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“You still owe me.”
Vex quirked an eyebrow. “I had kind of assumed that would be disregarded, considering… everything.” Osysa letting her go had been an indicator of that in itself, she had figured, although it wasn’t unlike Zahra to pursue her own avenues of repayment for a debt. Vex remembered too many hookups for that - and cursed herself now for even thinking about them, trying to turn her head before Zahra could see her cheeks brighten just a little.
“Not money, Vex. You showed me up. I don’t take well to being shown up.” Zahra, either not noticing or ignoring Vex’s attempt to break eye contact, stepped back into her field of vision. “So you owe me.”
“How exactly do you expect me to repay a debt that isn’t much more than a stubborn woman’s metaphor?” Hopefully the flush had faded from her cheeks, because Vex really wasn’t in the mood to deal with whatever teasing Zahra would have her endure that was more than she was already putting her through.
She mustered a dramatic roll of her eyes. At least there was that.
Zahra didn’t answer immediately, instead grabbing Vex’s arm - oh gods, she could feel sharp nails dig into her skin ever so slightly and it was ever so slightly too much - and pulling her several steps away from the rest of the party. “You plan on resting for a night before pressing on, yes? I have some ideas…” she trailed off. Vex knew damn well why she was trailing off, not that she wanted to acknowledge it. This was a proposition, and even if she didn’t know Zahra’s mannerisms well enough to notice it in itself, she certainly knew the subtle transition - not subtle enough - from fingertips on skin to sharp, almost claw-like nails.
“You are fucking insufferable.”
“And yet you have suffered me so many nights before. Can you really tell me you’re not interested? Have you found some new commitment since you made off with the Take’s hard-earned coin?” Vex blushed again, this time not turning her head away quite fast enough for Zahra to not catch the heat in her cheeks. “No, you’ve not. Are you still living in fear of commitment? Still-”
“I am not afraid of commitment,” she hissed. “I am, if you haven’t noticed, rather busy saving the world.”
“Yes, of course. You do well at keeping yourself busy, Vex’ahlia.” Was that meant to be taken at face value? Was there an intentional, if subtle, innuendo somewhere in there, or had she been spending too much time listening to Scanlan talk?
Or, worse, had she been indulging in her fantasies too much to not read more into it?
“I get it, you want to have sex,” she growled - was it a growl or a grumble? “But as I said, I’m rather busy. And you and Kashaw had probably better be going home.”
“And miss the opportunity to spend a night with you again? Do you think I don’t miss you?” Zahra smirked, earning another grumble from Vex. It wasn’t something she could ignore at this point, the heat slowly pooling in her gut, but she would have to try - she wasn’t giving in to this. Not now, of all times, when they were so busy, when she had just-
She’d rather not think about what she’d just done. That was the last thing she wanted to think about.
At some point, thinking about Zahra’s nails dragging lower than they had any right to had climbed several spots on that list.
“I don’t think you missed me at all. I think you will take any opportunity to get under my skin.”
“I don’t want to get under your skin, Vex’ahlia.” She paused, contemplating. “Just under your clothes.”
Ah. Pretending to contemplate. Gods forbid Zahra ever say anything unplanned. She was, unlike many other members of the Take, incredibly good at restraining her impulses. Rough-and-tumble mercenary work does tend to invite people with a tendency to jump the gun, to stab first and ask questions later. Zahra, she presumed, had gotten as high in status as she was by doing things the slow, cautious, and painstaking way - by thinking before speaking, thinking before so much as twitching a finger toward a weapon.
“Bear got your tongue, darling?” Vex was drawn from her thoughts by a snide remark, punctuated all the worse by Zahra’s nails pricking marginally deeper into the skin of her upper arm.
“Shut up,” she half-hissed. “I am not in the mood for games, Zahra. It’s been a long day, and I’m tired. Dying will do that to a person.”
“Understood,” Zahra said, immediately pulling her hand away.
Was that it? It was that simple?
When Vex dared to steal a glance at the tiefling again, she caught a glimpse of what might have been guilt crossing her face.
Oh. She genuinely did feel bad about it.
Well, that made her feel worse, not better.
“Zahra?”
“What?” There was an edge to her response, a bite to it that Vex knew from experience only came up when she really was upset. She swallowed her pride. It wasn’t that she wasn’t interested in what Zahra was proposing. It was just…
“It’s been a while,” she finally said, “since I’ve done anything like that.”
