try." 

We were sleeping together? Naked? 

Ekale's bedroom was dead silent. No murmur of conversation, no voices raised in argument, no doors slamming, children crying, or bed springs creaking. Once I fell asleep, I slept deep, so deep that I forgot where I was. 

I woke in a panic, bolted upright, setting bruises and aches to screaming in protest. 

The dusky light of the fade cast the room in graying pink light, like a sunset that only changed, but never went away. Beside me lay the hulking mass of male that I chose to stay with. The general. 

He lay on his back, arms folded behind his head. His eyes were open, no expression, just looking at me. 

I caught my breath, let the memory come back. 

"Water?" 

He opened a small cabinet beside the bed and offered me a jar of pale blue liquid. I unscrewed the top and took a sip. No flavor. Another sip. Smacked my lips together. Good enough. I drank the rest and put the top back on. 

He put the jar back in its place and closed his eyes. 

Second thoughts plagued me as I sat there in his bed, beside his naked body. Was this really the best decision? Did I know what I was getting into? 

The growing light fell on our bodies. Ekale had raised bone ridges around his temples, a serpentine s-wave emerging from his hairline. 

I didn't realize how close I'd gotten in trying to inspect it until he exhaled heavily on my breast. With a firm hand on my back, he kept me from backing away. His tongue rolled out and around my nipple, flicking the nub until it stiffened. 

Since he was taking such liberty with me, I reached out for the winding ridge of bone on his skull. 

Not bone! It moved and shifted under my finger. What in the hell was that?! 

Ekale moaned and sucked harder on my nipple. 

This time, I grazed the side of it. It didn't pulse in time with his veins, but it moved, slid. Was it part of him? Some kind of parasite? I waited until Ekale had his fill with my breasts. 

"What is that?" 

He looked pensive a moment. "You do not have a word for it in this language. We call it a Tetch. I use it to access information, communicate with others." 

"Wow." That's all I could say. Not the most intelligent response. Now I knew why our militia were nothing more than practice for inexperienced fighters. We had lost our technology because it relied on a vast infrastructure of power grids and cables. Theirs lived inside them. "Did it hurt to touch?" 

"Not at all. Lay back." 

I sank back onto the bed, arms bent over my head. He settled over me, and given the difference in our sizes, the effect startled me. I better be safe, because I was out of options. Out of the fire and into the frying pot. 

He nipped the flesh beside my breast, then again lower on my side. As he nibbled and licked his way down my body, I squirmed as a reflex, my belly clenched as his long tongue made a trail from my belly to my groin. 

I clenched my fist when he spread my legs. I didn't resist him, but I braced for pain. Eyes shut, breath held, anxiety ramped up. 

I cried out in surprise as I felt his tongue on my folds: slick, firm, gentle. I almost fainted. He didn't attack my pussy, sucking, chewing, and spearing it mercilessly. The tension left my thighs, my fists unclenched. 

His eyes met mine, the pupils wide until the iris became a glowing orange ring. My hips rolled against my tongue. His nails pressed into my ass and he lifted my hips. He licked my slit, kissed my thighs. Odd, but it felt good. He wasn't hurting me, but would he? I'm not sure if my anxiety made me hotter or kept me from enjoying it. Perhaps both. I was finely tuned to his every motion, every sensation, completely in the dark regarding what would come next. 

He pushed my thighs wider, thumbed my outer labia open. At first I thought he was teasing, but his slow, plodding tongue was exploring, learning. His tongue swiped up and down my slit, pushed into my pussy, rounded and flicked my clitoris. When his mouth fastened down and sucked, I moaned and stopped thinking about what might come next. 

I made pitiful little sounds as his fingers penetrated me, stroked and explored. I wanted to grab him by the head and press his face to my pussy, but I had better sense than that. I ran my hand over his shoulders and into his hair. His Tetch ripples and shifted under my palm. A keen, painful, hot arousal built with each passing moment. Knotted, tense, on edge - a few moments more and blissful completion would follow.

