Renaissance Pictures. The other characters are mine. Like the show, I am playing around with the historical time lines.
Major, Major Disclaimer! Any similarities or resemblances of any character(s) in this story to anyone in real life, either living
or dead are purely coincidental!
Rated: NC17
Violence: None
Sexual Violence: None
Subtext: Yes (F/F)
Chapter 6
As it had been in the past, Zara awoke from her day of love making with a very pressing need. She slowly rose from the bed,
careful not to wake her sleeping lover, then walked naked and barefoot to the indoor chamber pots. When her crucial needs
had been relieved, she moved to the basin and washed her hands. Glancing in the mirror, she noticed the slight reddish marks
on her neck and shoulders. With a rueful grin, she remembered the exquisite sensations Gabrielle had sent through her when
the smaller woman made these marks.
Zara had never experienced such aggression from her women and she was beginning to learn that she enjoyed it. Although
she liked to be the initiator, the captain realized that there was a certain excitement when she saw the open desire in Gabrielle’
s green eyes. When the blonde pinned her to the bed and would strip her naked, it was all the Moroccan could do to
maintain her control.
The tall woman reached up and lightly touched the mark on her neck, then the one on her shoulder. “Yes, she certainly
knows what she’s doing!” Zara thought with a smile as the memories of the Amazon’s knowledgeable mouth on her flesh
returned. Each sucking, biting motion, each stroke of her tongue had brought out low whimpers of pleasure from the dark
woman. Remembering this, the captain shivered as her desires returned. Eager for more, the dusky woman left the room to
rejoin the blonde.
When she crawled under the thin sheet and lay against Gabrielle, she smiled and glanced at the dozing woman. The captain
gently brushed the back of her hand over her lover’s soft cheek. Her touch brought an instant smile from the Greek woman,
whose body turned toward Zara as her arms reached to pull her into a tight embrace.
“Ummmm….” was all that the healer said as she pulled the Moroccan’s head down into a kiss. Never sated, their bodies
began to move against one another, their hands brushing over soft familiar flesh as their kiss deepened. At their mutual
desires, the taller woman slowly climbed over Gabrielle, moving between the Greek’s open and willing legs.
Their bodies seemed to become one as their lips kissed deeply, their hands gently caressing while the pleasure grew. As if the
mere act of movement could bring release, they pressed against each other, Gabrielle’s legs wrapping firmly around Zara’s
hips, imprisoning her in their sweet embrace. However, before either woman could experience the beginnings of release, the
bedroom door crashed against the wall and the sound of thundering feet barreled into the room.
At the sudden interruption, the captain froze for a moment and quickly rolled over and off of Gabrielle. While she was
moving from the smaller woman, the healer hurriedly pulled the single sheet over them both. Nadrah stood wide-eyed and
frozen as she glanced at them, then she hastily turned and ran back to the open door. She made a motion to chase someone
away, then closed the door and ran in, jumping on their bed.
Panting and out of breath, the dark haired woman lay on her back. She stared up at the ceiling as she tried to control her
frustration at the sudden unexpected ending to their pleasure. Gabrielle managed to recover faster, her arms reaching out and
pulling Nadrah close to her.
“Zara! Gabrielle! Arjun has a camel now!” the girl smiled. Seeing the captain’s less that elated expression, Nadrah looked
with concern at Gabrielle. She cupped a hand and whispered in a voice that could be heard across the room, “What’s wrong
with Zara?”
“Nothing, honey,” Gabrielle’s eyes were laughing as she held the girl. “You were saying that you found a camel?” She asked
in an interested voice as Nadrah snuggled close on the pillow. “My goodness, I’ll bet that was a real thrill!” With a light
touch of encouragement, the blonde reached behind her and patted the captain’s leg.
“Ahuh, he has camels as well as horses and Prajeet, the stable man, said that I can ride one tomorrow!” The girl’s excitement
was evident.
Glancing out the window, Zara noticed the light of the day was slowly disappearing. The grumbling in her stomach was a
secondary concern to her more urgent need that could not be met at this time. With only a slight groan, she rose from the
bed, looking down at Gabrielle and Nadrah.
