Chapter Text
“Oh Gideon?”
It was yet another morning where Gideon, totally accidentally by happenstance, had walked past the terrace where Dulcinea usually spent her time with a cup of tea and a romance novel. She stopped at the soft call of her name and stepped out into the morning sunlight.
Duchess Septimus smiled at Gideon in the same wry, pleased, and slightly sad way she always did and waved her over.
“Good morning, Gideon,” she said. “How’re you today?”
Gideon pushed back her hood and took off her glasses, setting them beside Dulcinea’s cup of tea. She shrugged, waggling her fingers back and forth in a ‘so-so’ kind of a gesture.
“So was I,” Dulcinea said. “But then you decided to show up and now I feel better already.”
Gideon nearly tripped over her own feet as she sat down in the lounge chair beside Dulcinea’s. Heat crept up Gideon’s cheek and, judging by the wry smile on the woman’s face, that was exactly what she’d been after all along. Gideon both loved and hated the way Dulcinea humored her.
Septimus returned her attention to her book, and as happy as Gideon would’ve been to just sit and watch the necromancer read, that would probably have been a little creepy. Gideon, who was suave and not creepy, looked out over the ocean instead, breathing in the fresh, salt-scented air.
“Do you remember what I asked you about a few days ago?” Dulcinea asked a little while later.
Gideon turned back to her, turning her head to the side in a questioning lilt. Dulcinea had set her book aside and she’d fetched a bag from the floor beside her chair.
“About giving you a haircut.”
Gideon did remember. Kind of. Vaguely. It had been early evening and she’d pulled up a chair beside the frail necromancer’s, reading her romance novel (which was absolute filth) over her slender shoulder. Dulcinea had reached over to stroke her hand up along the back of Gideon’s neck, drawing delicate fingers against the grain of her hair.
The touch had been so careful, so tender that it alone had been enough to make Gideon’s heart ache, her eyes burn, and her throat feel painfully tight. Even as embarrassing, unwanted arousal coiled low in her stomach.
Then, still smiling gently, Dulcinea had wound her fingers around a handful for the softest of tugs. That part, and trying not to make a very embarrassing noise, had taken up most of her attention span. She’d not really registered the question.
Now, though, as Dulcinea fished out a comb, scissors, a straight-razor, and a spray bottle Gideon was pretty sure she’d last seen used by one of the skeletons in the greenhouses, some of the memories broke through.
Oh. A haircut. She’d probably even agreed to that. The way Dulcinea was looking at her now, she couldn’t have said no even if she’d wanted to.
“What do you say, Gideon the Ninth?” she asked. “Will you indulge me?”
Gideon nodded and the necromancer grinned. “Oh good. You wouldn’t believe how long it’s been since I last gave a nun a haircut. Come here.”
She patted the lounge chair ahead of where she’d perched and Gideon suddenly realized her hands were sweating and shaking like crazy. She put them on her knees when she got seated with the working theory that Dulcinea hopefully wouldn’t notice.
“There we go. Face forward, please. There you go.”
Gideon’s heart pounded in her chest. She knew Dulcinea was behind her, somewhere. She could hear the rustle of her dress, smell the soft floral perfume she wore. Then hot breath whispered along the nape of her neck and set the fine hairs there on end.
A squirt of lukewarm water followed, right across her neck, and Gideon shivered.
“Be still,” Dulcinea said.
Gideon was still. She barely dared to breathe. Another unpleasant spray of water and then the sweet drag of a comb through her hair. Slow. Steady. Her hair was too short for there to be any knots, but Dulcinea was thorough anyways.
Emperor Undying was she thorough.
Cool metal brushed her neck and then the dull scrape of the comb followed. Dulcinea made a thoughtful sound and then the scissors went ‘Snip, snip, snip’.
“Tell me about yourself,” Dulcinea said after a minute. Then she laughed softly. “Sorry. Silly me. I’ll ask and you can nod or shake your head.”
Gideon nodded.
“Do you have family back on the Ninth? Parents? Siblings? Maybe even a lover?” Her voice turned a touch wry towards the last part. She’d paused the motions of the scissors to give Gideon time to answer and had leaned in, as if deadly curious.
Gideon probably wouldn’t have been stumped by the questions, usually. Not the first parts. She had no idea about her parents, not really, except for the mysterious woman who’d dropped her off and whose skeleton now worked the dreary fields back at Drearburh. Maybe she had siblings out there, somewhere. Who knew? A girlfriend, though? Like who? Harrow? The idea was absolutely ridiculous.