Ekale pulled away. 

My pitiful face must have said it all. He chuckled and pointed to the door. 

I scrambled, using Ekale to cover my nudity. Both Ekhale and the leathery creature at the door had a good laugh at my expense. 

"Anisha, Cho is here to examine you." 

"The mender?" 

"Yes." 

Okay, a physician of some sort. It wasn't my nudity I cared about so much as my hard nipples, flushed skin, and wet pussy. How long had Cho been in the room? Did he knock? 

"Go sit on the chair." 

An order, I reminded myself, not a suggestion. I set my mortification aside and went to the chair. 

Leathery and wrinkled, Cho looked like dwarf Sharpei. Yellow, milky eyes, damp fingers. He squicked me out in a big way, so I kept my eyes on Ekale. 

He had nothing to be self conscious about. If that massive erection was anything to go by, he didn't like the interruption either. 

The mender looked to be scolding Ekale, pointing at me, then him. He reached into his bag and pulled out a vial of dark liquid. 

Ekale knocked the contents of the vial back. 

Cho asked a question, Ekale answered. More items came out he bag, tins, bottles. Paying attention meant looking at those hands. Was he going to touch me?

More conversation beyond my understanding. Something that amused Cho.

"Lick the powder from the glass," said Ekale. 

Even if he told me what it was, I wouldn't understand. Cho held the glass up. I closed my eyes and licked the glass clean. Chalky, grainy, tingled my tongue and cheeks. 

"Ow!" I balled my fist and frowned at the long needle pulling away from under my ear. What the hell?

Cho handed me a glass of opaque white liquid and I drank the stuff down until the small cup was empty. Minty, thick. Milk? Something heavier than milk. Maybe a flavored cream. 

The mender packed his bag, talking to Ekale again. He never touched me. Beyond the bruise on my rib and some scratches, I wasn't sure what else he needed to report on. 

A pervasive, warm tingle spread down my throat, bloomed in my chest, warmed in my belly. The closest thing I could compare it to was a fever, but not quite, the tingle of liquor, the buzz of caffeine. 

That tingling numbness whispered over my nerve endings. My breath expanded into long stretches. Each beat of my heart became a gentle, rocking wave. The rocking horse of my heart and lull of my breath went on and on. 

It all ended as suddenly as it began. I blinked and the room came into sharp relief. I could follow the crack in the moulding, count the strands in the blanket fringe. I looked down at the bruise on my rib, where the blue and violet turned to yellow. The rest of me told the same tale, cuts closing, scars fading.

"Come here." 

I wanted to vault from my chair to the bed, leap like a great cat. I almost did. It required a strong dose of control to walk instead of run. "What am I on?" 

Ekale smirked and slid his body over my prone one. His erection pressed into my belly, no loss of vigor or size. "Restoration powder." 

I tried to slip my hand between us. He obliged me by moving onto his side and pulling me with him. Finally, I got to touch the thick shaft straining up from his equally thick muscled thighs. I wrapped my hand around the base and worked up. A fat drop of clear liquid formed at the tip. 

I wriggled down and took him as deep in my mouth as my anatomy would allow. My tongue swiped and flicked as a drooled down his cock. 

"Talented mouth on you." 

I was proficient at fellatio as a matter of survival. A good blow job was a quick way to fend off unwanted attention. I knew the art well enough to bring almost any man to completion within a few minutes. Better to take a man's seed into my throat than in my womb. 

Over time, I became an enthusiast. Placing a man twice my size and triple my strength purely under my mercy gave me a rush of power and delight. I would not miss the times when my machinations failed. 

Ekale squeezed my breasts. I cupped his balls and rolled them in my palm. 

"Enough." He grabbed me by my hair and pulled. 

I let his shaft slide from my mouth and crawled up his body, following his tug. He led me to his lips. We kissed like deranged creatures: snarling, nipping, licking, and clawing at each other. I forgot what not being in pain felt like - freedom from careful movement, a distinct lack of the dull throb of old aches and injuries. 

