Completed [The Dreaming Lady] There Comes a Time... (Chemar)

[Kovac]

Kovac noted the discolored moss Chemar left in her tracks, a slight smile on his lips. This dream was so much different then the first, he thought, finding he held more control now. Or was she simply releasing some authority to him? The Inartan was passive, almost demure, under the scrutiny of his clear gaze. This fact was not lost on the avora. Her wall has been breached. No sooner had the arrogant hunter pondered this thought than the woman stood up from her examination of the earth, that resolve set to her chin as evident as ever. "Rabbits are for children." She offered almost sanctimoniously. Kovac looked down to see the rabbits of various colors gathered at his feet. He smiled again. "Perhaps we should all be more child-like." The olive-skinned man reached down to pick one up, a brindled long-hair, nuzzling its nose with his before he set it back down with the others. His eyes lifed again to his companion. With a small sense of regret he watched as Chemar craft her covering, using it to conceal her bare legs. Too bad, they were quite pleasing. "Is this place real? It's awfully optimistic for you." Kovac glanced sidelong at the woman's subtle barb before looking up at the forest he imagined. "Living outside of the dark holes in Skyinarta can give one a new perspective." A serene smile turned to a frown as Chemar's touch left the trees around them leafless. Standing amid a downpour of softly descending leaves, the mongrel reached down to pick up a branch. It immediately turned into a red and black striped serpent in his grasp, emitting a low hiss. "Perhaps this is more of what you expected to see?" Kovac leaned down again, setting the snake down in the soft covering of the forest floor, allowing it to roam the area freely. Kovac tried to ignore what Chemar had done, rendering his lush forest a skeletal army of leafless trees. She had asked him which rabbit he would choose, and he looked again down at the fluffy creatures. "The thing about rabbits is...you don't have to choose just one." Crouching down, Kovac scooped up a rabbit in each arm, holding them close to his chest. "And when you are done with one, or it leaves, there are always more. You and I know, dreamwalker, that a rabbit will only hold its charm for so long, they are just rabbits." Kovac's green gaze slipped to the earth, where the snake crawled through the fallen leaves. He watched as it slithered towards Chemar, who stood stock still at its approach. The reptile coiled up at her feet, its head raised. The signature snarky grin appeared on Kovac's face. The diamond shaped head of the viper swayed as it looked up at Chemar, its long fangs bared. Suddenly it struck. Its mouth clamped around the hem of the scarf skirt, pulling it off of her in a quick jerk. Then, slowing, it began to swallow the light fabric. The man's grin turned to a wide smile as Chemar's ivory smooth legs were once again revealed. "I know the difference."

[Chemar Tisserand]

As the viper ingested the silken scarf Chemar held a tentative breath in her throat and watched the familiar smile spread across Kovac's disarming features. She was doing her best to squelch her unnatural susceptibility to his roguish charms, but even on her playground he seemed the stronger of the two of them, even if unaware...

I know the difference.

When the viper had finished it's lunch, Chemar pointed the tip of her toe at the coiled snake and it immediately began to slither along her newly exposed leg."Do you now?" Her eyes lifted to Kovac's while his creation began to wind around her, slowly encircling her with the loops of its long form. From the very first contact of the crimson scales with Chemar's pale skin, Kovac could feel it; As though his hands instead of his proxy were caressing the very leg he had revealed. Chemar's back straightened and she drew an involuntary breath as the viper disappeared beneath the fabric of her nightdress. "But are you prepared for anything beyond a rabbit..." Her voice trailed off as the coils wound around her small waist, momentarily cinching around her like a tightening belt, all of which she generously shared with Kovac as she spread the sensation of contact to the rest of his body.

