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The Price of Gratitude	By : Mayamahal Category: +S through Z > World of Warcraft Views: 6057 -:- Recommendations : 2 -:- Currently Reading : 2
Disclaimer: I do not own Blizzard or World of Warcraft. I make no profit or money for writing this.

Chapter List
- 10
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"...find a new pet, Kodakai?"

Maia frowned, eyes still closed, consciousness barely kissing the surface of wakeful reality. She rolled over, pulling a blanket over her head.

Too much sunlight.

The voices, though, were impervious to cloth.

"Something like that." The hunter's voice was laced with amusement. "Barely tamed, poor thing. I think it might even have a bit of fever. Starved too; it lacks the build it had when I first encountered it."

That popped her eyes open.

There was an indignant, feminine snort; the other Troll was definitely a woman. "Sounds too fragile for a decent hunting companion, if you ask me. But I know you, Kodakai; you make your selection very carefully." There was a thoughtful pause. "What's so special about this one, eh?"

The silence stretched on for almost a minute, and Maia sat up in the shadowed light of the yurt, careful and sore. She wondered if they'd walked away. But then he answered, his words soft:

"Powerful abilities, Taiba. And beautiful, a rare breed with very dark, lovely coloring. I couldn't resist, she stood out like a dark orchid amidst a field of lillies." The tone in Koda's voice was almost reverent; Maia found herself blushing furiously.

He's talking about me like a captured asset, she thought. And it's completely arousing. Gods damn him.

There was another snort, this one a little more appreciative. "I completely understand, then; your tastes are quite particular." There was more movement, rustling and the occasional grunt of effort. "Alright, that should help. The salve is for infection and scarring, this herb is for any fever that might arise, and these two are meant to be eaten with its usual food. That's the healing accelerant you asked for."

"Thank you, Taiba. Your concoctions are a marvel on my friends."

A third snort. "I'm tempted to charge you for more than money, Kodakai, with as often as you have me making housecalls without ever letting me in your house..." That was a tone Maia recognized; it was playful, flirtatious, and almost oily in its sexuality. She felt jealousy bubble in her chest, and she blinked, surprised at herself. The emotion was quickly stifled.

Koda chuckled, managing to sound abashed, flattered, and apologetic. "You'll have to forgive me this time, Taiba. All I can give you besides gold are leather goods and gratitudes."

The response was perfect. Taiba sighed and gave a soft laugh. "Fine then, have it your way, Koda. Don't think the other females haven't noticed; you're one of the finer catches in these parts. Watch your ass."

There was more laughter, both fading away as Maia presumed they'd wandered off.

Birdsong and splashing water reigned in the absence of words, and the mage simply basked in the peace of being free, unencumbered, and safe. Carefully, she rolled her shoulders and followed the slow, fluid motion into her elbows, and out her wrists. She flexed her fingers, held her hands up to see if they still shook.

Steady as they've ever been, she thought with a sigh of relief.

Satisfied, she pulled back the blankets and drew up the skirt over her bandaged thigh.

The wound was clean but sore, and a little pink around the edges. There was no pus or worrisome smells, and the flesh was healing. Still, it would leave a nasty scar.

Her vanity prickled at that, and she hated herself a little for it.

"I'm alive and out of that damned cage," she muttered angrily at herself, "and the first thing that pops into my head is 'ooh I'm going to have a scar'? Nice, Maia."

"Indeed," came the familiar, deep voice from the tent's entrance. "But don't worry. I have something that will fix that."

Koda strode in, tall and as beautiful as she remembered, trailed by a large, white-furred wolf. No, she thought, frowning at it. A worg.

It was very large, but also very calm. Its lines and muscles were somewhat bulkier than that of its lupine cousin, carried with sleek, feline grace. It settled in the far corner of the tent, near Koda's bedding, and did its best to compact itself into as small a shape as possible.

Noting her interest, the Troll glanced at the creature and smiled. "That's Winter," he explained. "My oldest companion. My first. He's been keeping you warm when I've had to leave you alone."

As he settled next to her, sitting cross-legged while he dug into the bag in his hands, pulling out parcels, jars, and herb packets. "Taiba is the best animal healer in the jungle," he continued, ignoring her silence. "She's helped me stitch back creatures that were on the verge of death, healed broken hides into pristine smoothness, and tamed the most feral of beasts into calm, loving friends." That last bit he said with an impish smile, gray eyes sparkling.