“Where you going, Captain?” Nadrah called.
“To bathe before dinner,” the Moroccan’s tone came out harsher than she intended. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw
Nadrah turn in the Greek woman’s arms and snuggle closer. Gabrielle cast a sympathetic smile and winked at Zara over the
child’s head.
Gabrielle held the girl close, her thoughts on Zara while her mind heard only half of what Nadrah said. Being so close to her
monthly cycle, the storyteller felt the never ending thirst that demanded to be sated. From her very first moon time when she
was barely a teen, her body always reacted this way a week before she was ready to bleed. It was as if her body knew
when the right time for conception was upon her and would demand that she mate. Unbeknownst to her body, the manner
that the Amazon chose for sating her needs was never with anyone who would enable her to conceive. Her one night with her
husband Perdicus had not fallen during this very fertile period and no child had been conceived. Had one been conceived
though, Gabrielle was certain that Xena would have stepped in to help her raise the child after her husband’s untimely demise
at Callisto’s hand.
As Nadrah continued her non-stop chatter about all that was found on the estate, Gabrielle’s thoughts continued to wander.
Although she was familiar with her own body, she was always amazed at the urgency that she felt right before her menses.
When she lived at home it had never posed any challenge to slip away by herself and take care of her urges. After she had
joined Xena, it became more of a challenge to find time to sate her own desires especially after she began to fall in love with
the tall warrior. Once they became lovers, the young blonde’s monthly needs were not only something for Xena to tease her
about, but the warrior actually seemed to look forward to the storyteller’s open aggression and demand to be sated.
With a sigh, Gabrielle gazed down at Nadrah. She smiled as she saw the child’s mouth moving, the words eliciting slight nods
and acknowledgments from her, while her mind wandered to melancholy thoughts. After Xena died at Higuchi, her entire
cycle was thrown off. In the past, when Xena had died and left her behind, she never experienced the change in herself this
badly and she assumed that it was because their bond had not fully formed. Once she was left alone in Japa with only Xena’s
ashes and her lover’s ghost for company, the blonde woman stopped bleeding all together. The stress of losing her soulmate
and of waiting to secure passage on a ship brave enough to enter Higuchi’s harbor took its toll on her body and it wasn’t until
she was on the Moroccan ship that her cycle slowly returned to normal. Although her cycles had returned a few months ago,
her menses arrived in patches here and there and the urges to be sated had not truly accompanied them until this month.
Gabrielle wondered at their sudden return and hoped that this month she would finally have a proper moon time.
As a sense of need filled her body, she sighed and glanced down at Nadrah. She knew that only a few minutes had passed
since Zara left them for the bathing room yet the continual odor from the child would not allow the healer to let her lover have
time alone. With a crinkle of her nose, she sniffed and glanced down at the suddenly quiet child. Nadrah’s hair was
disheveled, her clothes covered in dirt and grass stains. Gabrielle sat up and wiped a smudge from the girl’s cheek. “What in
the world have you been doing?” she asked the child.
“Um, playing,” the girl said softly.
“Playing where?” Gabrielle asked with a slight smile, although her nose detected what the answer would be.
“In the stable,” came Nadrah’s meek reply.
“No wonder! Why, you smell like…” Gabrielle tried to find a word for it, then leaned down and sniffed close the girl’s ear,
which brought a fit of giggles from the child. “Yuck! You smell like a camel!” She exclaimed. At Nadrah’s giggles, the
Amazon smiled and began to tickle the child. “Yes you do! Just like Arjun’s camel! Why, I can’t let you near the stables.
Someone might mistake you for the camel and expect you to carry them on your hump! I can just see you now, ‘Load up the
camel,’ they’ll say! ‘It’s time for a ride!’ Then they’ll pack all kinds of trade goods on you and off you’ll go in a caravan
back to Calicut! And Zara and I will say ‘Where’s Nadrah?’ and Arjun will say, ‘She’s off to see Calicut as a camel!’ And
we’ll be so sad, yes we will! We’ll say, ‘Nadrah would rather be a camel than stay with us! Boo-hoo-hoo!’”
