Spirits Forged in Fire

Thanks to Nemesis, who pointed out some faults with certain titles; i have been taking too many classes in British literature for my own good, and I have edited my mistakes. Here is the next section of the story, I hope you all enjoy. Keep up the reviews guys!
Meg

Briseis awoke when she heard the tent flap pulled open. Although it was still dark, she could tell by the easy animal grace of the entering figure that it was Achilles. She sat up in bed, and watched him.

"Where did you go?" She questioned softly, fear evident in her trembling voice.

"Shh Briseis. It does not matter, you need not worry for your safety. Agamemnon may be proud, but he is not stupid enough to see you brought to him once more against my orders." Achilles answered curtly, his voice sounding harsher than he meant. Ashamed of her unwarranted fears, Briseis said nothing, but lie back on the bed, turning away from him. She heard Achilles take a deep breath, take off his robe, and then walk over to where she lay. He said nothing for a few minutes, but slowly sat down onto the bed next to her and covered his naked body with a sheet. Aware than he was watching her, and slightly unnerved, Briseis sat up and faced him. She flinched when he lifted a hand to grasp her cheek, and
something inside of him was wounded at the look in her eyes.

"I am sorry Briseis, for I have a lot on my mind. I still swear that I will never hurt you, do you believe that?" She nodded in return, but Achilles was still painfully aware of the look of turnoil within her eyes. She resembled a doe who had been mortally wounded; the fire that he had seen behind the deep brown had gone out. "Why do you fear me?" He asked her, as his hand dropped to his side.

"I...I dont know. I was taken from my home, my family. All that I know, all that I hold dear is lost to me. Agamemnon, he....today he scared me in a way I never knew I could feel fear. He..." She trailed off, tears once again appearing in her wide brown eyes.

"You dont have to....I am sorry." Achilles said, stroking a finger along her cheek to wipe away a tear. With that small comforting motion though, some of Briseis' strength returned, and she spoke again, slightly louder this time.

"He kissed me, and I tasted blood, my blood. It was like he wanted to suck out my soul from between my closed lips, but I could not move to fight him off." A part of Achilles died as he heard the humiliation behind her words, and his body seemed posessed as he leaned in and gently brushed his lips against hers. Although she froze at first, her lips softened to his, and slighty parted. When he leaned back, surprised at his actions, he saw that her eyes were still closed. Slowly they opened to stare into his.

"I'm sorry, I shouldnt have done that," he stammered quickly, and moved to stand up off the bed. He was stayed by the gentle touch of her hand on his cheek.

"No. Do that again, please. Your touch is so different, you make me forget." As Achilles stared into her eyes, shocked at her brutal honesty, and the shy wanting behind her words, he leaned back towards her. He started to speak in response, but instead leaned in to grace her lips with another gentle kiss. His arm wrapped around her, supporting her behind her back, while his other arm braced on the bed. He slowly began to stretch out on the bed, gently allowing her to lean back into his arm. There they paused, facing eachother on the bed, her eyes swollen and red from tears stared into his troubled blue ones. With renewed strength, she began her story again.

"I slapped him, and he...he threw me onto the ground. Before I could get up though was on top of me, pinning me down." Briseis became aware of Achilles war-roughened hand moving up to push a strand of hair behind her ear, and then resting on the side of her face to caress her cheek and neck. "He grabbed my hands, and pinned them above my head, twisting them so that my shoulders and arms burned." Her breath caught in her throat when his hand traveled down to her shoulder, and gently down her arm. Where Agamemnon's hands had bruised her wrists, Achilles hands now stroked them, alleviating any remaining sensation of pain. With another deep breath, she continued. "He...his hands were on me, and he grabbed my chest, hurting, all the while his lips...it was like they were invading me, and I was unable to stop him. He.." Her voice trailed off, as Achilles lips were once again over her own. Rather than wanting though, the conveyed a message of consolation, of comfort. Briseis slowly kissed him back, yielding her pain and fear to him. His hands now traveled to her covered chest, where with featherlight touch they skimmed over her breasts, erasing the lingering feelings of Agamemnons hands on them. "With his bare hands, he ripped off my robe, exposing me to his prying eyes. I couldnt look at him...I had to look away...he was" She trailed off as Achilles hadn traveled up to her shoulder. She looked into his questioning blue eyes, and nodded slightly. With her approval, his fingers slid the robe off of her shoulder, and down to jsut above her elbow, exposing one full white breast. His hand, still gentle, brushed over top of her nipple, and then opened to softly cup the entire breast, his fingers eliciting chills from the young woman. Her breath came quicker, and he saw the rise and fall of her chest become more pronounced as his exploring fingers traced shapeless patterns onto her creamy white skin. His hand trailed up to her neck, and then drew a line down into the valley of her cleavage, begging her to trust him, seeking to erase all memories of the afternoon's brutal attack. "I bit him, and he hit me so hard that I thought I would lose my senses. Next thing I knew, he was naked, and his hands were in me, and he...he was right there...I thought he would..." A soft sob escaped her throat, but Achilles gave her a moment. "He was about to push into me, and all I could think of was that I would rather have died. He was hard, and unyielding, and I felt as if I had already been ripped in two...I knew that if he...if he...did that...and then you were there, and I knew you wouldnt let me...let him.."

"Shhhh beautiful Briseis. Do not worry yourself, I swear to you, I will never let any man do that to you. Shhh, its ok." He soothed, his hand now at her face. He leaned in and kissed her cheek, kissing her tears away. With his cheek next to her mouth, Briseis used the last of her senses and whispered,

"He didnt have me, because you were there...you were there."