Maia, who had started to blush at 'best animal healer', was near purple by the end of it, spluttering indignantly. "Animal healer?"

His smile turned sweet and near-innocent. "I can't exactly have someone in my tribe actually look at you, can I? Or," he added, tugging her hands away from her unraveled bandage, "inquire as to the nature of human physiology while trying to pretend simple curiosity. Only a handful of people know where I live, and I have to travel to the Bay to get supplies I can't make on my own, let alone bring anyone back with me."

She'd completely ignored the fact that they were speaking in his language again; it seemed completely effortless to her now, archaic inflections and all.

"It's not that I don't trust you- OW!" she yipped as he smeared a goopy, oily salve that burned against her wound. She grit her teeth as he continued to administer the medicine. "But... are you sure it will work... the same-?" The curse that exploded from her was especially colorful and earned her a raised eyebrow from her self-promoted nurse.

Methodically rebandaging her as she hissed between her teeth, he replied, "The animals I've used this salve on have healed scarless, with flesh far more fragile and much fairer than yours." He bound it in place. "There. The burning should be passing now, yes?"

She nodded a little, feeling the tingle fade. "That will help the mild infection that's sprung up," he explained, "as well as do something about the scarring."

Sure enough, within days the wound had closed completely, new, pink skin stretched over the top of her thigh. Still sore and slightly atrophied, she could almost walk on it, though she knew she'd limp a long time after.

Everyday, Koda force fed her herbal medicines, teas, and rubbed that nasty salve into her skin. Understanding that he was helping her did nothing to stave off the burning, but it did help her deal with it better. A day or two after the scarring truly began to shrink, still pink and very tender, Koda insisted she attempt to walk on it.

"No!" she gasped, wavering on her one good leg, the other bent and loose, toes barely touching the ground. "It hurts like hell!"

Koda, who had been good-natured and near sweet up to that point, set his mouth in a grim line, gray eyes narrowing. With his tusks and feral, alien features, the expression was frightening. Maia swallowed dryly.

He didn't have to say a word.

Digging her fingers into his forearm, her other hand clasped in his, she put her foot carefully down, feeling muscles twinge as she pressed her heel to the grass.

It was a beautiful day. They were outside. The wind was blowing. She was certain she could smell the ocean nearby...

"Focus, mageling."

She snapped back to her task, giving Koda a dirty look as she renewed her grip on him.

Carefully, she tested the strength of her leg, gingerly putting more and more weight on it. Her teeth were digging into her lip, unbeknowest to her, and she waited for the warning jolt up her leg that told her it wouldn't hold. But as moment by moment passed, her leg held, her knee locked, and her muscles flexed painfully with renewed memory. She gasped, looking up at her friend with startled eyes.

He grinned at her.

"Now take a step," he told her.

She lifted her wounded leg.

"No," he insisted. "The other one."

Her eyes went wide but she didn't argue. Trembling with strange fear, she paused, balanced between her two legs. She bit her lip again.

"Maia." She looked up at him, startled by the sound of her name on his lips, as she always was. "The muscle won't stretch, it will stay angry and knotted and you will limp forever if you don't start using it. You have to do this. "

She didn't walk far that day, or the next, but when Koda told her about the ocean just over the cliffs, about the sand and the exposed cliff faces and the metal veins that were bound to be there... Well, she all but insisted they go to the beach that very day.

She knew it had been a thoughtful calculation on his part; he had seen her supplies in her home, though she didn't know if he'd explored her work area. It was a bit of a gamble; he didn't know how much she loved her craft.

He saw it soon enough. He had carried her on his back on the walk up to the ridge, standing there a moment as she inhaled the sea air and took in the sight of wave and surf, her legs around his waist, her arms around his neck. Carefully, he made his way down the deep sand-stone steps he'd carved himself, the two of them lost in companionable silence as he held her.

It was one of those windy coastal days that she loved, wiping Koda's braids about his head, tickling the arms she had wound about his neck. The sand here was white, a stark contrast to the dark stone of the cliffs and the tempestuous sea. It smelled of salt and water, wet earth and green vegetation.

