Chapter 6Soon they found themselves in a place she knew. They were not far from the Mirror Pool, in that tunnel where she'd followed him five days ago. She recognized the low, narrow entrance hidden behind a rocky boulder and raised questioning eyes to him.
He smiled "We'll have to crawl for a short time. I'm afraid there is no other way, Catherine."
She grinned back, happy that he'd decided to take her there. "It's all right, I don't mind, I know it's not long." Getting down on her knees, she entered the gallery, Vincent behind her.
It was dark. She hadn't noticed the first time how dark it was, too worried about Vincent to care about anything else. Only a faint light could be seen a few yards ahead and she progressed toward it on her hands and knees, lowering her head to avoid the irregularities of the ceiling. A stone rolled under her hand, causing her to almost lose her balance. She stopped abruptly and Vincent who followed her close, bumped into her from behind.
"Oh, sorry.." she started, but stopped with a gasp when a powerful wave of raw hunger washed over her. She heard a low growl and felt his body mold itself tight to hers, his arousal evident. Never had she felt the wildness in him so close to the surface, and her body immediately responded, attuned to his desire at the most primal level. She instinctively pushed backwards, taunting him, daring him to take her now in that dark crawlway, her knees suddenly weak with the need to feel him inside her. Now, oh, please, now!
Summoning a strength of will he'd never known he possessed, Vincent managed to get hold of himself, and resist their shared desire, promising himself this was the very last time he would do so. "Please, Catherine!" he panted, reluctantly releasing her to urge her the rest of the way. Heeding his demand with a soft frustrated moan, she hastily crawled the last few yards. She emerged in the cavern and straightened up, blinking as she looked around her. Last time she'd been there she'd been so focused on Vincent that she'd paid no attention to the place, but she was sure it hadn't looked that way.
It was about the same size as Vincent's chamber, with a somewhat lower ceiling, and a sandy floor now partly covered with threadbare carpets. There were candles everywhere in niches of the rocky walls, and on the stone boulders scattered around the cave, but only a big, long-lasting one was lit, in the corner where she'd found Vincent last time. There a large, thick mattress had been laid on the carpeted ground, covered with a quilt, a few cushions adding a cozy, welcoming touch. Their bed! She thought of the hard time Vincent must have had hauling all this through the crawlway and turned a delighted face to him.
"Oh, Vincent, it's perfect, just wonderful, thank you, my love!"
She felt his pleasure at her appreciation, but there was a touch of embarrassment in him, too, and she knew why. She came against him, locking her arms around his neck to hold him close, and nuzzled his throat.
"I would have loved that, Vincent!" she whispered in a suggestive voice.
He pulled away to stare at her in awe. The wide open bond left no place to doubt, and he knew that she truly meant it. Had he followed his wildest instinct in the dark crawlway, torn her clothes away to violently thrust into her as he'd felt the almost irresistible urge to, she would have welcomed it with a matching need, an equal savagery. What's so strange about that? the voice snorted derisively. She's your mate, the one meant for you! There's nothing you could want from her that she doesn't want too!
Elated, a wild feeling of freedom coursing through his whole being, he lifted her from the ground to swing her around, laughing to her surprised face. "Oh, Catherine, you will never cease to amaze me!"As he finally put her back on her feet their gazes met and locked with sudden intensity. Slowly, he lowered his head to capture her mouth in a searing kiss. She molded her body to his solid strength, rubbing herself sensuously against him, until she couldn't stand any more. Parting her lips slightly from his, she whispered an urgent plea.
"Love me now, Vincent! Please don't make me wait any longer."
"I won't!" he growled against her mouth. "The waiting is over, Catherine!" he added, sweeping her up in his arms to walk to the bed. There he put her back on her feet and gently took her coat off, laying it on a stool nearby.
His eyes locked on hers, he started undressing her with slow, caressing gestures. With an impatient moan, she raised her hands to help him, but he pushed them off. "Please, let me." he husked, fumbling to find the clasp of her bra, the fleeting contact of his fingers on her naked skin making her moan again in sweet torture.
