Part Seven
When Maeve had first awoke, she opened her eyes to only darkness. For a moment she believed that this was external, that her sudden blindness had been caused by the lack of light in the cavern. But even in total darkness, her eyes usually adjusted so she could see something. She frowned, she could see nothing. Drawing air deeply into her burning lungs, Maeve realized that she was shaking hard, and she couldn't stop. That's when she heard Sinbad's voice, and realized that she was lying in his arms. Even with no light, she should have been able to distinguish Sinbad's form from the darkness. She tried to peer into the direction from which his voice had come; still she could see nothing. She began to panic, really and truly panic. "Sinbad?" she whispered hoarsely, her voice quivering, her throat painfully raw. Sinbad said something back to her, but she was shaking so violently she couldn't hear him, nor could she answer. Her teeth clicked together as her jaw shivered.
"I've got you, Maeve. It's okay now, we just have to get you warmed up." he paused and released her for a moment.
As soon as she lost physical contact with Sinbad, Maeve felt as though she were falling through a black abyss. Her eyes opened widely, and terror chilled her heart. "Sinbad?!" she chattered, frantically, trying to climb to her feet, settleing for her knees when she found she could not stand. "Sinbad!!!" Internally she cursed herself for acting so weak, but she was afraid, and she couldn't help herself.
His arms reached out of the darkness and pulled her close. "It's all right, Maeve. Did you really think I would leave you alone?" He rubbed his hands up and down her arms, trying to get some warmth back into her freezing skin. "Maeve, listen to me." Maeve looked up blankly. "Your clothes... they're freezing and bonding to your skin. I have to take them off to get you warm." He swallowed. "Are you okay with this?"
Maeve sank back weakly, and knew he was speaking the truth. Her skin and blood were so cold she was at risk of frost bite, pneumonia, or worse. She could still yet die, and she knew this. She nodded slowly.
Sinbad closed his eyes for a moment, knowing he had to gather all of his available will power to do what he had to do. "Can you stand?"
"I think." She held out her hands and felt Sinbad clasp them warmly.
"Easy now." Sinbad gently began pulling her up. Maeve used him as a brace and with his help managed to stand, shakily, but she was up. Sinbad took in a deep breath, and she felt him move his hands to her waist. He began to slowly unlace her ties, and with in moments she felt her belt's weight fall away, allowing her suede vest to open freely. Releasing his breath he fingered the soft material of her vest; he swallowed hard, bit his lip, and drew in another deep breath. Quickly he glanced away, and pulled the soft vest over her head, leaving her in only the long white shirt that doubled as a dress, barely. Returning his averted eyes to her body, Sinbad gasped sharply. He knew he had to remove the shirt from her body, but he looked into her loving, trusting face and couldn't bring himself to do it. He couldn't understand why, as the soaked white material left nothing to his imagination. The flickering torch light added depth and shadows to her body, and Sinbad found himself having a hard time controlling his shaking hands.
Maeve cocked her head to one side, listening to Sinbad's increasingly erratic breathing, feeling his trembling hands. She knew what he was feeling, she felt it everytime he removed his shirt aboard the Nomad. She sighed sadly, Will I ever see his body again? Will I ever see anything again? The thought wandered unbidden into her mind, forcing her to shove it back into the depths of her heart. Maeve forced a smile onto her near frozen face.
"Sinbad, if you ever tell anyone I did this willingly, I will be forced to use you for target practice." Before he could answer, Maeve reached down and drew the shirt off her body, removing the final layers of her clothing in seconds. Her skin was so raw that the frozen material cut her, but she never noticed.
Maeve stood before Sinbad, entirely naked, waiting for either a comment or an instruction. She shifted uncomfortably in the sudden silence; she was comfortable with her body, but she desperately wished she could see Sinbads face, his eyes, just to let her know what he was thinking.
From very nearby, she heard his sudden exhalation of the breath he had been holding. "Sweet, merciful God." he whispered shakily, "You are so beautiful."
Trying to hide her sudden joy at his comment, Maeve bit the inside of her mouth. She felt her body warm all over; she was blushing from root to tip. "Stupid witch," she thought, sitting down once more. "Getting yourself worked up over a man."
Sinbad watched as her skin turned pink and then deepened into an almost red. He marvelled at the places her blush reached, aching to reach out and hold her. He knew he had to pull himself together, but allowed himself one moment more to remain in awe of her stunning beauty.