She tore her eyes from the endless waves when he said something the wind tossed away, but she followed his pointing arm to a bare granite rockface. Something caught the hazy sunlight, flashed at her even from this distance. She squirmed on his back, anxious, as he seemed to make his ever-slow way to the stone. She knew he did this on purpose; she could feel his chest rumble with laughter.

Close enough and excited, she dropped from him and waded slowly through the sand to the metal vein. She barely noticed the pain in her leg, only aware of the encumbering limp that slowed her. Excited fingers dug into the hair piled and pinned to the back of her head with Koda looking on, questioning, until he saw the tiny pick appear in her hand, and the small hammer in the other.

Where were you keeping that? he mouthed at her, amusement in his eyes under his furrowed brows. She simply grinned at him, not bothering to give the blustering wind anymore words to steal. Her focus on the rock before her, she frowned in concentration as she tapped lightly with her little chisel, gouging out the precious bits of soft yellow metal.

Gold, she thought, a laugh bubbling from her, the sound bouncing around the little shelter of stone. Attention arrested, she lost all track of time wedging metal from the clench of earth, collecting several nuggets in a leather pouch. She couldn't stop smiling, and as she cinched the bag closed, she looked up to find him staring at her with a strange expression on his face.

They didn't return to the lake right away. Koda had brought a few nets and a fishing pole, thinking there was no need to waste a trip if she didn't find anything of value. He put her up on a rock several yards from the water, wading out with his nets tucked into his belt, his pants rolled up to his knees, his fishing pole over his shoulder. He made an impressive figure, his broad shoulders flexing as he cast out his line again and again.

The catch he brought in was just as impressive, hooked fish trapped in a net pinned to the bank, thrashing helplessly as he added to their number.

Maia couldn't stop looking at him, the way he moved, the focus of his gaze on the bobber in the distance. The fish he pulled in were enormous, and she watched his muscles flex and clench in his forearms as he fought with each one, drawing them in after minutes of work. Then he would bend to them, gently unhook them, and then loop a line through their gills and out their mouths, adding them to the doomed companions flopping in the shallows.

It wasn't just his physique, she knew, that held her so captivated. The grace she had seen in him before was much more profound in his element, the ease of his body reflecting the ease of his mind. He seemed so comfortable out here, fishing against the wind, water lapping at his legs. Her presence didn't seem to bother him at all.

Now there's a thought, she allowed, her eyebrows raising as she considered this. Unless he makes a habit of having visitors like me over, and by that she meant female, human, and recovering from stab wounds, he seems to be completely at ease with having me here.

That was an interesting notion. She wondered what the truth was.

It seemed he was wrapping things up. He was lingering over the last catch, bringing it to a tide pool near its trapped brethren, a flash of a blade telling her he meant to gut and clean while he was here.

She wrinkled her nose and stayed where she was; she knew that was the curse of the fisherman, and she had no intention of breaking that tradition. As grateful as she was, he could clean his own fish.

He was fairly adept though; she watched as he worked, swift about the task and soon braiding the lines of over a dozen clean fish. Gulls were calling, eager for the free feast that pooled on the wet rocks. Straightening, he looked back at her and waved, grinning, and began to pick his way carefully over the damp, slippery stones; the tide was coming back, and that was perhaps the only reason he had stopped for the day.

Standing carefully, wrapping her borrowed cloak tight about her, she grinned back at him and eased herself down to the sand, waiting for his return. Again, she found herself admiring his grace, the way his agile feet worked the tide pools, the muscles of his legs flexing as he made his way to her.

The wind had begun to pick up, distracting Maia as it tugged at her clothes, toyed with her skirts. She gasped as one particularly strong wind swept under her dress splayed the fabric about her hips, making her choke on laughter as she was, for an instant, exposed for all the world to see.

He had been looking down, watching where he placed his feet, and for whatever reason, he had glanced up at her at that particular moment. And that was enough.

Concentration broken, Maia watched as his eyes widened in surprise and he missed a step, legs slipping out from under him as he landed with a splash in a puddle of sea water caught in the rocks.

There was no danger; it took everything she had to stifle her laughter just enough to limp over to him, doubled over with the effort. Poor Koda, splayed and undignified, glared up at her from his seat in the murky water. Still breathless, smiling so hard her face hurt, she kneeled at the shallow edge and offered him her hand.

"You," he said calmly, unable to keep his mouth from turning up at the corners through his glare, "did that on purpose."

