Free The False Martyr by H. Nathan Wilcox Page A

soft,
husky voice said. The hair moved from his face. Lips found his,
kissed him gently. The body shifted, disengaged then rolled to
tangle him in a snare of arms and legs. Lips moved on his. A tongue
probed his. A hand moved across his body, past the band at his
waist.
    He gasped as that hand
clasped him. His own free hand moved up soft legs, around hips, and
down as the kisses became more urgent, the breaths desperate. Ipid
was barely awake, barely aware, but he knew what he wanted. Eia did
not deny him.
    They moved together, fully
awake, illuminated by the sun. There was no mystery now, no dreams,
no doubt. This was real. This was happening, and Ipid wanted it
more than anything. Eia smiled through her moans, kissed him hard,
and he caressed her, felt every part of her until everything went
blank, they shuttered together, and Eia collapsed again on top of
him.
    “ What a nice way to wake,”
she sighed into his chest. “It has been too long. I was beginning
to think I was a priest of your order rather than mine.” She lifted
her head, pushed her hair back, and looked at Ipid a few inches
away.
    He smiled and ran his
hands over her legs still spread around him. “So that was real last
night? I thought I’d dreamed it.”
    “ A dream then not a
nightmare?”
    Ipid could not help but
chuckle. “I should be angry, but I’m not. I’m as happy as I’ve been
in years. I can’t stop smiling. I forgot how wonderful that was,
how good it feels to be so close to someone, how much I needed
it.”
    Eia smiled. “I am glad
you’re not angry. I know I shouldn’t have come, but I wanted you so
badly, needed you so much.”
    “ Speaking of which, how
did you get in here? The door was locked.” Ipid looked toward the
door, still tightly closed, lock still in place.
    “ When have you known a
door to stop me?” Eia laughed then kissed him. She rolled off of
him and laid on her back, one white leg spread over him. “So what
now, my lord? Are you still worried about all you have to
do?”
    He stared at his desk an
impossible ten strides from the bed then over at Eia’s naked body
so close and inviting. He took a deep breath of the wild hair
spread across his chest, ran his hand along the naked shoulder that
pressed on him. For a second his mind replaced the translucent
curls with brown waves, the slim white shoulder with one broad and
freckled, the thin legs that barely reached the end of his with
sturdy ones that would end past his own feet. For a second, he held
Kira in his arms, was pressed against her. Emotion flooded
him. She is gone ,
he told himself. You have to let her
go. He sniffed, wiped a tear from his eye,
and returned his hand to Eia, squeezing her tight.
    “ Are you alright?” she
asked, her head rising from his chest so that she looked into his
eyes through a cascade of hair.
    Ipid smiled, sniffed
again, and pushed the hair back from her face. “Just saying goodbye
to old ghosts.”
    “ I don’t believe in
ghosts. I believe in now.”
    “ Probably wise,” he said
absently, then pulled himself firmly from the dark path his
thoughts threatened to take. “And now, I am hungry.” He ran his
hand through her hair again, encouraged her to release him. She
rolled off, naked body splayed across the bed, one leg still over
his.
    “ I could eat, or I could
lie here all day. I haven’t had a day in bed since the Darthur
came.”
    An entire day in bed, Ipid
couldn’t even imagine. Already, he’d slept more than he typically
managed in two nights. He pulled himself from the bed, retrieved
his nightclothes from where they had been kicked into a pile on the
floor, and walked stiffly down the stairs to the
kitchen.
    A few minutes later, he
carried bread, water, and wine up the stairs to his room. He found
Eia sprawled stark naked across his bed exactly as he’d left her.
His breath caught as the site of her smooth, white body, warm and
waiting.
    “ What took you so long?”
she asked rolling onto her side. “I