“Done what?”
Was she really going to make her say it?
“Had sex,” she muttered. “Since I’ve had sex.”
Zahra quirked an eyebrow at her, finally turning to face her attempted conquest again.
“Is that an invitation?”
“It…” she hesitated. The rest of the group hadn’t seemed to notice, even now, that they had drifted from them to talk, and it seemed they were settling down for the night. If there was a time, it would be now, before things got too dark to find a good place for their… activities.
“It could be,” she finished, “if you’re still up for the challenge.”
Zahra smiled. Not a smirk, not this time - a genuine smile.
“I am always up for a challenge, Vex’ahlia.” She turned to the others. “Vex and I will be back in a few,” she called. “We’re going to have a meeting of the minds.”
Is that what she was going to call it?
Her brother, ever wary, narrowed his eyes. “Are you sure, sister? It’s…”
“It’s been a long day, yes, I know. I’ll be fine. Just away a few minutes.”
She didn’t miss the look of fear that crossed his face, if only for a moment.
“Fine,” he acknowledged. “Be careful?”
“I always am,” she smiled, and turned on her heel.
—-
“So,” Zahra began. “How do you want me?”
“Getting straight to the point, are we?” Vex smirked, which earned her a wink in response.
“We did say we wouldn’t be long.”
“Mm… and here I was looking forward to taking our time.”
“Maybe you should have come up with a better excuse then,” Zahra purred, pushing Vex back a few steps. She felt the bark of one of the pines lining the clearing they’d found prick into her back.
“You’re the one who told them we were leaving,” she grumbled, resisting the urge to arch her back as the other woman placed her hands delicately around her waist. “Maybe you should have come up with a better excuse.”
Instead of saying anything back, Zahra closed what had previously been a rapidly narrowing gap between their mouths, kissing her hard and fast and warm, gods, her mouth was warm, she knew tieflings ran hot but fuck…
She pushed back into the kiss, a whimper escaping her throat as the tiefling nipped at her lower lip with her teeth, sharper than average, sharp enough to sting. Zahra’s right hand moved from its place around her waist to find purchase in her hair, first curling her fingers lightly between the strands. Vex knew what was coming, of course she did, they’d done this more times than she’d care to admit - she cared to admit less that she’d lost count - and braced herself.
The moan that escaped her when the fingers curled hard, sharp, sudden into her hair, pulling it tight from her scalp, was not something she was quite capable of bracing herself for. Vex felt the other woman grin against her mouth, pulling away only long enough to take a breath before going back to her work, tongue hot and wet in Vex’s mouth. She moaned again, hands grabbing more desperately than she’d like at Zahra’s clothes, trying to draw her closer despite their bodies already pressed together. The tiefling’s other hand trailed up her stomach now, sliding carefully under her top, testing the waters. Rewarded with another whimper and an obvious arching of her conquest’s back, she continued, finding the soft, delicate skin of Vex’s breast and running her nails gently over the sensitive flesh.
Oh, gods.
Zahra pulled away again, mouth separating from Vex’s with an audible pop.
“Having fun yet?” She smirked, winking at her prize.
“Stop talking and take me,” Vex growled, and the tiefling’s smirk grew wider, her lips curling further as she suddenly tightened her grip around Vex’s breast, her mouth moving from just in front of Vex’s lips to the crook of her neck, kissing and sucking at the skin.
“Don’t you dare leave a mark,” she hissed, but Zahra paid no mind, catching a mote of skin between her teeth and biting down. That earned the loudest noise Vex had made since this whole thing began, her hands tightening on the fabric she had been holding onto as if it were a lifeline. Again, she felt Zahra’s lips curl against her skin, the kissing stopping for a brief moment as if she needed to savor the moment.
Vex was sure as hell savoring it, so she couldn’t really blame her.
The pause ended as suddenly as it began, Vex beginning to shudder as Zahra kept at it, tugging at her dark, now tousled hair again as she continued toying with the skin she had been given free rein to torment. Whimpers came more quickly and openly now, bubbling up and spilling out of Vex’s open mouth, desperate, wordless pleas for more interspersed with loud gasps, attempts at keeping air in her lungs as Zahra forced more out with each bite, each movement of fingers over skin. She flicked a nail across Vex’s nipple, and the half-elf very nearly came undone at the motion, a long, loud whine escaping her as she almost crumpled. Zahra took the hint, stepping back just a few inches and nearly dragging Vex to the ground, forcing her legs apart with one hand and placing herself between them.