She pressed a hand to her side, her belly cramping from the laughter.

"Oh gods!" she gasped, shaking. "That was... I mean... oh you should... have seen... your... face...!"

He swore at her good naturedly, taking her hand to steady himself as he gingerly moved to his feet. With a grunt, he rubbed at his right knee, looking bothered. There was a large, fat bruise blooming across the surface of his skin, and she could see, even in the coming dusk, that it was starting to swell. He swore again with less humor, and Maia echoed his sentiments; they were both going to have to walk home.

They managed to hobble, the two of them, away from the creeping tide and closer to the stable cliff face, Koda grumbling at her all the while, she laughing at his plight and the crippled pair they made. The sun was close to setting when they finally got to the top of the steepsandstone stairs, plopping down on the grass, legs dangling over the edge to watch the sun set into the sea, leaning back on their hands while they rested aching muscles and caught their breaths.

"There's a punchline in this," he said after a moment's silence, "about your naked body getting me into all kinds of trouble."

Maia lightly punched his side with an indignant laugh, eyes wide with his audacity. They hadn't really talked about their experience, with what seemed like forever ago. It was almost a relief to finally bring it up.

"That was not my idea!" she spluttered. "If you recall, you were the one that decided to... I mean, I just wanted to fix your poor bir-"

Her breath caught in her throat. He had turned to look down at her, that same expression on his face from before. The words died on her lips, and she found herself blushing. She lowered her eyes and turned away, unable to think of anything to say to his wordless question.

A large, three-fingered hand cupped her cheek, turning her back to look up him, his arm winding around her back. The gesture, intimate and strange for all the distance and time between them and those moments in her bed and her home, caught her completely off guard.

She blinked up at him, opening her mouth to ask him-

But he'd drawn her up against him, slid his hands under her cloak and pulled her so very, very close. He didn't kiss her; he simply held her eyes, gazing back, watching as she took in his actions. His eyes followed her tongue as it darted across her bottom lip, a gust of cool air across her bare legs making her tremble.

Koda interpreted her shudder as something else, a flicker of change behind his eyes as he eased his grip and let her settle back down, though he still kept her close. "I'm ... sorry," he said at last, quiet, words tinged with remorse. "I knew, I did," he continued, "That you had meant well when you sent me away." His gray eyes were conflicted, dropping down to her mouth, and slowly moving back up to her own gaze. "The rage, though..."

He shook his head with a sigh, looking away and moving to pull back his arms.

She wouldn't let him; she caught a forearm in her grip, staring back at him. He paused.

"Did you know," he said after a long, quiet moment, "That the only times I have ever given in to the Beserker Rage has been in battle? It's true," he continued, "that all of us have the ability to call on it, in moments desperate or otherwise." He covered her hand with his own, tracing her knuckles with a thick finger, watching himself touch her. "It had never come on me like that before, and has not since."

She frowned, silent and trying to understand. He caught her expression and made a vague gesture.

"Out of no where, in a public place with neither need or fight. I saw you, so out of place and not where you were meant to be, held by that... that..." His breathing was growing ragged, his chest heaving. Maia's eyes went wide as she saw the red tinge his vision, fear making her react.

She shifted up and wound her arms around his neck, tight and hard, and, with a spark of insight, pressed her teeth into his neck where it met his shoulder. He jerked beneath her mouth, wrapping his arms around her with a long, shuddering groan. Clinging to him, she stayed that way, motionless, until his breathing calmed, the rigid lines of his shoulders relaxing bit by bit.

It was a long time, though, until he let her go, turning his head to look at her, the mage practically kneeling in his lap. Even then, he didn't withdraw his arms, simply looking at her, holding her close, contemplating their situation. He inhaled slowly, and let it out with a long, worried sigh.

"I think," he conceded, "That I just might have a weakness for you, brownskin."

Their walk back to the tent was a slow one, both for the limping and the fact that her hand was encased in his. The fact that it was the hand that (still) bore his bracelet did not go unnoticed by Maia.

He settled by the fire, wrapping the fish in a strange casing of clay and herb leaves, a technique, he assured her after her funny expression, was a very tasty way to cook this particular variety of fish. He prepared enough for several meals, then took the rest outside to ready for smoking, at an area on the bank of the lake that had all the equipment meant for such a task.