Shaking his head, Sinbad shone his torch around the cavern. "Maeve, I have to gather wood for a fire, we need to get your circulation running again. I want you to start rubbing your skin to try and generate some warmth. Once we have you thawed out a little, you can wear my shirt until your outfit dries. All right?"
Maeve nodded, moving her hands to her legs, rubbing them briskly. So, she thought, Sinbad was not wearing a shirt, she smiled. She wondered what it would feel like to have Sinbad warm her, rather than do it herself. Maeve sighed, and she blushed again.
Sinbad was gone for almost ten minutes, and Maeve continued to warm her skin. Silence fell around her, and she shifted. Maeve jumped as Sinbad dropped a load of wood onto the cave floor beside her. "How are you doing?" he asked in concern, as he organized a pile of logs, and lit them with the torch.
"I'm okay... not as frozen anyway." She glanced into the direction from which his voice had come, trying desperately to forget her lack of clothing. Sinbad shook, he was unable to entirely. "May I have your shirt now?"
Sinbad smiled down at her, and with a sigh handed her the soft cloth. She quickly pulled it over her body, and hoped that it was on correctly.
Sitting down near the fire, Sinbad drew Maeve's body to lay against him, gently running his hands over her shoulders, her stomach, her hips, her legs... Everywhere he came in contact with her, Maeve's skin instantly heated. Lowering his mouth, he began to nibble gently on her ear.
"I'm beginning to wonder if I enjoy torturing myself." Sinbad murmered softly.
Maeve sighed as his mouth moved down to her neck. She giggled. "Hey, aren't you supposed to be trying to warm me up, not trying to seduce me?"
Sinbad smiled lightly, "It's a new technique I developed." he moved to whisper in her ear, "So, is it working? Are you warm yet?"
Maeve laughed softly, "Perhaps I had better get my own clothes back, before we both overheat."
Sinbad sighed. "It wouldn't work." Maeve gasped and blushed again (damn, she has never blushed this much in her life). Sinbad almost wasn't able to stop himself from grabbing her and kissing her beyond the realm of reason. He tried to speak but found his voice had fled.
Maeve's head turned as he moved away; she tried to search for him. "Sinbad?"
He swallowed hard and bent to take her hand. "How are your eyes, Maeve? Can you see anything at all?"
She shook her head. "Nothing." she blinked back the sudden tears threatening to overwhelm her.
He had never seen her more vulnerable than she was at that instant. He suddenly came to the conclusion that lending her his shirt had been an extremely bad idea; it was far too low cut in the top amd short in length for it to be decent on her. All it made him want to do was tear it off again; later, he told himself, now is not the time. What he felt like doing was taking her into his arms and telling her that everything was going to be all right because he would always be there to take care of her, but again he didn't act. She would hate it if he had, he decided, she would have pulled away, her face would harden, and he would have to start from scratch once more. The progress he had made with her was far too valuable to risk for a few moments of gratification, the future was what was important, he had to remember that.
So he kept his feelings to himself, and instead pulled her near to him on the ground. She curled around his body comfortably, one of her legs slipping between his, her arms encircling body, her head resting in the hollow between his neck and shoulder. They fit together as though they had been specially made for each others body; they were perfect. With in moments, Maeve fell into a deep, exhausted slumber.
Sinbad felt her slip away as first she snuggled in closer to him, and then her entire body fully relaxed. She breathed a soft sigh before settling into a steady, rythmic pattern. He held her tightly, edging them closer to the fire; he highly doubted that he would get any sleep that night. But as he lay there, gently stroking her back, an overwhelming sense of peace came upon him, and he couldn't fight it. His body relaxed beneath hers, and they both slept peacefully into the night.
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Sinbad knew he was dreaming, knew their actions were only the consequences of his imagination's wishful thinking. Still, he had no desire to awaken. His mind had forgotten no detail of the night before, his heart nearly exploding at the intensity of this dream. He almost believed that he could feel Maeve's touch burning into his skin. He groaned deeply as he raised his mouth to claim hers, his fingers clutching, pulling at the shirt that barely covered her. He wrapped his fingers into her hair, and began brining Maeve in closer to kiss her deeper and harder. He doubled over in pain.
His eyes flying open, Sinbad awoke to find Maeve sitting on his stomach. She shifted slightly to straddle his body, and he noticed her favoring the hand she had used to hit him.
