the concubine, part 3

part two 
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his touch was electric as it ran over her body. he was careful to limit his hand to places that would not spook her too much, so he rubbed it over her side, her arm, her thigh, her belly. innocent locations that wouldn't make her run away from him. she was quiet under his ministrations, her gaze upwards as she studied the roof of the tent.

"inanna," he murmured. her scrutiny shifted to his face. "do you know what it means to be owned?" she shook her head, but the intake of breath suggested that the question made her uneasy. he smirked as he danced his fingertips over her navel before resting his hand on her hip. "it means i can do whatever i want with you, and nobody will question it."

as she began to rise to flee, he pressed a palm on her chest and pushed her back down with a chuckle. "easy, easy now," he allayed her, and her fearful eyes bore into his. "i will not mistreat you, inanna. you will be well taken care of here." she swallowed in response to his words, and her pink tongue darted out to moisten her suddenly dry lips.

he could see the question forming on her lips, and he decided to let her ask it. she swallowed again before she asked, "who... who are you? are you a lord?" he could tell she was hesitant to use his name, and she was clearly one who had been trained in the ways of court. a low rumble emanated from his chest, and it was a quiet laughter as she amused him.

"ah, yes. my title," he replied flippantly, running his hand up her side before sliding it back down to her hip. she shivered at the motion, but she hadn't tried squirming out from under him yet. "i told you my name, but i left out my rank," he continued, his eyes dancing while he regarded her. she nodded, and she nibbled on her lower lip out of anxiety.

he had half a mind to tell her to stop that, but it would be easier to simply tell her the truth. "i am jhaeros faemyar, king of laelorian." her eyes grew wide at his declaration, and the shock must have registered in more than just her face, as he shifted to steady her with a palm on her belly. he smiled down at her then, noticing that she had in fact stopped chewing on her lip.

the sudden movement of her body alerted him, and he increased the pressure on her to prevent her from rising again. "no need to bow, curtsy, or otherwise kowtow to me," he said, his tone shifting to a mild annoyance. inanna glanced at him, not understanding. he sighed, realizing that she didn't quite understand her unique position within his kingdom.

"you are not a servant, nor a noble, or a slave," he began, and he observed the emotions as they played over her features. "you hold no title, but you are of a status that is known to all who enter my kingdom and my castle." since she was still not understanding what he was trying to explain to her, he had to smother a sudden bout of laughter. was she really so clueless?

"you are my concubine."

several seconds passed before he saw realization dawn on her, and the look on her face was so priceless he actually did burst out laughing. because he was so busy chortling, he didn't notice that he had let go of her, and that she had sat up, eyes snapping with amethyst fire. he did notice when she slapped him across the face, as rage erupted into being and he let out a snarl that reverberated throughout the tent.

he turned slowly back to face her, his hand going up to touch the stinging red mark on his face. no one had ever dared to strike their king before and lived to talk about it, and he worked his jaw while struggling to keep a rein on his temper. she matched his expression, rising to his anger with her own, and he sensed her drawing from the steel within her spine.

"i will never be your whore," she hissed, staring him down in a clear challenge.

"you don't have a choice," he growled back, his voice low and heavy as he answered it. "i own you."

"never!" she shot back, and leapt to her feet. he jumped to his own, ready to battle. she snarled at him, her lilting pipes shifting slightly to accommodate the shifting vocals.  he arched an eyebrow, then snarled back, his sounding more like the low roar of a dragon. she was not swayed by his show of power, and instead she shrieked at him.

at first he thought she was just making noise, before he noticed she was actually throwing words at him in elvish, very rapidly and too fast for him to keep track and translate. it was when sparks began flickering into being around her fingers that he realized what she was doing. damn! he thought to himself. this little vixen knows magic!

just as she had conjured fireballs into being and shifted into a stance to throw them at his head, he whipped an arm towards her and spoke a single word in a demonic tongue. a sudden cloud of darkness surrounded her, and after a few moments it dissipated. when it did so, the fire that had filled her palms faded away, and she swayed.

rushing forwards he caught her as she fell, and she was completely limp within his arms. oops, he thought. must have been too strong for her. now he was in a bit of a conundrum as he rested on a knee, her body awkwardly held in his grasp. looking around the tent, he mentally ran through different ideas on how to wake her back up when she began to stir.

his eyes bore down on her as her own opened, and she was dazed. when she could focus her vision and spotted him, she angrily tried to wrestle free. he growled at her as he rose onto his feet to try and pin her body against him, but she was like a wildcat, spitting and hissing while she flailed wildly. she scratched his arms several times, and his body endured the kicks from her feet as she fought the embrace.

bringing her in close he managed to get her to stop hitting him, but she bit him so hard he cried out in pain, swearing profusely as he swatted at her in retaliation. she flung her head backwards and landed a blow on his nose, and he let go of her, staggering backwards with his hands over the throbbing body part to check if it was broken.

a quick assessment showed that it was merely tender, no broken bones and no blood. he straightened then, glaring murderously at the defiant elf while his aura broke free of his shields and surrounded him, a miasma ready to put down the foe that dared to challenge him. she didn't back down, and he had to give her credit for standing up to him at the risk of her life.

sparks snapped around her fists, and tendrils of flame coiled up her arms as she returned the glare. "stop this madness," he growled at her, but she merely tossed her head like a wild mare. with a snort, she spat a few words of elvish at him, then threw a new fireball at his head. he stepped out of its path easily, and he circled her. inanna tossed a few more his way, assessing his skills.

unfortunately, she had not paid attention to her surroundings, and he had. with a roar he rushed at her, catching her completely off guard. the fireballs disappeared from existence as he hit her like a freight train, and she grunted as the impact knocked the wind out of her. he knocked her down onto the bed, and her skull bounced off one of the pillows. 

"enough," he panted, now lying prone over her body, and he remembered that both of them were nude. this was coupled with the fact that because he had tackled her to the bedspread, her form was now molded against his in a way that arrested his attention, and heat began to trickle down to his loins. inanna made a sound of protest, and headbutted him weakly.

his eyes snapped up to hers, anger filling him again, but he read defeat in her gaze and let the action slide. "i refuse to be the whore of a king," she whispered, and a tear slid down her cheek. he shifted his weight and wiped the fluid from her skin, and he sighed heavily. so this was why she had decided to resist him so fiercely. her pride must stem from her self worth, he reasoned.

"inanna, i assure you that you will have a good life here," he murmured softly, and she made a sound of despair as she choked out a laugh bordering on a sob. "at the expense of my body," she replied, her tone so full of sadness it seized his heart in a way that seemed to plead with his soul. "is that such a terrible price to pay?" he whispered, cupping a palm on her cheek and willing her to look at him.

she did, another tear escaping and running down her face. "yes, it is," she mumbled, the words so faint they cracked leaving her lips, and from the way she trembled, jhaeros knew she was holding back more sobs. "oh, inanna," he ground out, pulling her into an embrace and holding her close. he rose into a sitting position with her reclined in his lap, and just let her quiet against him.

she sniffled, but the deluge of tears didn't come since he had calmed her. he leaned back enough to cup both of his hands around her face, and she looked up at him with such a helpless innocence that he could no longer resist. "i promise i'll be gentle," he whispered, the words like a sibilation in her ear as he brought his head close and kissed her gently.