It left Maia alone with her thoughts, her eyes straying to the cheerful fire and the fish-shaped wedges of clay tucked into the embers, the various parcels and packs tucked neatly along the walls, the weapons, and finally, to their seperate beds.

It was all so cozy and comfortable, but with her observations came a pang of homesickness; she missed her own home by the sea, its private cove and protective walls, her special hotspring, and, especially now that she had a pocket of malleable gold, her tools and torches, gems and work-space.

She tried to push aside such feelings; she was here because Koda had saved her, had brought her into his own sanctuary of his own will to mend and recover. She should be more grateful. Feeling homesick was... was...

...completely normal, she gave in with a mental sigh.

The cloak had a simple brass pin, easy to work with one hand while she removed the garment with the other, hanging it on a post near the door. Through the sheer mesh fabric covering the smoke-hole above, the tent opening, and the large cut in the tent wall that acted as a window, she could see the sun had set moments ago, the stars peeking out through the trees and the low clouds that came in from the sea.

With a frown, Maia wondered if it would rain.

She turned back to the living space within, her thoughts turning with her, and she contemplated the living arrangement. Her thoughts strayed to her time here, how long she'd stay and when she'd leave. This place was peaceful, to be sure, but she knew she couldn't settle here; it wasn't in her nature to share a space with someone for too long. She'd learned that the hard way many a time.

But for now, she was happy here and pleased that Koda had taken her in so fully. It was obvious he was a similar kind of loner as she, though his animal companions spoke of a need for company that she couldn't ever understand. Accepting it, though, was another matter; it was just what he was.

By the time the Troll returned, she had finished rearranging the furnishings. It wasn't much but it made a big difference. When he entered the tent, some comment about the incoming rain on his lips, the sight of her and what she'd done rendered him momentarily silent.

She had carefully unrolled the thick, plush bedding of their seperate sleeping places, unfolding his to accomodate another body, thinking his was better to use as the main space as it would be most comfortable for him. Her bedding she had folded twice over and settled at what would be the head of the bed, as a sort of extra long pillow. One set of blankets had been tucked around the bottom bedding, the rest were made up and folded neatly, the cushions piled behind her and strewn along the 'head' of the bed.

The only way for her to sit comfortable was with her legs stretched out before her, and she'd moved to the side closest to the tent wall to make room for him. Her posture was innocent enough; she wanted to address the unspoken without being too aggressive about it, and besides that, there were things she wanted to ask.

She had been playing with the beads on her wrist, watching her fingers as he'd entered and gone silent. The only sound for several minutes was the crackling of the fire, and the distant rumble of thunder.

"The jerk in the tunnels made a point of attacking me only after he saw this," she murmured quietly, still not looking up at him. "I want you to tell me what it means." Her head remained bowed but her eyes flicked up to his, a challenge in her gaze: I dare you to lie to me.

He said nothing as he sat down across from her, facing her and carefully stretching out his own aching leg, tucking his other foot beneath his bruised knee. With deliberate gentleness, he took her wrist and rolled her hand palm up, planting a soft kiss in the center of her hand.

"It was meant," he began, "as the original gift I'd meant to offer you for healing my bird. Why I didn't just give it to you to begin with... Well, I blame that scandalous thing you were sleeping in; I didn't remember it until the next day, and then you were naked and I completely forgot again." His smile was positively evil, and widened as he watched the blush burn across her face. "It's a token of safety, it was meant to give you safe passage through Troll lands, given that it was obvious you held no ill will towards my kind."

Maia frowned at him. "Obvious?" Not that it wasn't the truth.

He snickered. "I saw the care you gave Blackbird, and how loud he scolded me. You knew where he came from, and yet you didn't kill him. He could have been a spy, or a scout, or a botched attempt to attack you." He tilted his head at her. "You are powerful, and intelligent; if these things crossed your mind, you didn't seem to care."

He stroked the inside of her wrist with his thumb in slow circles. "And when I confronted you," he continued, "you didn't set my face on fire or rip me apart with your mind." He looked up at her again, eyes sparkling. "You froze me in place and ran, and you would have made it, too, if you hadn't tripped."

