A/N: this interlude takes place during the final chapter (#18, “That's The Way”), of my fic Untouchable, which can be found on my homepage.
Aruna II
-I suppose we'll have to leave this room at some point.
-Maybe in a little bit. We're busy right now.
Everything else had fallen away some time ago, from the first few moments they'd entered the Jedi's quarters in the Arunai palace; in the back of Captain Stonewall's mind he knew that his men were out in the city – enjoying the spring festival – and that they would be welcome among the locals. He remembered following Kalinda Halcyon into her room, noting the wide windows that opened onto the fading afternoon, the gauzy curtains that lifted with a brush of wind, the scent of champa and sandalwood incense that meandered up from the city below.
But all of that had fled his thoughts the moment that Kali kissed him and he felt the Force spiraling between them once again. It was a remarkable sensation, dizzying and disorienting at first, as he was unused to the strange energy he'd only become sensitive to in the last day or so. For a moment, Stonewall had felt as though he was rising up into space, untethered and adrift. It had been difficult to focus on anything but the wild thrum of the Force through his veins.
And then Kali had reached her arms around him, moving her hands below his tunic and discarding it on the floor even as she kissed his bare chest. The action brought about a heady rush of desire and his focus shifted from the sense of disorientation to the arousal that her touch was inciting.
That had made for an interesting – if all-too-brief – span of time.
Afterward, they had simply laid beside one another, talking of idle things that he couldn't remember now...until Kali had brought out the scarf and began to toy with him. Even as she'd flicked the scarf at him, the playful gesture underwritten with anticipation, all he'd been able to focus on was the woman beneath the blue and purple strip of silk. She'd made some lighthearted comment, to which he'd replied, but all he could think of was the way her body would lift against his own if he were to reach forward and kiss her.
So he did.
It was not unusual for Stonewall to kiss her, to wrap his hand through Kali's dark hair and pull her closer to him as though his very life depended on her body's proximity to his. The dark-haired woman sighed, her warm breath mingling with his when Stonewall wrapped his arms around her shoulders and pulled her to him, so that they were sitting on their folded knees on top of the bed. The Force sang in his veins as Kali melted under his touch, the scarf sliding from her neck to the sheets, forgotten.
Or so he thought.
Abruptly she pulled back, and he noted how her lips were flushed pink from the intensity of the kiss; he couldn't help but think of it as
his handiwork, so he smiled at her despite the haze of arousal. “What's up?” As he said the words he leaned forward to nuzzle the dip of skin that rested between her collarbone and neck.
Seemingly lost as he was, Kali said nothing at first besides a few incoherent murmurs. However, after a few more moments she sat back on her heels, running the scarf through her fingers as she studied him. Suddenly, she smiled. It was not a smile of teasing or pleasure, though it held the promise of such things. No, Stonewall knew her expressions very well, and he realized at once that
this particular one was a signal that something interesting was about to happen.
“I have an idea.”
A thousand different things rushed through his brain, but he only raised a brow at her, waiting. The smile widened and she leaned forward, lifting the scarf up between both of her hands. Before he knew what was happening, she had placed it over his eyes, wrapping the swathe of silk around his head and tying it securely at the base of his skull. For a moment he was disoriented in a different way as he adjusted to the sudden loss of one of his senses; then he felt a soft brush against his awareness, akin to Kali running her finger down his cheek.
Interesting...I've heard of this kind of thing with the Force, but we've never tried it. The captain cleared his throat, but before he could speak, she did.
“Stonewall, with the Force comes a tremendous responsibility,” she said, a faint trace of levity in her otherwise solemn tone. He shivered as he felt her touch in earnest now: her hand skimming from shoulder to wrist along the length of his arm. “And since you can access it now – for whatever reason – I suppose that we should start teaching you how to properly wield it.”
With these words her hand lifted and he realized that he'd been leaning into it; her sudden absence made his fingertips ache with desire. “I don't know what you have in mind, but I'm not really in the mood for lightsaber training, Kali.” It was an effort to keep his tone conversational, as his body was rebelling against the rapidly growing space between them.