Most of those thoughts got all jumbled up in her brain, though, because in the process of moving in closer, Dulcinea had pressed herself flush against Gideon’s back, and oh god, she could feel her breasts - all pert and soft, or at least that’s what they left like - just below her scapulae, and she was pretty sure she might be having a heart attack.
She cleared her throat and managed a shaky shake of the head.
“Oh?” asked Dulcinea. “None of them?”
Gideon nodded. Then she shrugged.
“Such a shame,” Dulcinea said, though it didn’t sound like she thought so. “But I suppose you’ve got your Reverend Daughter. One’s necromancer or one’s cavalier is almost like family.”
Gideon snorted. The idea of Harrow as her family. That was a good one.
“Oh? I suppose that isn’t always the case.” Shit. “Though, of course, it needn’t be.”
Double shit.
Even keeping her mouth shut, she was stepping in it.
“Don’t worry,” Dulcinea said, stroking her finger against the red-hot tip of Gideon’s ear, and leaving the muscles of her stomach tensing up. “It’ll be our little secret.”
She resumed her work for a moment, pausing every so often to ask Gideon questions. Was The Ninth cold? Emphatic nod. Did everyone really wear the face paint? Nod. Was the tomb really as mysterious as everyone said? Shrug. Was the food good? Violent head-shake.
At least the questions were just… silly questions. Nothing that’d risk giving away Harrow’s secrets or to piss her necromancer off too badly.
The warmth of another body so close to hers began to slowly thaw out some part of her that had felt frozen since just about forever. It opened up the door for the traitorous whisper that said maybe there was something other than the Ninth, its tomb, and its necromancer, and maybe, just maybe, she’d earned that.
Then, Dulcinea did something far, far worse than any question that might later lead Harrow to entomb Gideon in skeletons. She slipped out from behind her, shifting from foot to foot for a moment with a hand on Gideon’s shoulder to steady herself, and then she grabbed the hem of her dress, and began to raise it.
Gideon’s heart lurched with something very near panic and she was almost positive that if she’d had her rapier handy, she would’ve gone for it out of sheer instinct and muscle memory hammered into her by Aiglamene. She couldn’t move.
Shit, shit, shit. Was this happening?
And was what was happening really what she thought was happening?
Dulcinea drew the dress up slender calves, knobbly knees, and - Gideon swallowed on a dry mouth - lean, smooth thighs. There was a light but undeniable muscle definition to Dulcinea’s legs that she hadn’t imagined a necro would have. Not that she’d ever really imagined what any necromancer’s legs would look like, seeing as the only necro around her all her life had been Harrow.
Nope. Never happened.
Dulcinea, smiling gently, slung her leg across the chair and Gideon’s legs, and for a second the dress hiked up even further and she could’ve sworn there was a flash of something green and lacy-
A hot spasm of need shot through Gideon and she would’ve crossed her legs and squeezed them together on the heat gathering between them... if not for the fact that Dulcinea settled across her thighs to straddle her a moment before she could.
“There,” she said, meeting Gideon’s gaze and holding it for what felt like a myriad. “Much better. Are you comfortable, Ninth?”
Gideon had never been less comfortable, but she wouldn’t have said anything that might make Dulcinea move for anything less than Harrow showing up with an army of skeletons. She gave a shaky nod.
Dulcinea’s reply was a sultry whisper, so close Gideon felt it brush against her lips. “Good. So am I.”
The necromancer set to work, wielding the scissor as lightly and precisely as any cavalier might their rapier. Gideon had no idea what she was actually doing and what the end result would look like, and she didn’t care. All that mattered was the light weight of Dulcinea astride her, the warmth of her fingers and the cool steel of her tool as it left goosebumps all along her skin.
“That’s it,” Dulcinea whispered. “Stay still. Good girl.”
Gideon shifted her hips restlessly in her seat, helplessly, embarrassingly aware of how she was getting wet. She was breathing much harder than she could make up any excuse for, and after a few moments of wriggling Dulcinea stroked the backs of her fingers along Gideon’s cheek.
“Soon. We’re almost done.” She ran her hand through the short stubble left just above Gideon’s ear. “I just need to even things out in a few spots.”