My wet pussy met the head of his cock and I rubbed back and forth, rolling my hips. 

"Do you want me?" 

I stared into his dark eyes, no misunderstanding, no ambiguity. "Yes." 

He rolled me onto my back and brushed the fat head up and down my swollen lips, not quite entering me. I lifted my legs and wrapped them around his back. "Because you want me to protect you?" 

Honestly? "No, um ... just ... I want you. I'm aroused." My face flushed and I turned to look out the window. There were never clouds in the fade, tall structures disappeared into a thick atmosphere. 

He turned my face back toward him and pressed inside me, smooth and wet, dripping wet with my lust. My hungry flesh stretched and welcomed him as his hips eased toward mine. 

"Would you rather serve my pleasure, Anisha? Waiting for me to take you?" He worked slow, coating himself in my juices. So good, so much pleasure. 

I whimpered under him. "I can be responsible for more than one task." 

"Then you will do anything I want, serve all of my needs." He snarled the words close to my ear. 

A threat? All his statement did was my make pussy clamp on his cock. I moaned as he thrust harder into me. 

"What do you say to that?" His teeth scraped over the sensitive skin on my neck. 

"Thank you," I whined. "Thank you for taking me." 

"You're a pleasure to have, so wet on my shaft." Our groins locked together as he pressed hard into me. "My new pet knows her place. That's good." He kissed and licked up the side of my face and chuckled low in his throat. Without warning, he hauled me over so that he was on his back and I was on top. He placed my hands on his shoulders. 

I was excellent at fellatio. I could defuse a violent man, gentle him, confuse him with my submission. When I was on my back, or my belly, or bent over a piece of furniture, I knew how to hold my body to minimize damage from a clumsy, drunken fuck. On top? I didn't know what in the world to do. I sat atop this hulking mass of demonic male. The leather tie that kept his hair bound had come undone, revealing the slightly curly texture. 

Ekale rolled his hips, and I squealed. The sensation was different in this position. I could learn, adapt. I lifted my body and settled into a steady rhythm, rocking back and forth, up and down adjusting his angle. He closed his eyes and his nails raked down my thighs. I took my time, sliding myself to the tip of his cock before impaling my pussy, from tip to base, squeezing tight as a lifted, abandoning caution on the way down. 

This was a different kind of power, one I learned to enjoy. I rode harder, increased my pace. 

He grinned as I used his cock for my pleasure. "Know what you're doing now?" 

"Yes." I smiled as I pulled off to the tip of his cock. I didn't mean to lose him, but I wasn't that good yet. I reached down between my thighs and placed him back at my entrance. It took a few tries, but I learned the length of him, could rise to the tip and come back down. 

He pulled me flat along his chest, wrapped his arms around me, then rolled our bodies. On top again, he worked his hips at a furious rhythm. I cried out in abandon. He licked my mouth, bit my cheek. 

Between kisses, he whispered, "You want to stay with me? Always? Here with me? Hmm, you crazy, delicious woman? Is this where you want to be? Wrapped around my shaft?" 

"Yes, Ekale," I whined as my orgasm rolled through me. "Yes!" It wasn't just the lust and passion. I wanted the change. I wanted control of my fate. I had already made that decision the first time he asked. "I want to belong to you." 

"Now you do." 

I held him tighter, combing my fingers into his hair. He held me just as tight, cradling me as his climax followed mine. 

***

I woke with a start, and bolted upright. My mind raced. What surprised me was how quickly it reached a conclusion. Ekale's room, early afternoon. I had passed out, not from the sex, but the pain that happened afterward. 

It happened after I left the bathroom. Fire in my bones, twisting in my organs, lightning and earthquakes on a molecular level. Before I blacked out, all I could remember was screaming, shivering, sweating. 

I looked in the bedside cupboard and drank the water in the jar. I felt better now, and different. The room didn't have mirrors. I wrung my hand in my lap, wary of reaching up and finding with my fingers what I knew was there. It was like feeling a glove on my hand, or in this case, my head, a cap that fit under my skin. 