But she seemed not to notice. Stone felt the mattress shift as she moved away from him. It felt as though she was settling into a cross-legged position – indeed, after a moment she urged him to do the same. “No lightsabers, right now. Just you and me.” There was a smile in her voice.
“Then what exactly am I supposed to...” At once he felt a dance of sensation along his skin, as if she was kissing him all over, within and without the confines of his body. The words fell away and he gave a sharp inhale, the thick scent of incense outside the window mingling with the afternoon air. It was Kali, he knew, but in a completely different way than he was used to; for one moment her consciousness surrounded and filled him with light, warmth and desire. It was all he could do to not fall backward, reeling.
The feeling ended after only the span of a heartbeat, leaving his chest rising and falling as though he'd been sprinting. “Wow.” Stonewall shook his head, blinking behind the blindfold, which had grown warm against his eyelids. “You've never done
that before...” It was true; she'd used the Force during their lovemaking many times, but nothing even close to the sensation he'd just experienced.
Kali laughed. “
That particular technique really only works with another Force-sensitive.” He could see her brow arching in his mind's eye. “There are others, too.”
At this, Stonewall sat up. Desire had turned the pulse of his blood to a lilting throb, and while his body was getting rather demanding, he couldn't help his curiosity about this new bit of intel. “Like what? And how can I...replicate it, for you?”
Another spark of laughter, and he smiled as the mattress dipped and she leaned into him, kissing him once before sitting back again. “It's actually very simple,” she said. “The Force is an energy field that resides within and without us, right?”
“I may have heard that mentioned before,” he replied with a grin.
“You can tap into it, can't you? It's like...like dipping your hand into a pool of water; what you draw out, you can use for whatever purpose you need.”
Stone nodded; the previous day, right after he'd discovered his newly-gained Force sensitivity, he'd been able to draw on the strange energy. At her urging, he did so, thinking that her explanation was rather apt. It felt like the Force was in his veins, and after a moment he was able to gather some of the energy to him – not much, as it still felt a bit slippery – but it was something. “Okay...now what?”
“Think about what you want to do to me,” she replied. “And do it.”
He reached for her, but she slid away from him so that he only touched empty air. “With the Force,” she added.
“There are a lot of things I want to do to you, but they involve me actually
touching you, Kali,” he said, his voice dropping in pitch.
There was a smile in her reply. “There will be plenty of that in a minute, Stone. For now...just think. Imagine.” Her tone softened and the words seemed to draw out, bringing him into a strangely relaxed state, despite the insistence of his body.
As it turned out, it was an easy thing to do, and within moments he was imagining running his fingertips along the swell of her hips just before he leaned down to flick his tongue across her left nipple, then her right.
She would shift beneath me, he thought.
And her chest would lift as her breathing quickened. In his mind, he moved his mouth lower, to her navel, then lower still so that he was just above her core. He imagined the skin of her inner thighs beneath his hands – smooth and soft in a way that was different from anything else he'd ever touched – and then the way her entire body would tense as he-
A soft gasp brought his mind out of the moment and he swiveled his head in her direction. “How was that? Did it work?”
Her reply was a bit breathless, which made him chuckle. “I think you've got that part down...let's move on to the next lesson.” The mattress shifted as she moved closer to him; a thrill of relief shot through him, coupled with the rising tide of desire that he was having a difficult time holding back.
“Which is?”
There was no answer because she was in his arms, and he sighed as her mouth found his. For several minutes they remained so, kneeling before one another; he kissed her lips, the curve of her jaw and the smooth skin of her neck, while he wove his hands in her hair, twining the strands around his fingers enough to gently tug her closer and closer. The champa and sandalwood faded next to the warm scent of her skin and the distant sound of the city disappeared with her breath against his ear. She whispered his name, once, which made him give a quiet growl of satisfaction, especially when she nipped at his earlobe, then skimmed her fingers through his hair as she tilted her head to kiss him again.
The energy that built within him was slower this time, more gradual, like some serpent uncoiling from the base of his spine to wend its way up through the crown of his head. There was a brightness to it, a radiating sensation of something fierce and wild in his arteries, like his blood had turned to starlight. So when he felt the touch of the Force along with the physical sensation of Kali's skin against his, it was almost more than he could bear.
Almost.