After passing languorously over her heart, the viper emerged from beneath her shift and crept along the column of her long neck. She cocked her head as it disappeared beneath her hair, still keeping her eyes locked on Kovac. The serpent's bifurcated tongue flickered across Chemar's neck and Kovac could taste the faint flavor of cinnamon. Without so much as a touch, the dreamwalker had returned the sensation of their intimacy back to Kovac, overtaking him with the sense memories of their night together. His creation had become her pet, and she stared into him without any shame or hesitation.

With a sweep of her hands, she gathered her long hair and moved it aside so the serpent might have a clear path as it coiled around her neck. A smirk curled her lips and she spoke softly. "Well this is familiar..." Loop after loop of the serpent's length became a scaled necklace for Chemar as the entirety of the snake was again revealed.

Standing there with her newest accessory, Chemar seemed to be blindsided by the serpent's teeth as it struck her, sinking it's polished fangs into her throat. She didn't struggle as the fine crimson line trickled down her neck into her chemise, but the focus of her gaze turned to the ground to eclipse any visible emotion under a veil of her lashes. Pale skin grew paler, and her head lolled back as she crumpled into a fallen mass on the forest floor. Lying there, the trail of blood began to bloom on the front of her chemise, mimicking the effect her feet had created in the spongy moss. Very soon the sheer white of her dress was a clinging sheet of blood, and it covered her still form, a gruesome blanket of red.

If Kovac had any urge to run to the dreamwalker as she faded from his senses, he was stopped in his tracks. Held fast by a hand on the middle of his chest; a ghostly grasp that snaked from behind him. When he looked at his captor, it was a perfect reflection of Chemar, except that she lacked any color or mass, and eyes that once glowed with life and mystery, were now as smoke trapped in glass. He could see his own skin through the hands of this new walker, and could feel no sensation of her touch as she let her fingertips trace along his ribs. In a lost breath, her lips were pressed to his ear, whispering without the heat of Chemar's breath, or the honey of her voice.

"Let it die." The smoky eyes flicked toward the fallen dreamer, and she smiled watching as the color began to fade into black across the usually creamy skin."Be rid of it once and for all."

It. A crystalline hand covered Kovac's heart and he could feel his heart beat growing stronger as it reflected off her glassy palm. "You can take it. Both beats can be yours. Kill it."

[Kovac]

Kovac thought he was quite clever as he watched the serpent devour Chemar's covering. But the sardonic grin faded as she, once again, reminded him whose realm they occupied. She coaxed the red and black snake around her ankle, letting it slither up her lean leg. Kovac stood still, suddenly feeling an unseen sensation that started at the pads of his fingers, like the smooth friction of a woman's skin. The phenomenon spread out across every inch of the front of his body. As the reptile curled over the contours of Chemar's body, the nerve endings in his skin reflected it in sensual detail. Rendering him unwilling to move as he tried to focus his mind on Chemar's purposes. Then the creature encircled her neck, and he felt, just like he did that night, the feel of her throat on his fingers. Then the dreamwalker let him have it. Petch! Kovac found himself overwhelmed by the sensory recollection of what transpired that night, in tactile detail. He reeled as he relived that night, weak with the powerful physical memory. Then, through half-lidded eyes, he focused again on the dreamwalker. I am done being controlled. Then Kovac, his forest green eyes clear again, watched as the serpent struck the tender flesh of Chemar's neck. He watched as she crumpled to the ground, somewhat alarmed to see the crimson blood stain spread across her chemise. No, that was not the intent. He moved towards her, but was halted by the spectral Chemar. "Let it die...Kill it." Sudden chaos fell upon Kovac's tripped mind. Rabbits, Chemar, the hearts, what it meant to be inarta, or half, and the nightmares. He turned around, still in the cyrstalline Chemar's grasp. He placed a hand on either side of her face, the translucent features hard to make out. With another wry grin, he pressed his mouth to hers, his hand forcing her mouth open. Then he blew. Once his warm breath passed into the apparition, it ignited, until it filled her whole body with flames. Kovac did not wait to watch what happened next, but broke free and ran to the body of Chemar laying on the ground. His hands tugged at her auburn hair, revealing the ivory flesh of her neck and the puncture wound his viper had inflicted. The avora pressed his mouth against the cold skin, sucking at the wounds. He could taste the venom as it rose to the surface, hot and stringent. He leaned his head away, spewing out the poison, which ignited when exposed to the air, creating a stream of flames that evaporated almost instantly. Once he was satisfied he had removed the venom. Kovac glanced at her garment, now blackened. He reached out a hand to touch it gently, only to watch it dissolve into ash covering her body. Looking around, the avora snatched up the serpent by the neck, shoving his fingers down its throat. He withdrew them, pulling the sheer fabric it had swallowed free of its gullet. Turning back to the dreamwalker, he blew across her body, scattering the ashes like dust in the wind, leaving her uncovered entirely. He smiled, this time without a snarky sneer. Kovac shook out the scarf-skirt he had retrieved from the serpent. The fabric expanded, and he let it fall softly over Chemar's alabaster flesh, covering roughly the same aspects of her form that her chemise had. The halfblood then leaned over the woman, his face close to hers. His mouth pressed against her cold lips, his hand slipping under the makeshift covering to rest on her flat stomach. Then he withdrew the kiss, and his hand slid upwards between her breasts to rest over her heart. Looking up, Kovac saw that several animals had gathered, at a respectable distance. Several species; deer, fox, wolf, raven, even a couple rabbits, all watched, each one the color of one of his rabbits. "It doesn't have to be like this...doesn't have to be either or." His attention returned to Chemar as his hand remained still upon her heart, waiting, wishing for the slightest tremor to ripple through her silky skin.