She moved forward, closer and closer, until her chest brushed up against Gideon’s, and her radioactive blue eyes were so close, so intensely focused on her, that she had to look away. The upside of this was that Dulcinea wouldn’t be able to look at her like she could read her mind and see every single dirty thought rushing through Gideon’s brain - and there were a couple of those. The downside was when she found herself looking down the older woman’s decolletage instead, which didn’t help matters a bit.
Especially not with Dulcinea bent forward as she worked, with the gauzy material falling clear of her chest to bare gently jutting collarbones, and the swell of small breasts with tightly pebbled, dark nipples.
“Would you be a dear and hold me steady?” Dulcinea asked.
She took Gideon’s hands and settled them on her hips. With how slender she was, though, that meant that when she made sure Gideon held her tight, she was pressing her fingers into the plush curve of Dulcinea’s ass.
She really, really hoped The Man Who Became God and The God Who Became Man wasn’t watching from the vast depths of space to see how their pursuit of Lyctorhood was getting along.
“There you are,” the necromancer said, as if she wasn’t having her butt more or less grabbed, or at least if that was totally normal and not a huge deal. “Hold on tight. You wouldn’t let me fall, would you?”
Gideon blinked and shook her head. She caught a smile on Dulcinea's face before the girl leaned in close, scissors once more at work.
“You’re such a fine cavalier, Gideon Nav,” she whispered, breath hot in Gideon’s ear. “I’m surprised your Reverend Daughter lets you out of her sight. I certainly wouldn’t have, if you had been mine.”
Gideon choked down a whimper as her cunt throbbed at the word ‘mine’ echoing through her brain. Her boxers were wet and sticking to her skin. She needed to get away from here, as soon as she possibly could, before-
Dulcinea stroked her hand along the back of Gideon’s neck, over the beads of sweat gathering there, and along the grain of her hair. Gideon shivered helplessly.
“Hmm.” Dulcinea leaned over Gideon, breasts brushing against her arm, and reached into the bag on the ground beside them. She fiddled around for a moment, clearly looking for something, and came out with a bone-handled item. With a dainty flick of her wrist, the blade of a straight-razor slipped out and gleamed dangerously in the sunlight.
Something about the bared steel and the calculating, measured way Dulcinea looked at her for a moment brought a sharp chill up Gideon’s spine… and for once, not the good kind.
“For the back of your neck,” Dulcinea explained, lowering the blade when she caught Gideon staring at it. “and maybe up here in an undercut, if you’d allow it.”
Gideon nodded.
“That’s my girl. You’re going to be looking ever so handsome once you’re done. They won’t be able to take their eyes off you. I’ve caught the princess of the Third staring at you a few times. The pretty one.” She paused, smirking playfully. “Maybe I shouldn’t make you look too good, or soon I won’t get to keep you for myself. They’ll be lining up.”
Gideon hated how she wanted, very, very badly, to tell Dulcinea she had nothing to worry about and that Coronabeth wasn’t even all that interesting. She didn’t know how to convey that very well, though, and settled for taking Dulcinea’s free hand hers and giving it a squeeze.
“You’re too kind to me, I think, Gideon the Ninth. You indulge me too much. I won’t complain, though. Not when you let me spoil you like this.” Her eyes narrowed in focus. “Now sit very, very still.”
She spritzed some more water along Gideon’s neck, then some kind of frothy white stuff that lathered up, and the razor slid along her skin in slow, smooth strokes. First her neck, then she did the undercut, and leaned back with a happy sigh to behold her work. She leaned to the side, then closer, shifting one thigh in between Gideon’s, and pressed her knee forward.
Gideon couldn’t help but breathe out a soft: “Fuck.”
Dulcinea’s teeth glinted white in a wide, delighted smile.
“Aha! You do speak. I’d half thought you’d had your tongue cut out, or sewn, and wouldn’t that have been a shame?”
A wave embarrassment shot rolled over Gideon. In a single moment, she’d not only let on just how badly Dulcinea had gotten to her, but she’d screwed up the ‘vow of silence’, too. She looked down, and not even the sight of creamy cleavage was enough to cheer her up.
“Don’t tell. Please.”
Maybe the necromancer caught on to some of what was going on in her head. Maybe more than just some, actually, because she took Gideon’s chin between two delicate fingers and turned her face up. The smile on the Seventh Heir’s face was… hungry, almost.