"Are you awake yet?" she asked sweetly, her eyes staring not at him, but somewhere in his general direction.
"I've awoken to more pleasant stimuli before, and from less pleasant dreams." He sighed. "What happened Maeve?"
Maeve laughed lowly. "I just figured you were enjoying yourself far too much at my expense."
For the first time since he awoke, Sinbad took a good close look at the sorceress; his fingers were entangled in her hair, his shirt had been pulled half off her shoulder, and her lips were red and swollen. He gasped, suddenly realizing what had happened.
She smiled. "You have to stop waking me up this way, sailor," but not for a long time, she thought, " it's becoming a habit with you."
Never. Sinbad smiled himself, stroking her hair gently. "Well, since you're already awake..." He dragged her head down towards him. He paused just as his lips brushed hers. "Maeve?"
Maeve gently moved so that her arms rested on either side of his head. "So you want me to make the first move, do you?"
Raising a hand, Maeve softly traced the contours of Sinbad's face. She very delicately lowered her lips to his. The effects of her kiss were instantaneous. The fingers he still had threaded in her hair hauled her head down, and his lips held hers prisoner. Instead of fighting him, Maeve responded passionately, the force of that passion leaving them both breathless and shaking.
Sinbad moved his hands down to support Maeve's back as he turned them both over. The sorceress appeared startled for a moment as his sudden weight pressed upon her, but shifting gamely she reached out to him again.
He rested his head against her neck, his breaths coming in gasps, feeling her slightest movement beneath him. He watched her throat move as she swallowed and couldn't resist moving his mouth to that enticing little hollow.
In the darkness of her new world, Maeve felt his every touch tenfold. She felt as though he were pure electricity, running through her body straight into her soul. Her heart stopped with his every kiss, her body burned under his caress.
Sinbad smiled softly against her skin, and watching her face closely, he began to move his kisses ever so slowly downward. Good lord, but she is perfect, he thought dazedly. I have to tell her.
He groaned lightly as he dragged his lips away from her skin. He pulled himself up level with her and kissed her gently. Stupid man, he argued with himself, how often is she this willing to give herself to you?! He sighed. There will be other times, he smiled, many other times.
Maeve's head moved forward as he tried to break their kiss. Her mouth reaching for his, her eyes registering confusion at his actions.
"Wait." he forced himself to whisper. "Maeve, listen."
She groaned in frustration and tried to climb out from under him. He pinned her down lightly and shook his head. "No way, witch, you don't get off that easily." Dropping his head, he kissed her until she stopped struggling. He breathed deeply and bent to whisper into her ear, "Do you know how much I love you?"
Her whole body tensed. "You do?"
Sinbad laughed lowly. "How can you not know that, Maeve? Do you think that I have spent the last year with my heart in my throat every time we go into battle for myself? Never! Maeve, I love you! You are my reason for waking up in the morning."
Maeve's eyes filled with tears, and she tried to move away; he held her tightly. "If you love me so much, why would you compare me to Rumina?!"
Sinbad groaned and he buried his head in her neck. "Maeve, I am so very sorry about that. It's only because I love you so much that I lashed out." Maeve furrowed her brow, and Sinbad blushed. "I was listening to you and Xaldar in the woods yesterday.. I believed that you were in love with him and my heart broke. I thought that you were only staying with me out of some obligation you felt towards your vows, and that you were unhappy with us, so I...."
Maeve silenced him with a ferocious kiss, a kiss that turned into many kisses. A long time later she pulled slightly away. "I love you." She whispered with a soft smile.
"I know that now." Slowly he began to stroke away her tears, gently kissing her eyes.
"What are we going to do?"
Sinbad drew her in for another kiss, smiling as he nibbled on her lower lip. "I don't know for sure, but I know what I want to do."
Maeve raised an eyebrow. "Oh really?"
Sinbad laughed a low, sexy laugh. "Yes, without a doubt." He paused and held her face to his. "I want more than anything to take you as my lover, this very moment, in this very place. I want our time together to be eternal, not just a stolen moment here and there. I long to lay with you at night, for only when you are beside me can I truly relax. But more than anything, I want to know that you feel the same, that you long for a life with me as I do for you." When she didn't answer, Sinbad's heart grew heavy and he moved off of her. He needed to know what she was thinking. "Maeve? Did any of it make any sense at all?"
It was then that he noticed her entire body was shaking; trembling from the emotions she had always kept inside. But here, in his arms, her struggles had reached their final destination.