Maia tugged at her hand. "That Troll..." And here she hesitated, looking for the right word, and opted instead for the one she could only pronounce in Common. "The Atal'ai?" Koda's responding snarl made her jerk, but she continued on, "He said this was how hunter's mark their pets, that it'd be impossible to remove, and that on me it meant ... it meant something much deeper than that." He looked ready to shake his head, but she stopped him. "He believed it, Koda. You should have seen his face when I actually pulled it off."

"Kodakai."

She blinked at him, tilting her head. "Koda..kah-ee?" she tried.

He renewed his grip on her wrist. "Ko-duh-k-eye," he said slowly, drawing her closer.

It was like resisting gravity. She inhaled slowly, repeating, "Kodakai."

He shuddered as he drew her against him, winding his other arm around her waist. "Yes. That is my tribe-name," he murmured, dipping his head to brush her brow with his lips. She closed her eyes. "Most humans can't pronounce it, so I didn't bother to give it. You, though, say it perfectly." His hands settled in the base of her spine, laying back as he pulled her up along his body, moving slowly to let her adjust without wrenching her thigh.

She lay next to him, her face pressed into the column of his throat, her shoulder tucked against his. He rubbed her back in lazy circles, silent again. Thunder rumbled again around them, though his heartbeat under her ear all but drowned it out.

"Why did you bed me?" she asked softly, pressing her lips against the edge of his ear. Again he shuddered, sigh escaping him.

"Why did you let me?" he countered back, his voice just as quiet.

His question was followed by a liquid patter that soon became a constant; it had begun to rain.

It had taken her a lot of courage to finally ask him, and with his returning question, she found she had no answer. Why did I let him?

His hands were not as idle as the conversation. They'd begun to gather up the fabric of her dress a little at a time, drawing up the back of her skirt with such care and stealth that she didn't know she was bare to his hands until his palms cupped the soft curves of her rear. She inhaled sharply and almost went stiff, but his mouth found her shoulder and bit her gently through the cotton. Instantly, she went boneless, trembling against him, and she bit out a nasty, tender curse.

He chuckled into her neck, shifting her to her back, laying on his side along the curves of her body. She looked up at him, suddenly finding it difficult to breathe. In the firelight, half in shadow but outlined in light, he made an imposing figure, the angles of his face in sharp relief as they flickered before her eyes. She brushed her fingers along the line of an ivory tusk, drawing along the edge of his mouth before running her fingertips along the soft, full shape of his bottom lip.

"You are beautiful," she mumbled, pinching gently at his lip with her thumb and forefinger.

Koda arched an eyebrow at her, mouth curving in an impish half-smile. "Is that why?" he teased.

She felt the heat burn through her face, having completely forgotten his question. "No, that's not why-"

He interrupted her again for the fifth time that day, this time with a sudden fierce, hungry kiss, and Maia found her arms around his neck before she'd had time to comprehend what was happening. His tongue demanded entry, and with a moan, she let him in, feeling him sweep along her tongue, flick along the roof of her mouth as he withdrew, only to dip deep once again. Below, his hand had resumed the work of her skirts, hiking them up her thighs before running a rough, warm palm along the inside of her leg. Instinct and desire had her relaxing, thighs twitching open to his touch, and he seemed to take this as permission.

With a press of palm and a careful movement, he drew one thick, calloused finger along the seam of her sex, groaning into her mouth to find her already moist. She broke the kiss with a startled gasp, staring into his eyes as he eased that same, thick finger into her tight, eager opening.

A shudder rippled through her, her back arching against the blankets as her head fell back, feeling him press closer, delving deeper. She whimpered and closed her eyes, fingers digging into the firm shapes of his shoulders as he began to stroke her within in careful, firm movements.

"You're...nnn... changing the subject," she groaned, his answering chuckle making her bite lip as she arched beneath his touch again.

Her hips rose of their own will, Maia unable to help her gasping, plaintive moans of pleasure, her words forgotten. At one point, though, she managed to tilt her head against the cushions and open her eyes, only to find him watching her expression, a look of hungry determination on his face. His intensity broke her, and she felt her muscles begin to spasm around his thrusting finger.

He growled low in his chest, feeling her respond, and quickened his pace from steady to rapid. Her mouth dropped open in a startled cry, brow furrowing as the sensation and pressure tripled within her. With a shudder, she spread her thighs wide and lifted them into him, throwing her head back, mouth open wide in shock, her body straining, unable to breathe.

