Part 05
The fire was almost out again. Must be the logs, must remind Clem to get better quality logs that burn longer.
She wondered whether time was passing quicker than normal and was surprised when the clock showed just past 10pm. She wondered if the moon was up yet, it was supposed to be a night of the full moon. Perhaps, she wasn't sure. She knew she should feel ashamed about letting such important information lapse, but she simply didn't care anymore.
She felt herself growing weaker as the cumulative effects of not feeding properly, and the events of the day, took their toll. She wondered if there had been studies on how long a vampire could survive without blood, and how it would feel to fade away. Would she suddenly become dust as her body ran out of whatever it was that sustained it? Or would she merely lose consciousness and return to her natural, dead state?
With difficulty, she tried to recall the dream just passed. She closed her eyes and thought back to the first few days that she and Tara were together, of how unbelievably happy she felt. But of course it didn't last. Nothing did, for she was a monster.
A human shape. A warm, soft human shape.
She knew who it was, but she remained expressionless.
"Master, awaiting your instructions," the competent minion at the control room said quietly.
Willowâs steady voice didnât betray the anticipation raging through her. "Let her through. Take her to my Sanctum, no disturbances."
~~~~~
The black glass doors hissed open and they studied each other across the threshold.
Willow felt Taraâs Sight making a slow sweep around her head before speaking. "Your aura is different.â Tara said softly.
"Yes.â
"Are you my Willow?"
"No. I am much more," Willow said, yet her voice was hollow.
Willow could see Tara trying to find an answer to what should be a simple question. Neither made an effort to move from where they were.
Tara pulled on the hem of her shirt and frowned. "Last thing I heard was the Master coming after you. Then you disappeared. I-i-i was so worried. I thought he'd kill you," she said in a small voice.
"Thought I'd be dust and you'd lost your fuck buddy?" Willow sneered, then instantly regretted her harshness as she saw Tara's pained expression. "Well, I'm not dust obviously, cos I'm here, and no more ugly smelly Master, cos that's me here too.â
"Will you tell me what happened?"
"Some things you're better off not knowing," Willow said evenly. It'll scare you, and you'll never look at me the same way again.
Tara was silent. Then her shoulders dropped, as if she was about to give up whatever internal struggles she was fighting. "Should I leave?"
The logical side of Willow, the plotting, cruel, Master-y side wanted to dismiss the girl and get back to building her new empire. The un-demony emotional side of Willow just wanted to snuggle up to Tara's warm body and kiss her forever. She did something she hadn't done, ever since she came back. Her eyes softened and she sighed. She let herself feel a little.
"For your sake, you should. My minions should be showing you out of the door by now.â
Tara's head shot up and there was a glimmer of hope in her eyes. "Please, Will, don't push me away.â
"I have to. It's not safe for you, if you stayed with me."
"I don't care. When you disappeared, I almost died. I did a divination, but all it told me was that you weren't extinguished, but I couldn't locate you. And you came back 2 weeks ago, and I waited and waited for you to send for me. I couldnât wait anymore ..." Tara trailed off.
"19 years," Willow said softly.
Tara looked at her with a puzzled expression.
"19 years. To you, I was gone 3 months. For me, it took 19 years of dimensional hopping to get back here." To get back to you.
"Oh god," Tara shook, tears started falling freely and she reached her hand out for Willow, but she was still stuck outside the Sanctum.
Willow shook her head. Her heart was melting and breaking. Here was the face she had imprinted in her mind, the face that she thought about every single day during those 19 years, the face that kept her from losing her sanity. Her hand moved involuntarily toward Tara's, and yet she was hesitant.
"Tara, there's a part of me that is screaming out to me right now, to let you through and never let go. But if I let you in, do you know what you'll become?" she asked. "Whether I like it or not, I'm Master now, and there are rules about how humans are allowed to interact with a Master. You'll become my â"
"â I know," Tara said firmly. "I read the books in Mr Giles' secret collection. I know."
Willow was astounded. "You're here of your own free will?"
Tara's answer filled her heart. "Yes."
With that, Willow took down the mystical barrier and leaped from her seat. She reached Tara before the girl took one step into the Sanctum.
Even before the glass doors closed she had Tara's lips locked with hers and her strong arms pulling the girl close. She was giddy with the sensation of reconnecting with Tara, feeling so light-headed at the return of the sight, the scent, the taste and the softness of her girl. Every sensory cell inside her screamed, Want Tara! Right now!
One kiss. One kiss was all it took to shake off memories of painful torture she suffered during her time away. One kiss was enough for her to realize the extent of the commitment freely given to her by her love. With one kiss their fates were sealed.
Willow lifted Tara up easily, the blondeâs legs wrapping around Willow's hips, lips still locked together.
Willow brought Tara to the center of the Sanctum, where a five point star was painted on the floor, the edges aligned with the corners of the pentagonal shape of the room. With a gesture, cushions and blankets moved from one corner, piling on the floor to make a soft, comfortable cocoon.
Tara stretched out on the cushions. Willow was placing soft kisses all over her girl, returning to the beautiful lips every three kisses elsewhere. Taralips were never more than three kisses away.
"This is my Sanctum, my space. Youâll need to learn about how to conduct yourself in public, but here in my Sanctum, when we are alone, it's just us. Tara, I need there to be just an us," she said, gently stroking her girl's cheek.
Tara leaned her face into Willow's embrace. "If you'll allow it, there will always be an us," she smiled, and turned her face to kiss Willow's palm. Light, feathery kisses made their way from the palm to the wrist, then along the inside of Willow's arm, up to her neck. Willow trembled at the outpouring of love, and tried to match it with her own.
The next kiss was more urgent, more passionate and open. Nimble fingers fervently pulled on clothing. The demon in Willow took that moment to tell her to forget about patience, and with a growl, she tore all their clothes off.
Tara's open mouth on hers, warm fingers inside her brought tears to her eyes, as she consumed the calm, human girl who was everything her demon and her human wanted.
One touch. One touch of cold, bare skin on warm, bare skin was all it took to banish the manic hatred that had been all she knew during the last 19 years. One touch was enough for her to be wonderstruck at their promise to each other. With that one touch, their vows were consummated.
For the second time in one night, Willow woke up with a scream. But this was a scream of orgasmic bliss as a result of a climax that had shot through her at the end of the dream. Tara's touch in the dream had seemed so real that she was transported to that moment, when they threw all caution to the wind and decided that they would be together. Who cared about rules and traditions.
She remembered how they giggled at the inevitable scandal that would ensue. But that first night, when they were hidden away in Willow's Sanctum, they basked in the cocoon of their newly re-discovered love.
*****