Ekale sat to his desk, his back to me, his body still, mind focused on the work in front of him. Soft curls of bronze hair draped over his bare shoulders. "Feel better?" 

"Yes." I rose from the bed and crossed the room to him. 

He sat back and extended his arm so that I could sit in his lap. I leaned on his shoulder and placed a kiss to his neck. The stubble on his chin scraped my forehead. My finger tips played in the hairs on his chest. I melted into him, content and safe. More safe than I had been since the fade invaded my world. I circled his ruddy nipple with the pad of my finger, scraped my nail over the tip. 

His hand dropped into my lap. He flipped a page filled with charts and strange symbols. I bit his shoulder as he massaged me in slow, tingling circles. His middle finger dipped inside me, back up to my clitoris. I spread my thighs and shifted my hips. 

"I'm trying to work." 

I pulled him over and whispered in his ear. "Work harder." 

He flicked the finger inside me up and down, hitting the wall of my vagina with a steady beat. He pressed his palm into my clitoris. 

I moaned and rested on his shoulder. 

"Better?" 

"Yes." 

Knocks rained on the door. 

Ekale growled, a true snarl that put my arousal on ice. "I said go away!" 

I hurried to the bed, the only place where I could cover my body. 

Ekale stormed to the door and the conversation took place on the other side. "A moment," he came back into the room, dressing as he spoke. "Stay here. I have work to do." 

Minutes later, I sat alone on the bed. Distant footsteps, the growling bay of wide-bodied beasts. 

I searched the small room for something to wear. The best I could do was a silky hook and eye shirt. It reached to my thighs like a dress. I found a long scarf to use as a belt. It was good enough for being sequestered to his home. 

His door opened and I froze. I wanted to hide, run, sputter explanations. Who was this?! 

Fuzz covered her feminine shape. She had pointed ears, almond shaped eyes, and a thin knee-length tail. The wispy creme hairs that covered her body looked feather soft. 

My heart pounded as she approached. 

"My name is Kara. General Ekale assigned me as your attendant. I am to help you adjust to living here." 

What was a beautiful woman like her doing helping me with anything? Ah, that's right, no shortage of willing women. It made sense, but on the heels of great sex, my feelings were a little frayed. Emotion and confusion had me crying. 

"Please, lady, no!" Kara rushed over and took my hand with her cool padded palms. "Please, don't cry. I know how it feels. My intended fights under Ekale, but he will return soon. These skirmishes barely last more than a day or two." 

Her what? "My name is Anisha. I don't understand what I'd need help with. I'm just a fugitive who gave up her former life for this one. I'm not important beyond spreading my legs to your general ... the High Lord. Best you know that up front. He did say he wanted me to keep his schedule. Is that what you want to show me?" 

Kara giggled before schooling her features. "You're delightful. Would you like to wash? I can show you to the bath, and I will get clothing for you." 

"Sure, yes." I followed Kara the room just down the hall. My idea of a bath was a sixty-gallon tub filled with hot water. The deep pool of steaming marine blue water looked more like a jacuzzi or a spa. "Why is the water so blue?" 

"It turns that color when its been treated." 

I untied the sash and undid the buttons of Ekale's shirt. Kara took the clothes and I stepped into the warm bath. I let out a heavy sigh and I sank to my neck in the fragrant water. "I expected to be tortured and killed when I woke up here." 

"I'm sure that was his intent, but your beauty must have changed his mind." 

Beauty, right. I'd let her think that. "Pretty women sway his mind often?" 

"He is fond of saying, 'I may be long lived, but I will not be long suffering.' He takes his pleasure where he can find it. This place does not offer much opportunity for such pursuits." 

"I see." 

"From what I've heard," Kara said. "Ekale has never kept a companion in his bed more than a few nights." 

The water had a slick sheen to it. My hands slipped over my arms, down my legs. She seemed to know a lot about Ekale, but how much did I want to hear about him? It had to be everything if I wanted this to be more than a short vacation as his lover. "I can't see how that is possible." 

