The days after the visit to Lotus's home passed in a gentle rhythm. My magic felt different now: Deeper and steadier, like a river that now had its banks.
It rose when I called it, steadily but strong, and without the wild surges that used to leave scorch marks on the grove.
I practiced in the grove with renewed focus, and even our insincere Tamar grudgingly admitted my barriers were "almost acceptable."
Progress, I guess.
Sara watched every session with her hand often finding mine when we rested, her smiles so soft and pleased.
Yet… something had changed in her. She was modest in the evenings, her touches lingering a little longer, and her eyes searching mine as if looking for answers to questions she hadn't yet spoken aloud.
I felt my new bond with Lotus bustling quietly inside me, like some really good, warm milk chocolate. And I wondered if Sara felt it too.
Not that I plan to keep secrets from her, but… she's been a bit off, if I could say.
One afternoon, after I'd finally managed to weave a perfect barrier of light that held for minutes instead of seconds, Sara kissed my cheek and stepped back.
"Go rest in the treehouse," she said with a gentle voice. "I need some time alone. The upper falls… I want to bathe there and think."
I hope everything is okay with her.
I nodded, respecting the weight behind her words. "It's fine. Take all the time you need."
She smiled, but it didn't quite reach her eyes.
I watched her climb the vine paths, auburn hair catching the light, until she disappeared among the higher platforms.
Something in my chest tightened—concern, perhaps—but I trusted her. She'd come back bright again when she was ready.
SARA'S INTERLUDE
The climb to the upper falls always cleared my mind.
By the time I reached the hidden pool, my breath was steady again, the warm cascade spilling into crystal water that steamed gently in the late afternoon sun.
No one came here often; the climb was extreme, and the Amazons respected each other's need for solitude.
I slipped out of my leaf-woven clothes and stepped into the water. The water felt perfect; It was warm from the sun—silky, lapping at my thighs, my waist, my nipples as I sank deeper.
And then I closed my eyes.
For a long while I simply floated, letting the water hold me. I leaned against a smooth rock and let the current hold me.
Then the thoughts came, uncontrolled and inevitable.
Benjamin.
His face appeared behind my eyelids: those piercing blue eyes that had looked so lost when I first found him.
The way he had trembled under my touch that first night, awed and grateful, as if I was the miracle god-touched instead of him. The sound of his voice saying my name in the dark, breathless and worshipful…
I carried him when he could barely walk. I gave him his first kiss, his first everything.
And that night in the treehouse… he'd looked at me like I was the only woman in the world. His hands shaking, and his voice rough when he said my name as he poured his seed inside me for the first time.
I truly loved those moments…
"Mine… HE'S MINE!"
…But was he?
No, he currently wasn't just mine anymore. Those… thieves.
Images flickered: My hand moved without thinking, sliding down my stomach, between my legs. I was already so wet, and not just from the water.
I spread my thighs wider, my fingers finding my clit, rubbing slow loops that made my breath hitch.
Heka came to mind… her quiet smiles when she helped Benjamin with his spear forms. The way she leaned into him just a little too long.
"So infuriating."
Martha's laugh, loud and free when he wrestled with her on the training platform.
"No, don't touch him!"
Lulu blushing every time he praised her magic.
"Chea… Cheap whore…"
That Tamar snapping at him, but always standing closer than she needed to.
"…Untruthful spoiled brat."
And now, that Lotus too. Prehistoric, wise, and beautiful Lotus.
I didn't know exactly what happened on that balcony, but I felt some heightened level of bond between them.
I could imagine it too easily: Benjamin's gentle hands on her ancient body, his mouth on her breasts, moving his tongue inside her caves, slow and reverent, giving her something she hadn't felt in thousands of years, I presume.
The image stung me; sharp, hot, and unfamiliar.
Was this jealousy…?
I had never felt it before, not truly.
Amazons shared strength, shared pleasure, shared the future of the tribe. Bonds were meant to multiply, not divide.
I had stood proud during the Rite, watching him with the others, telling myself it was right, it was necessary.
But now, alone in this water, I couldn't lie to myself.
I wanted him only for me.
My other hand moved to my breast, squeezing hard, pinching the nipple until I gasped. My fingers below moved faster, dipping inside, then back to my clit, now glossy and swollen.
I wanted to be the only one he touched, the only one he looked at like that, the only one he filled with his semen.
I then pictured him above me that first night… so cautious and uncertain, but then hungry, filling my hole so perfectly. The way he had looked at me afterward, like I was his entire world… I don't get that anymore… It hurts.
Then another contemplation fell into mind: Lotus, silver hair loose, golden eyes dark with long-buried desire, Benjamin moving his cock inside her with more than the reverence he had ever shown me.
The jealousy flared hotter, but so did the heat between my legs.
My breath quickened. I fucked myself harder, two fingers inside now, thumb on my clit, palm grinding against it. My hips bucked in the water, breasts bouncing with each thrust of my hand.
I pinched my nipple again, twisted it, the pain mixing with pleasure until my head fell back.
"I want him only for myself," the thought came out, raw and fierce. Followed by drizzling tears. "I found him! I'm the one that saved him. I loved him first, before even those...!"
…Eh…?
The word stopped me in my trails.
Love.
I stilled as my eyes unwillingly widened, water splashing gently at her breasts, my heart pounding.
Yes. Love is the term.