“Don’t worry,” she said in a whisper, as if she was sharing something that might be overheard. “It’ll be our little secret. Even if the Necrolord Prime himself was to ask me, I’d not tell him.”
She shifted forward again, and this time there was no way it was an accident, as her knee settled against the crotch of Gideon’s pants and pressed firmly against the fabric and the heat beneath.
Gideon rocked forward, head bowed against Dulcinea’s collarbones, fingers clenching hard on the pert rounds of her ass.
Dulcinea made a soft sound at the back of her throat. “Mmm. Finally. I’ve been wanting you to do that for days. Tell me, Gideon. Have you ever done this before?”
Gideon cleared her throat, in no small panic. “Uh. Oh yeah. Lots of times.”
Dulcinea quirked an eyebrow. She was very clearly trying not to smile. “Oh?”
Gideon sighed. “No. Not really.”
“Not even with the Reverend Daughter?”
“No. No, no, no. Hell no.”
“I see.” Dulcinea almost seemed disappointed for a moment and Gideon was worried she’d someone been rude or something. Then the necromancer set the scissors aside, and the smile was back again like it had never gone. “Can I touch you, Gideon?”
“Please,” Gideon said.
It was pathetic, but she could barely bring herself to care. A hot older woman was offering to touch her and she wasn’t going to be complaining.
Dulcinea shivered atop her and her hips slid forward, brushing along Gideon’s thigh. “I’ve wanted to hear you say that for a while, Ninth. You’d look even prettier saying it on your knees, and I’ll want you pleading for me before the end… but there’ll be time for that later. For now-”
She brushed her fingers along Gideon’s waist, where a sliver of her hip was bare between shirt and trousers. Then she went beneath her shirt, over her stomach, and Gideon flexed in the hopes that it might impress her.
Turned out she was ticklish, which wasn’t as impressive, but at least Dulcinea laughed with delight and only got held up for a few seconds. Then she looked up at Gideon.
“Can I kiss you?”
“Sure. I- Yeah, sure.”
Dulcinea moved slowly, like Gideon was some animal she was worried about spooking, and every second of waiting was excruciating.
Gideon had seen plenty of kissing in her comics and she’d read about it in the articles, but what was the right amount of tongue? When was the right moment to even slip someone the tongue? How did you know? How the fuck did you ask, what with your tongue being kind of busy?
Dulcinea’s lips brushed hers, soft and moist, and Gideon couldn’t hold back a moan as she tried to meet her halfway and do… whatever it was you did in a situation like this. There was a moment of panic when Dulcinea pulled back, but the necromancer of the seventh stroked a thumb across Gideon’s cheek.
“Slowly,” she said. “Imagine we’ll be here in this moment for the next myriad, just you and I, together.”
They kissed again and this time it felt better, more comfortable, like maybe she’d get a hang of things soon. Then Dulcinea’s tongue flicked out along Gideon’s bottom lip, and Gideon couldn’t help herself. She stopped caring whether or not she was making a fool of herself. She whimpered and licked Dulcinea’s tongue, tasting the sweet tea that sat cooling in a little pot beside them.
Dulcinea eased back with a gentle laugh. Her hands were beneath Gideon’s shirt, fingers splayed along her ribcage just below her bandeau. “May I?”
“Whatever you want,” Gideon panted.
Dulcinea raised an eyebrow. “You should be careful what you wish for, Ninth. I’ve been thinking about this - about you - for a while now.”
She lowered her voice to a soft, confidential whisper. “The last few nights I’ve been thinking about you as I touched myself in bed.”
Gideon surged back into the kiss with a needy moan, only for Dulcinea to hold her in place an inch shy of contact with an iron grip on her hair. “I want to do so many things to you, Gideon, and I don’t think you’re ready for half of them.”
“I am,” Gideon insisted, and winced, because it sounded childish even to her own ears.
“Some day maybe I’ll show you, but today we take it slow.”
Her hands slipped underneath Gideon’s bandeau and fuck- fuck, her tits had never been all that sensitive, but now the cold brush of Dulcinea’s slim, dexterous fingers was enough to leave her panting and squirming in her seat.
Dulcinea wasn’t as badly off, but she wasn’t unaffected, either. Her cheeks were a lot rosier than before, and she was breathing harder the longer the kiss went on.
Gideon pulled back half an inch. “Can I touch you… you know, more?”
Dulcinea smiled wickedly. “Yes. If you promise me you won’t treat me as if I’m made out of glass.”