As it was, it was difficult to return the favor, but he managed to draw upon the energy even as he kissed her; the action of sending sensations back to her felt instinctual now, strange a notion as it was, but really there was no time for thoughts like that, because in the next moment her body shifted up and over, her arms wrapped around his shoulders for support as she placed her legs on either side of his hips and before he knew it was happening he felt himself slide into her.
For an instant it was all he could do to remember to breathe.
The sensation was never one he got used to: the feeling of being compacted by heat and skin alike coupled with the knowledge that he was as close to this woman –
his woman, in this moment – as it was possible to be, nearly brought him to the brink right away, particularly after their forays with the Force.
But he had learned how to control himself, and was able to suppress the urge to let himself go, knowing that his efforts would be rewarded.
And they were. Her body undulated against his and he felt the rush of energy merging with his other senses – heightened without his sight and with the addition of the Force – with the slightly salted taste of her skin beneath his lips and the thick scent that surrounded them that had long since overwhelmed that of the sandalwood. Pleasure filled him from within, wrought as much from her movements as from the energies with which she was caressing him. It was difficult to return the action at first, as the sensations brought about a deluge of excitement upon his careful control, but slowly, even as her hips rocked against his, he was able to manage.
It was when he heard the sound of his own name, more of a gasp than a string of syllables, that he knew he'd been successful. His hands lowered from her back, grasping her seat to better position himself so that he was as deep as possible; she murmured his name again and he felt a further rush of energy, power and heady strength, permeate him even as he was within her.
Through all of this, Stone thought that he might have said her name, or at least choked it out at some point. Behind the blindfold his eyes had long since closed, but he could see her in his mind, make out the map of her body and consider where it was he wanted to visit. He finally settled on focusing his energy to her core; with the fingertips of his left hand he sought her softness, finding the bead of flesh that he knew would bring about her release. It was extraordinarily difficult to thread his concentration through the host of other sensations, but he managed to focus – somehow – and coax her along even as he felt his own control wavering.
Their movements sharpened. Her hands wound within his hair, her mouth was parted beneath his and their breathing coalesced into spirals of heat. Kali's body tightened around him, alerting him to the fact that she was reaching the moment of release, and lucid thought fled his mind completely as he felt his own approaching.
Stone felt her awareness brush his then, and even as a minuscule portion of his mind marveled at her ability to manage such a thing, Force-energy shimmered within him and suddenly his pleasure increased exponentially. It was as if he was experiencing – not only the feel of his own orgasm – but hers as well. But the feeling reached past physical. Stonewall was filled with her essence, akin to a light that illumined the darkest crevices of his mind. While he emptied himself into her body, he was at the same moment saturated with her spirit, and never in his life had he imagined he could be so fused with another person.
For several moments after this, they clung to one another, breathing heavily. Reaching his arms around her shoulders, Stonewall inhaled the scent of her hair, placing a single kiss against the spot of skin between her ear and cheek, as words were still forthcoming. In response, he felt her reach around his head and unravel the scarf, which fell across his back and to the mattress behind him. He blinked a few times as his eyes readjusted to the light, and he realized with a start that it was dusk outside.
Kali smiled at him and he returned the look before tilting his forehead down to touch hers while he held her gaze. Her dark eyes closed and she inhaled, as if imbuing her senses with him; the slight movement stirred him with arousal, as he was still within her. When he was certain that he could speak without his voice breaking, he cleared his throat. “Wow.”
There was a kiss against his cheek, then his jaw, then – oddly enough – the tip of his nose, but she said nothing for several moments until she sighed against his mouth, and nodded. “I know.” Suddenly she leaned back, rolling her hips against his in such a way that caused his thoughts to begin muddling again. “Of course, that's just the tip of the iceberg.”
Through his increasing haze, Stonewall eyed her. “Really?” Even as he said the word he felt the touch of the Force, urging him from his sated, complacent attitude into a piqued state as desire trickled back to him.
That's going to come in handy... He grinned at her. “This Force-thing is better than I'd imagined. No wonder you Jedi are all so serene...now, what was that about an iceberg?”
Her reply flickered with laughter even as she pulled his face to hers for another kiss. “Stick around, Stone, and I'll show you.”