Backing up to look at her, Achilles clear blue eyes stared into hers, promising sincerity. "I will always be there," and he kissed her again softly. Briseis clung to him, in desperation to make the afternoon go away, and kissed him. Achilles eyes fluttered shut when he tasted her need, he want, and he reigned in his passion so as not to scare the young maid. But hers was not to be so successfully controlled. With her shirt still pushed down to her arms, she leaned closer to him, and deepened the kiss. When his lips open, her inexperienced tongue entered his mouth, and he had to fight back his desire to roll her over and take her. Instead, both of his arms encirled her and hugged her tight, while she poured everything into the kiss. Of their own accord, his hands traveled down her body, over her buttocks, and around to the side of her thighs. Gently, he lifted up her leg to rest on his hip, and their bodies came even closer together. She gasped in pleasure as his lips moved to her neck, and her head rolled sideways to grant him better access. Her head tilted back as a quiet moan escaped her lips, while his mouth made love to her neck. She felt his growing arousal up against the spot where Agamemnon had so violently tried to tresspass that day, and was surprised at a rush of warmth throughout her body. She tilted her hips towards him, desiring to put more pressure into the touch of their most private areas, although she was still clothed and he was covered with a sheet. His hand moved down slightly further, to grasp the side of her robe, and lift it up to expose her from the waist down. Although there was a chill in the air, Briseis felt as though she were on fire. Still on their sides, the two continued their embrace, as their tongues caressed and explored the others mouth. Briseis, having only seen a man topless from afar, moved her hands up to explore Achilles smooth and muscular chest. Her tentative touches brought forth a groan from Achilles, but Briseis saw in his tightly closed eyes that it was of pleasure and not of something she had done wrong. While her hands moved across his chest and back, Achilles dared his hands to move in between her virgin legs. When his seeking finger came into contact with her most intimate area, Briseis shuddered at the sudden race of adrenaline that coursed through her body. Her hips rocked forward of their own accord, opening herself to his gentle fingers. While he coaxed pleasure from her, Briseis made the bold decision to move her hands further down. She pulled the sheet off of Achilles, and looked into his feverish eyes for permission to continue. His eyes glazed over, as her fingers reached his erection. She traced her hand delicately over the velvety skin, surprised at its softness, and at the amazing amount of heat that it gave off. his hips thrust forward when he palm came in contact with the sensitive tip, and Briseis became aware of a deep feminine need within. She leaned back from her position on her side, and in return, Achilles muscular body followed her own, and moved on top of her. His hands on either side of her shoulders, his head dipped to kiss her fervently, and she returned the kiss,. Her hand moved up to rest on his back, and pulled him down, closer to her.

"My lady, we must stop. I cannot contain myself for much longer...please" Achilles said huskily, his voice deep with need and wanting.

"Dont" she whispered. He looked into her eyes, seeking reaffirmation of her response, and wrapped his arms underneath her when he saw his own desperation echoed there in her soul. He lifted her upper body to come into direct contact with his, as his legs settled in between hers. His erection posed directly outside of her, he slowly moved forward until both he and Briseis shuddered with the lightening that coursed through their bodies at the contact of their heat. Determind to move slowly, Achilles reigned himself back, and simply moved up and down at her entrance. Briseis once again shocked him by grabbing his lower back, and pulling him closer to her. Once the head of his erection was within her, Achilles could not control the sudden thrust of his hips, burying his entire length into her virgin body. She shuddered and cried out, as he felt like a part of him cried out with her. As she buried her head into his shoulder, he grabbed her even tighter.

"I am so sorry..." he whispered into her hair. After a moment though ,the pain subsided, and she lifted her face to meet his in a desperate kiss. He rocked his hips back, and moved back into her, setting a slow yet steady motion. After a few thrusts, Briseis began to move with him, all the while clinging to him like he was her lifeline. A celebrated hero, Achilles had had many women before, but none before had tugged at his soul in the way that she had, and he feared for his mortality as he suddenly knew that he could never be content with another. This feisty little priestess, who had just that day tried to poison him, had left something much more deadly coursing through his veins. When she gasped out loud, and he felt her walls clenching around, all was lost as he poured himself into, seed and soul. Briseis, sated and exhausted, collapsed back onto the bed in a state of near delirium, amazed at what she had jsut done, at what he had just given her. For even if she died tomorrow, he had given her heaven tonight, as she was convinced even the gods would give up immortality to feel the pleasure that she had just felt, even for only one night. Achilles, though sated, dwelled in the afterglow with bittersweet thoughts. He knew that the fame he had been seeking all of his life would be found here, on these foreign shores, but that the young woman by his side would never be safe here. In the morning, he would return her to Troy, where he knew that Hector, no matter what happened, would put her life before his. He had read the grief in the prince's eyes, and knew that the man would have laid down his life for her, as he would for Troy. She would be safe within its walls, and should the city be overthrown, he knew that she had a better chance of escape with her family than with him. His mothers ominous words stuck with him, as he knew that there was a good chance he would never leave this city alive. If he should fall, Briseis would fall victim to the hungers of soldiers and King alike. He loved this woman, but he would rather see her escape with her family than risk all by remaining here with him.

Briseis inhaled in Achille's masculine scent, and rested her weary head on his sweaty chest. His arms encircled her tightly, almost desperately, as she wondered what went through his mind to merit the protectivity that he displayed over her. Not daring to question the man and break the heated silence, Briseis soon found sleep in his arms. Achilles found no sleep that night, wondering how on earth he would be able to give her up tomorrow.