“You want me?” She looked directly into Vex’s eyes, a burning passion reflected in the expression she wore. Whatever carefully curated energy Zahra normally carried herself with had been tossed away, as Vex’s shirt now was, a mix of ferocity and desperation taking its place.
“Please,” Vex gasped, digging her hands again into the loose fabric of Zahra’s clothes.
“You can ask nicer than that.”
“Please, Zahra. Please, gods, take me.”
“Please what?” As if Vex’s cheeks couldn’t get any brighter.
“Please, ma’am…”
“Good girl.” From there, the tiefling wasted no time, pulling the fabric away from Vex’s lower half, tugging hard to expose sensitive skin to the cold air of their environment. Vex shivered for a moment, a chill setting over her.
That chill was quickly replaced by two warm fingers at her cunt, aching and wet and wanting. Fluidly, slowly, not quickly enough, the digits were pushed inside her, Vex moaning low and long and loud as Zahra touched her in a way that was familiar despite years of its absence, the slickness she had produced making every movement nearly effortless as she slowly came undone. Zahra pressed deeper, free hand coming to trace patterns from Vex’s jawline down to her collarbone, one thumb pressing gently against her throat as the other rubbed small, fast circles against her clit. The noises Vex made were unignorable, she could only hope that they had gone far enough away that no one would hear.
Or she would hope that, if her mind were not entirely consumed by the almost too warm fingers thrusting and curling inside her, nearly bringing her to her breaking point within barely a couple of minutes. It didn’t feel like such a short time - it felt like hours, Zahra continuing to drag desperate whines and ragged breaths from the half-elf with every movement of her fingers, Vex squirming and writhing beneath her as her entire body warmed with the all-encompassing pleasure of being touched like she hadn’t in years. Whatever she occasionally indulged herself in with her own fingers, in the privacy of a rarely-earned room to herself in an inn, was nothing compared to what Zahra could do to her with just a few minutes of undivided attention. And undivided it was - the fierceness in her eyes did not seem to fade, at least not for the moments where Vex could keep hers open long enough to look at her.
“Good girl, Vex,” Zahra purred, the half-elf still whimpering beneath her fingers, wet and warm at her touch. “Very, very good.”
“Zahra,” she gasped, the first actual syllables she could muster the will to release from her mouth in place of the desperate whines that had been filling the air before. “Zahra, please-”
“Please what, darling?” Darling. How dare she turn the pet name she loved to use against her, what a cruel twist to her words. What a way to get under her skin. What a way to make her come undone, the heat in her gut bordering on burning her up, her hips rocking hard and forceful against Zahra’s torturously steady movements within her.
“Please let me cum, ma’am,” her voice broke as she forced the words out, no choice but to acknowledge the unavoidable sensation of her body being pushed to its farthest limits, her restraint barely holding itself together as Zahra continued her pace.
“Good girl,” Zahra purred again, but did not give her further instruction, and Vex knew what would happen if she came without the woman’s permission, so she couldn’t, instead resorting to desperately grinding her hips in the vain hope that Zahra would let her finish.
“Zahra- ah- please, ma’am, please-”
“Cum, Vex,” and with the simple, one-word order whatever was left of her restraint left her, a strangled scream tearing itself free of her throat as Zahra curled her fingers just right, just right into that sweet spot that made Vex come entirely undone beneath her, writhing and moaning and gasping for air as her body shuddered with wave after wave of blinding orgasm, her vision going white for a moment.
When the haze over her mind cleared and her body stopped the worst of its shaking, she opened her eyes just enough to see Zahra licking her fingers clean, the tiefling leaning in close to bring their lips together again. Vex could taste herself on the woman’s tongue.
She had, in fact, missed her. And after that display, she was pretty damn sure that Zahra had missed her back.
Zahra offered her her clothes back, Vex still struggling to hold herself together as she clumsily dressed herself again. She shook as she stood, steadying herself against the tree Zahra had pressed her against just a few minutes before - how long had it been? Minutes or hours? - as the tiefling wrapped an arm around her waist.
“Well?” Zahra asked, her lips curled up in a smile again.
“Holy fucking shit,” Vex breathed, no other words filling the space.
“You definitely missed me.”
“Yes.” Vex answered without hesitation. Zahra just smiled wider.
“I think that will do as repayment for that debt, Vex’ahlia.”