Gideon blinked. She’d definitely planned to do just that. Maybe lift Dulcinea in a bridal carry and take her someplace more secluded and romantic.
She hesitated. “Okay.”
“Show me first,” Dulcinea said, flicking a thumb over the aching peak of Gideon’s nipple to underline her point. “Spank me.”
“Sorry what?”
Surely she hadn’t said… what Gideon thought she’d said. For a second, something like irritation flashed across Dulcinea’s sweet, porcelain features, and Gideon’s stomach clenched with anxiety that she’d ruined everything. Just as quickly as it had come, though, the look disappeared, and maybe it had never been there to begin with.
Dulcinea looked Gideon in the eye, and this close it was impossible not to notice just how weird and beautiful the necromancer’s eyes were. Gideon had never seen eyes like that before. Dulcinea grabbed both of Gideon’s hands and guided them up underneath the gauzy skirts of her dress, up satin-smooth skin and over the firm little curve of her ass.
“I said that I don’t want you to go soft on me just because I’m dying. I want you to spank me. Go on. I won’t break.”
Gideon had never really fantasized about spanking anyone before. Okay, so maybe someone, but definitely not Dulcinea. Dulcinea had always seemed like the type of woman she’d touch slowly, carefully, and who’d curl up against her in bleary exhaustion afterwards.
She was pretty sure this might be a dealbreaker, though, and she wasn’t about to call it quits just because the spankee in question wasn’t… someone who deserved a good spanking.
“Okay,” she said. “Okay.”
She looked out towards the doorway leading to the terrace just to be sure, confirming it was clear. Then she bunched up Dulcinea’s dress with her left hand and pulled back her right, letting it fall on the necromancer’s dainty ass with a firm ‘thwack’ of impact.
Dulcinea shivered prettily. “That’s it, Gideon. Once more. Be a darling and give me one more. You go a little harder.”
Okay. A little harder. She could do that. She raised her hand, hesitated for just a moment, and then brought it down hard. Harder than she would’ve initially dared, and surely hard enough it must’ve hurt. Gideon stroked her fingers along the spot she’d struck, over hot smooth skin and lacy fabric bunched up between the necromancer’s asscheeks.
“Oooh,” Dulcinea cooed. “You’re a natural at that, I think. Maybe I’ll let you really practice some day, but right now I think I want your fingers. Take off my underwear, sweet thing.”
“Guess we’ve already done the scissoring part, huh?” Gideon said before she could stop herself.
Regret hit her like a fist to the solar plexus. Well, shit. That was that, then. Dulcinea was going to tell her ‘thank you for your shown interest, but my lady boner has just died for the rest of eternity,’ and Gideon was going to go back to her room and hope Harrow wasn’t there so she could at least have a sad wank while the good parts of the afternoon were fresh.
Dulcinea didn’t laugh, or roll her eyes, or shove Gideon off her, though. She smiled, baring dainty little canine teeth. “Play your cards right, Gideon the Ninth, and we’ll be trying out everything you’ve ever dreamed of, and more you haven’t yet.”
The shock of not getting told to go away and never come back was a big one, but it faded in the face of the realization that she was going to take Dulcinea’s underwear off, and that once she’d done that she’d get her first real-life chance to touch another girl’s pussy.
“Okay,” Gideon said, maybe to Dulcinea, maybe to herself. “Here goes.”
She tugged more of the fabric of the dress into her hand, until she had a clear view of Dulcinea’s thighs, her hips, and a sliver of skin of her belly just above the fabric of the underwear. She dipped her fingers beneath that fabric and began to ease it down.
Which was kind of clumsy, one-handed, with Dulcinea’s legs spread on either side of Gideon’s hips, but it was worth every moment of it, each second and each micrometer of skin bared.
She very nearly whimpered when she’d pulled the fabric down far enough to reveal neat dark-brown curls. When she got further and found the fabric sticking slightly to Dulcinea’s sex, pink and gleaming slick, Gideon really did whimper.
Gideon forgot she was supposed to be taking the underwear off and reached out instead, hesitating with her fingertips on top of the lace’s hem until Dulcinea gave her a sweet smile and nodded. “Go on.”
It was all suddenly very, very real. She’d imagined this moment so many times, for so long, and now here it was. It was way too good to be true, frankly, and a part of Gideon wanted to run away before the rug was swept out from underneath her. But what kind of cavalier did that when a pretty girl sat in her lap, panties halfway down her thighs, and noticeably wet to boot.