"He's looking for a companion to share his life. The title of High Lord attracts many, but the reality of life beyond the border runs them away. I hear it told he is a ... vigorous lover. However, his suitors expect the type of life of other High Lords: wealth, status, luxury. It is never about the sex." 

"So ... I'm safe until a woman crosses that border who is willing to slum it with him." 

Kara blinked her dark blue eyes and her thin lips frowned. "Lady Anisha, he says you are that woman." 

The information soaked in along with the strange minerals in the water. There had to be something I was missing. I let the matter rest for the moment. 

"I will go. When you are ready, I will have your clothing." 

Left alone, my thoughts turned to Ekale. He smelled like the oils and minerals in the bath. I closed my eyes and imagined he was with me. My skin flushed and steam rose all around me. I imagined my hands were Ekale's, his large fingers rounding my breasts, running over my thighs. My mind wandered to the realm of fantasy and I followed it. 

I ran my hands over my stomach, between my slick thighs. I moaned low in my throat and my eyes drifted shut. Using the edge of the bath to support my neck, I sank back and opened my legs. 

In my mind, Ekale stood between my thighs, cock in hand, a wicked grin on his face. 

"I would do anything for you." The one-hundred-degree water put me in a fever of lust. I massaged my labia, recalling the way the head of his cock smeared up and down, eager to fuck me, to fill me with his ejaculate. 

When did he decide to keep me? To make me his woman? 

I flipped over, imagining that it was Ekale turning my body, sending the water out in a ripple. He lifted me by the hips and yanked me down onto his cock. I cried out as he entered me, part surprise and excitement. The cry stretched to a long moan as his body crashed into mine, each lust, needy thrust finding a home inside me. 

My back arched, my hands buried in his hair. His nails dug into my hips. My face contorted into pleasure, the intensity of an oncoming orgasm. He bit me as the both of us grunted and spasmed. 

Delirious, relaxed, aching. He withdrew, but all I wanted to feel was him back inside, filling me all over again. One orgasm was only the beginning. 

"I'm not finished with you," he said with his raspy, lust-filled growl. He lifted my body and placed me on the edge of the bath, half out the water. He spread me and pressed his face between my legs and licked my pussy like a man starving - his tongue drove deep and circled my clitoris. I moaned and squirmed, but his hold on me was firm, unyielding. 

I belonged to Ekale and there was no place to go. He pulled away and crawled up until he could penetrate me again. 

I was brave enough to know the beauty of his dominance, to surrender to his will. Only me. 

I wrapped around him, wrists and ankles locked. He plunged into my clenching, throbbing cunt. The fantasy had a dreamlike quality. I was lost to reality. I felt him, smelled him, my body rocked with each imagined thrust. My fingers thrust in my hungry pussy, but in my mind, in that moment there was only Ekale. He snarled in my ear, the beast inside him fucked me, rutted with a single minded purpose. Lust, need. The pounding of his hips a single pulse that we shared. 

"Come with me, Anisha." A soft whisper, a plea. His body tensed. He buried deep inside me, swollen and pulsing as he released, clutching me to him. Brutal, yet tender. His pleasure triggered mine. My pussy tightened, clamped down as my orgasm exploded - in my mind and in reality. I came for my lover. 

"Ekale." I gasped and opened my eyes. I was alone, but felt as if I had just withdrawn from a vision. I could feel his bite on my shoulder, but my skin was unmarked. Sensitive, but from the hot water, not my hallucination. 

"Lady Anisha, I have towels here for you." 

Kara's voice brought me back. I stepped out, dried off, dressed. Then she took me on a tour of the compound. I barely remembered one house from the next. It seemed eons ago since I was chained in that front room awaiting my fate. 

Ekale lived among the fighters, the support staff, and the visitors that crossed the border out of curiosity or looking for work or training. 

I took the tour each day. I made it my mission to learn the lay of Quires Maw before his return - and to keep my mind from wandering. On the forth day, I led the exploration with Kara silently following, answering my curiosities and correcting any mistakes. 