Soon she was bare to the waist and he couldn't help running his hands on her satiny skin, as if to make sure that she was real, that she was his.
"Vincent!" she pleaded.
Gently he urged her down to the bed and knelt in front of her to remove her shoes and socks. Making her lie down, he undid the fastening of her trousers to pull them off. As he was filling his eyes with the sight of his beloved's almost bare body, her scent rose to his nostrils, telling him of her arousal, of her urgent need. Swiftly he removed the last wisp of lace that covered her and stood up. For a few seconds he remained still, looking at his Catherine.
He was towering over her, still fully dressed, a living image of power as she in her turn lay naked and totally vulnerable in front of him. She could feel the strength of his desire through the bond, too, still under iron control, and knew he needed that short time to reassure himself before taking the final step. She relaxed under his searing gaze, letting him feel her complete trust and certainty. There was no ignoring the utter eroticism of the moment, though, and the strength of her own desire soon couldn't allow the waiting to last any longer.
"Vincent, please!" she could hardly recognize the mewling plea as her own voice, all she knew was that she'd surely go mad if he didn't come to her.
He knelt down near the bed and let his hand run down the length of her body in a both soothing and tantalizing caress. "Soon, Catherine!" he promised, and stood up again to undress quickly under her avid eyes. She watched his golden beauty reveal itself as the clothes disappeared one by one until he was bare to her sight. He stood one more second over her, naked and fully aroused, seeking a last reassurance from the Bond, before joining her at last. They clung to each other, moaning in delight at that first full skin contact.
Vincent felt as if he was going to die from sheer bliss. Nothing in his previous experience could have prepared him to the feeling of Catherine's bare flesh against his. Part of him wanted to make the moment last, savor this intimate contact and take time to thoroughly explore his beloved's body, inch by precious inch.
He would, later. Now was not the time. Now both his flesh and Catherine's were crying out for completion, now the Bond urgently demanded that their bodies be joined, as their souls had always been.
He came over her, carefully but leaving enough of his weight on her that she could feel it and she welcomed it with a moan, instantly wrapping her thighs around his waist to hold him tight. He could feel the wet warmth of her against his throbbing flesh, and it was almost more than he could stand.
"Catherine!" he groaned, before taking her mouth in a greedy kiss. He felt her small eager hand travel down and couldn't help a muffled growl when she got hold of him. He broke the kiss to meet her darkened eyes.
"Now, Vincent!" she breathed, guiding him to her wet, waiting core. The heat of her called out to him, she was so ready!
"Forever, Catherine." he husked as he entered her gently at first, conscious of his size, amazed that she could take him in at all. She was so small, and tight, but he felt her flesh yield to him, welcome him, and in a mighty thrust he sank blissfully into his Catherine.
"Forever." she answered, the end of the word lost in a gasp as she felt him inside her at last. She'd never had the smallest doubt about the possibility of it, to her it was something that just had to be, but the reality of him filling her was beyond her wildest dreams. Vincent was everywhere, on her, around her, inside her body and her soul. In this precious moment he was her whole universe, as she knew she was his, and nothing existed any more outside the boundaries of their bond.
As one, they began to move together, so attuned to each other that their sensations were no more separate, that their shared pleasures merged into a single, powerful wave of rapture. Sensual growls rose to fill the silent cavern, mingled with soft cries. Together they rode the crest of that wave higher and higher as they quickened the pace in a blind, instinctive race for completion.
And very soon it was upon them. Vincent's growls built into a full roar and he arched against Catherine to lose himself in her convulsing depths, as they were carried over the edge together in a myriad of shooting stars.
He collapsed on her shoulder, instinctively shifting his weight slightly on the side, still buried deep inside her. They remained silent for a long time, clinging to each other as they floated languorously back down to earth, reluctant to let go of the wonderful oneness they shared and become two separate beings again, even if they knew their connection was now stronger than it had ever been.