Not a single one.
Okay, so maybe Ortus, but he didn’t count.
Gideon slipped her hand in between Dulcinea’s thighs, and slowly swept a single finger along her sex, parting the necromancer’s hot, slick folds. More heat, more slick dripped along her fingers, and once Gideon felt she and Dulcinea both were ready, she moved higher until she could stroke along the hood of the other girl’s clit.
“Oh…” Dulcinea leaned forward, arms sweaty and thin as she wrapped them around Gideon for support. “That’s nice…”
Gideon’s heart swelled with confidence. “Do you still want me to… you know. Uh. Not treat you like you were made of glass or whatever?”
Dulcinea leaned in closer still, hot breath tickling Gideon’s ear before she took the earlobe between her teeth and gave it a tug that had Gideon’s entire body vibrating. When she whispered she sounded almost wholly unlike her usually sweet self. “I want you to fill me up and I want to ride you until I pass out.”
Gideon drew a firmer, tighter circle around Dulcinea’s clit, pressing her finger against it until the other girl moaned and rocked her hips forward so that Gideon’s fingers slipped lower, towards Dulcinea’s entrance.
She debated with herself for a moment there. One finger or two for starters? She’d learned from experience - with herself, admittedly - that it was best to start slow… but then, Dulcinea had told her she didn’t want her to take it easy on her.
Fuck.
She’d just have to hedge her bets. She slid her middle finger inside of Dulcinea, shuddering along with the necromancer at the feel of the tightly clenching heat around the digit, and teased her index finger along her labia.
“Another?” she asked, trying to sound confident and in control.
“Oh yes,” Dulcinea breathed. “That’s a good girl. Give me more.”
Gideon cursed internally. That was definitely going to awaken something in her.
She slid her index finger in alongside the other, feeling slick drip down along her wrist as Dulcinea began to rock against her fingers.
“That’s it,” Dulcinea murmured. “Give me one more. I can take… one more.”
Gideon blinked. Maybe she could, but damn. She’d never been able to herself. Then again, necros got up to some weird shit and they were tougher than they looked. Even if that wasn’t too hard.
She slid her ring finger up alongside the other two and that drew a throaty, satisfied groan from the woman atop her. She began to move again, back and forth, cheeks flushed a deep scarlet and fever-hot against Gideon’s skin.
“Move with me,” Dulcinea breathed. “That’s a good cavalier. Your necromancer is such a fool for not seeing just how good you’d be for her like this. It’s my gain, I suppose.”
Unbidden, an image of Harrow in Dulcinea’s position shot through Gideon’s mind. Paint running down her cheeks with sweat, sacred vestments soiled and desecrated with her arousal. Lips swollen from the cries she kept trying and failing to bite down.
It should’ve been a complete and utter boner killer, but it wasn’t.
It took Dulcinea and Gideon a little while to find their rhythm, and more than once, Gideon’s fingers slid out when either of them pulled back too far. Eventually, though, they were moving smoothly together.
Dulcinea was clinging on for dear life, whimpering against Gideon’s throat, her slender legs trembling violently against the insides of Gideon’s thighs where they were bracketing her.
“Don’t stop, Gideon,” Dulcinea gasped, as if any force in the universe could’ve made her stop. “Almost- I’m almost-”
Gideon kept moving with her, even as the necromancer’s movements grew a little uncoordinated, and with a final almost pained-sounding grunt, Dulcinea stiffened and began to shake.
Gideon straightened, wrapping her free arm carefully around her, slowly pulling her fingers out and drawing their slick tips in careful circles around the stiff bead of Dulcinea’s clit to draw a few final shivers out of her.
She slumped down on top of Gideon in a limp heap, cheek resting against her breast, and Gideon had absolutely no fucking clue what to do about it. She ended up settling for awkwardly patting Dulcinea’s hair.
“I knew a girl like you once,” Dulcinea said. “Brave. Loyal. Sweet. It ended up killing her. I hope it doesn’t, with you. It was an eternity ago, but it still hurts, sometimes.”
“I’m sorry,” Gideon said, because what the fuck was she suppose to say to that?
Dulcinea heaved a sigh and pushed herself into a sitting position, untangling her legs and straddling Gideon. “No. I’m sorry. You’ve been such a sweet thing and here I am complaining when you look like you’re about to implode.”