As if pulled, I ran down the packed mud path toward the gate. They were returning. Would he remember me? Still want me? Did he have any regrets about his decision? 

A handful of injured entered the gates first, assisted by the more able-bodied fighters. 

I had a job to do, a duty that did not involve pitying a man who could crush me. I directed traffic, assigned roles. I did everything I could to show that I was useful and valuable to the people. The responsibilities of the High Lord sounded like that of a governor and a general. Defense and care for the people under him. 

***

Whispers. A low voice. Weightless. I started, but stilled as I looked into Ekale's dark eyes. In the ward with the injured, providing food and helping the mender - as much as he disturbed me - by cleaning up in his wake. 

I had been so tired. I found a clean spot to rest my eyes. Must have fallen asleep. I rested on Ekale's shoulder as he carried me to the bath. Not a scratch on him, of course. Even the 'injured' had little to complain about. The most severe, a broken leg, happened due to a problem with the transportation, not the militia. 

"The day you left, I had a pretty wild fantasy about this bath." 

He pulled me to his chest and kissed the very spot where I daydreamed about being bitten. "Until your Tetch matures, I can only push thoughts, not quite receive them." He kissed my neck. "I thought of you, taking you." He sighed. "You did not have to run yourself to the ground. I only ordered you to care for me." 

"This is my home, and your people, your responsibilities are also mine. I was taking care of you by helping. I wanted to do my part. I--" 

He kissed me, gentle, exploring. "You are perfect, Anisha. A joy to have as my own." He slipped his hands around my back and pulled me close to his chest. 

My legs wrapped around him, his erection brushed my inner thigh. I missed him. We had been apart longer than together, but I craved his presence - body and soul. 

"I need you." The confession left me in an whimper as he suckled my breasts, playing with each one until each brown nub was sensitive and hard. He tweaked each one between his teeth until I squirmed. I reached for for his hard, thick shaft and stroked, pulling the foreskin back and forth over the tip. 

That made a small gasp of pleasure escape for Ekale's throat. "Are you ready for me?" 

"Yes." I parted for him, smooth and slick. Two halves meeting and fitting. Everywhere tingled, my body came alive as his strokes lengthened. Ekale buried so deep inside me, withdrawing and slipping back in. His smooth cock held  tight by my pussy. I didn't want to let him go. 

"You are so wet for me, so tight," he moaned into our kiss. His eyes took on that outer glow, a ring of deep gold. Did mine reflect that same passion?

I climaxed. My hands bunched into his hair and my legs squeezed around him. My body shook and shuddered with my orgasm and the force of his thrusts. This was perfection. 

"That's good. That's right, clamp down on my shaft." 

As my climax subsided, the first thing on my mind was to go for another. He lifted my hips and leaned over me, his bronze hair framed his face and shrouded us in a veil. I pulled Ekale close and bit his neck, nibbling, sucking, leaving my mark - if only for a few seconds. I moved to his ear, nibbled the soft lobe. 

"You are mine now," I said. "I will be everything you desire. You won't be able to get away. I'm going to make you feel as you never have before." 

"You already have, my sexy Anisha. You already have." He took firm hold of me, the wet, smack of our bodies, punctuated by our moans was the sweetest music. 

Ekale flung his head back. He reared as he released into me. The swell of his cock, the fury of his thrusts put me over the edge. 

"Are you alright?" Ekale lay beside me, stroking my hair, a peaceful look on his face.

"Yeah." I snuggled closer to him, seeking his warmth.

"You satisfy me in ways I only fantasized about," he murmured. 

"That was only the beginning." I boasted. 

It put a smile on his face. "I look forward to it." 

Life as a hybrid in the fade was full of adventure. Life as Lady of Quires Maw kept me busy. Life as Ekale's lover never left me wanting and I made sure he was always satisfied with me, physically and emotionally. 

<->

Written: June 2009 / May 2014

Contact: nysidra at hot mail dot com
    

Fade