Following his hand, Maeve moved to seat herself in Sinbad's lap, facing him. He watched in awe as the emotions fled through her eyes: confusion, pain, longing, fear, courage, and finally pure joy. In his mind, she had never been more beautiful than in that very moment.
She sighed. "Sinbad, I had hoped to see you the day I told you this; I wanted to watch your eyes, because they never lie, but it is not to be. Feelings don't come easily to me, especially not love and trust, admitting those feelings is even harder, so you must have patience with me."
Sinbad moved his hand to stroke her hair while she spoke. Now he smiled gently. "Always. You can take as much time as you need. You don't even have to speak today if you're not up to it. I can wait, if it's for you, I can wait."
Maeve grinned. "No, perhaps today is the best day; I can't look at you and wuss out." She moved closer to him, and he held her hands; she took a deep breath. "I have known that something was between us since the very day I laid eyes on you across that field. Lord knows the power between us was so strong it could almost be seen. I tried so hard to turn my back on us, Sinbad, every day I had to remind myself that I was only here to find Dim-Dim and to help break Rum...." Maeve shook her head. "It doesn't matter. Did you know that I once snuck into your room just to watch you sleep?" she blushed furiously, "I couldn't help myself; the longer I spent with you, the deeper I found myself falling, for you and for this life.... our life. I found myself more often imagining the future, and you were always there, waiting for me, with open arms and an open heart. Every time you worried about me, or warned me about something, I would lash out, but not in anger at you, only at myself, for my heart leapt for joy over your concern, and I hated myself for that. I think I have always loved you, I just didn't always know it."
Maeve began to blush suddenly, and Sinbad laughed. "What are you thinking about?" his voice had taken on a husky tone.
Maeve smiled. "Your kisses. That was when I knew I loved you, the day you started kissing me. My heart stopped and my soul leapt into the clouds; my whole body understood what my mind was only beginning to accept." she paused. "That's why I never fought your touch, Sinbad, because as much as I hate to admit it, you own me, heart, body and soul."
Sinbad started, his whole world came crashing to a halt. Did Maeve just say that?!! The unconquerable, untameable Maeve just said he owned her?!!! Sinbad gasped and shook his head. "No, Maeve, no! I could never own you, you are far to free for me to ever lay claim to you."
She smiled softly. "Oh, but you do. I make my own decisions, and choose my own directions, but there is a piece of me that belongs only to you. And as much as I regret giving away a piece of myself, I know that you will guard it with your life, that you will never intentionally hurt me, and that you will never take advantage of what I have given you." She kissed his hands and raised her head. "You have invaded my dreams, Sinbad. My soul has tells me each night what until only recently I refused to accept. I love you. I love your face, your heart, your voice, your mind and your body." she blushed again. "I love your every kiss, touch, caress, the very scent and feel of you. I long to be with you when we're apart, and I long to be closer to you when we're not. I ache for that life you spoke of, a life where we can be together forever. A life full of kissing, tenderness, long conversations, and gentle caresses." she paused and reached out to stroke his face. "A life where you would make love to me, and then hold me all through the night." Her voice faded into a whisper. "A life where we could be safe, happy, and loved." Her hand fell away and her head lowered; she had opened her heart and bared her soul. Now she was waiting for him to laugh at her.
This was a side of Maeve Sinbad had never before been privy to; a side of emotion, tenderness, and vulnerability. A side she had vowed never to show to anyone, yet here she was.
But Sinbad understood this, he just knew what Maeve needed, and hastened to provide it for her. Resting his back against the cavern wall nearest their fire, Sinbad pulled Maeve down to lean against his chest. Gently, he moved her hair off her face and lowered his mouth to lather her in sweet kisses. He moved to her ear and whispered, "Maeve, as long as I am alive, I vow as a sailor and as the man who's heart you own, you will have the life you dream."
She sighed at his words, knowing each to be true, but moved to gesture around them. "Sinbad, I love you even more for that vow, but how can you keep it? We are trapped in this cavern with no warmth beyond our fire, no food, and no escape."
Sinbad blinked and suddenly recalled their situation; Maeve was right. Sinbad had just promised her a happy, fulfilling life, but if they didn't find a way out soon, neither of them would have a life to live.
Shivering from a sudden chill, Sinbad drew Maeve in closer to him. They were running out of time.
Continued In Shared Admissions: Part Eight