It seemed an eternity until she came back to herself, and when she did, it was to find her dress gone and a warm Troll just as naked as she stretching out beside her. She was trembling and breathing hard, her lids heavy, unable to tear her eyes away from him.

"You are so expressive," he breathed, settling between her legs, lifting her uninjured one to hook around his narrow hips. "So sensitive..." She felt the hard, thick shape of him brush along her opening, and she whimpered at him, desperate and wordless in her sudden need.

"Please," she whispered, gazing up at him. She lifted her hips and felt the tip of his erection press against the wet, hot, yielding flesh of her body. A plaintive groan escaped her. "Kodakai-"

It was slow, his entrance into her, slow and very, very, very good. While she clawed at his shoulders, cursing and begging him, he maintained his careful, even, steady press into her body. He was much larger than she remembered, thick and ridged, and after the first few inches, her words gave way to startled whimpers, her fingers digging into the blankets beneath her as she felt her body yield and stretch to accomodate his shape. Finally, with a low, satisfied groan, he hilted himself in her, pressed against the apex of her hips, and gloried in her prone, panting state beneath him.

He tortured her with his pace. Withdrawing and thrusting, invading and retreating, he was careful to go slow despite her moaning pleas, her protests and desperate curses. Her nails dug into his elbows when he braced himself on his hands, poised above her as he moved between her legs. If she thought he would bring an end to their desire quickly, he proved her wrong as moments spread to minutes, and minutes to longer. She knew what he was doing, knew that he was trying to kill her with her release, but it was hard to remember that when his slow, steady, ceaseless stroking teased her senses even as they began to build and build and build.

It was getting to be too much; she was begging him, arching beneath him and clawing at his back as the sensations within her began to hike, a slow wave of warm pleasure that threatened to drown her as soon as it could. His breathing was fast, shallow, and she felt the occasional droplet of sweat drip down his jaw and splash upon her breasts. She dared to look up at him, to watch him as he rode her to her coming, arched above her and gazing down his long nose at her. He caught her eyes and growled low at her.

"Come for me, Maia," he groaned through clenched teeth. "Come for me." And with that demand, he changed the game.

Rapid and quick, his hips began to piston between her thighs, his slow, deep trusts exchanged for shallow and fast, one hand gripping the leg about him and tilting her hips just so. Despite her pleading, she was not prepared, her release slamming into her so hard she nearly bucked him off of her.

Throwing her head back with a loud, shrill cry, she jerked beneath him as her orgasm rippled through her. Wave after wave, it poured through nerve and flesh and head and soul, his quicker speed drawing it out longer and longer and longer, until she was shouting his name, leaving red gouges along the planes of his back as she clung to him, desperate and blind and drowning in him.

Koda could take no more, his head falling back, gritting out several savage prayers as he struggled to maintain some control, waiting for her peak to abate before taking his own release. But she was making it so difficult, straining breathless and helpless beneath him, whimpering the most indecent things to him in his own tongue. Still, he struggled to stave off the beast inside of him, and nearly succeeded until his ears caught an incredible thing.

"...yours... yours yours..." she panted, arching beneath him as another ripple of pleasure shot through her.

That was something his body couldn't ignore, and he groaned an apology to the mindless creature beneath him before he caught his hands behind her knees, spread her wide and shifted his angle. He pounded into her, quick, hard, and deep, her soft shapes jostling lewdly as he took her for his own, at last. Her cries were startled, then encouraging, and, finally, joined by his as he gravetfuly found his own release. His cries were loud, feral roars of accomplishment and intense satisfaction as he emptied himself within her, his hands gripping her hips, keeping her close as he pumped and pumped against her.

It's quite possible they blacked out, after that. They found themselves panting and tangled in each other's limbs, caught up in a fierce embrace, she with her legs wound tight about his waist, he with his arms around her shoulders, both on their sides. He was groaning into her hair, undone and free of its braid, his fingers threading into the dark mass as he held her close.

Maia couldn't think. She could only clutch at him, shaking, feeling as though she'd just made an enormous decision and couldn't for the life of her understand what it was. But it'd been important, this act, this moment, and she knew that something inside of her was changed forever. Blissful and sated in a way she couldn't describe or ever remember happening before, she felt something stolen from her, and wondered if maybe, just maybe, this hunter had ruined her comfort in solitude forever...

To be continued.
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The Price of Gratitude