“It’s okay,” Gideon assured her, and it was true. Mostly. Feeling Dulcinea get off, holding her in the aftermath had been better than getting herself off had ever been. She did need desperately to get off, but she could wait. She could definitely wait for Dulcinea to cry, if she needed to.
Dulcinea smiled and cupped Gideon’s cheek. “I know. Now shush and let me take care of you.”
Oh. Was she about to-?
Dulcinea set her hand low on Gideon’s stomach, raising an eyebrow in question. Gideon managed a jerky nod, and Dulcinea undid the button on her pants, slid down the zipper, and eased her hand in beneath the fabric of her underwear.
Those thin, dextrous fingers of hers carded through sodden curls to where Gideon ached with need for her, then paused.
“Oh,” Dulcinea said, voice soft, smile wry. “You’re very ready for me, aren’t you?”
Gideon wanted, very badly, to be cool about it.
She very much wasn’t, and moaned despite her best efforts.
“Don’t try to stay quiet, Gideon,” Dulcinea purred. “I want to hear you screaming before we’re done here.”
It was already too much. Gideon was going to cum like a bolt of lightning, and Dulcinea had barely gotten started, barely touched her, and fuck-
It seemed like Dulcinea realized it, too, though, and her touches were the softest, gentlest possible. Gideon couldn’t look at her, couldn’t bear the embarrassment of how easily she was getting there, and how Dulcinea already seemed to know, but the necromancer grasped her chin and kept her in place. Her crystal blue eyes locked with Gideon’s.
“Look at me,” she whispered, and Gideon obeyed. “There you go. I want to see you. I want you to keep your eyes open. Can you do that? For me?”
Gideon shuddered and nodded. “Yes. Please.”
Dulcinea smiled victoriously and her touch grew firmer, quicker, until Gideon’s legs were tensing, her heart pounding, the cresting so, so close until-
Dulcinea eased off again, settling back into soft little circling movements, and Gideon groaned with frustration.
“Please,” she whined.
“That’s begging,” Dulcinea noted happily. “You know what I want next.”
Gideon didn’t expect to give it to her, but a few minutes and an eternity later, after god knew how many times she’d been brought to the edge, Dulcinea didn’t stop. She kept going and it was only her hot, febrile kiss that stifled Gideon’s scream as she finally came against the slight adept’s fingers.
It was so much. Too much, almost. The world came back to Gideon in bits and pieces, and it wasn’t until it had mostly returned to focus that she realized she was crying softly, and that Dulcinea was whispering to her under her breath as she wiped the tears away.
“Shush, Gideon. Don’t cry. Please don’t cry. I haven’t cried in what feels like centuries and if I start now I don’t know if I’ll be able to stop.”
Gideon nodded shakily and blinked the tears out of her eyes. “Sorry.”
Dulcinea’s expression softened. “Don’t say that. You were perfect.”
“Yeah. Nothing hotter than someone who cries after sex.”
Dulcinea curled up in Gideon’s lap, head resting against her shoulder. “It happens to the best of us.”
“Really?”
“Yes. Let’s just… stay like this for a little while. We don’t have much longer before we have to go, and we may never have the opportunity again, so let’s enjoy it.”
She had a point. She was soft, she smelled nice, and they’d just had sex. If they had another shot, if Gideon had another shot, she knew she’d do better. She’d eat Dulcinea out and she’d definitely not cry afterwards.
“Alright,” she said, and let her eyes drift closed for a moment.
She wasn’t sure if she fell asleep or just drifted towards it. Dulcinea was still in her lap, except for where her hand stroked the spot where Gideon’s heart beat slow and steady. She didn’t want to break the moment, so she peeked with her eyes only barely open.
Dulcinea was watching her. Fidgeting. Her hand twitched towards the bag, then she stopped herself. There were tears on her cheeks and she was trembling. It was the first time since they’d gotten intimate that Dulcinea looked really sick once more.
She was struggling with… something. Something she wanted to do? Or needed to?
It took her a while before she finally sighed and relaxed.
“I can’t,” she mumbled to herself. “I should, but I can’t.”
She nuzzled against Gideon’s neck, reaching out to stroke her hair at the back of her neck against the grain. That, the gentle warmth of the sun, the salty breeze coming off the sea along with the rocking of the waves far, far below finally had Gideon drifting off to sleep.
When she woke up, Dulcinea was gone.