[Chemar Tisserand]

As the fiery breath expelled by Kovac turned the glassy Chemar into a flaming cauldron, she took a staggering step away from him, staring in disbelief as he rushed to the fallen dreamer.

It doesn't have to be like this...doesn't have to be either or.

"Fool. I have given you the perfect escape." As she spoke, the words seemed to fuel the fire he'd started within her, filling the vessel that was the crystalline walker with a rage of flames. Smokey eyes were filled now with the blueish orange of flickering flame and that burning gaze was locked on the Avora as he knelt next to Chemar. "You've made your choice, half-blood. But even your sentimental heart cannot repair some things." A wicked smile curled her lips just as a dissonant crackling sounded in the still air. The fire inside her overtook the body of glass and sent jagged shards exploding into the soundless vacuum of the skeletal forest and she was gone, leaving Kovac alone with the prone figure of Chemar.

His warm hand still rested over the dreamer's heart, waiting for the beat to echo against his palm. But the familiar rhythm was not forthcoming, and the moments passed; insinuating more and more doubt into Kovac's subconscious. Perhaps the stubborn walker would not return, and leave him to find his way out of this dream alone.

"You pick the most inappropriate times to cop a feel." The familiar, honey laden voice sounded in his ears, an almost playful lift carrying her words as he stared at his hand beneath the filmy fabric. There was yet to sound a beating heart, but the golden rings in her eyes glowed with their usual intensity when his green eyed gaze met hers. "You confuse me Kovac." She lifted a cold hand and pressed it over his, covering it like a shadow while keeping them separated by the thin layer of silk. As the connection was made, it was as if a shock radiated through his hand, and he felt the first beat, followed by a second and a third, the perfect match to his own thundering heart. Chemar drew in a long breath and closed her eyes.

Whether or not he took note, his forest was restored, only this time it bloomed into shades of red, orange and gold. The trees and grasses glowing with the warming shades of autumn. Chemar did not move from her spot lying in the cushioning moss, but she did speak. "Well now that you've awoken me, what do you want?" Her eyes remained closed with no hint of her feelings betrayed by her tone and she guarded the heart that beat beneath his hand. She waited for him to speak, to answer her question as the touch of his hand on her chest began to become a distraction.

Even after the passage of time, and the scarring of her trust, there was a connection to Kovac that was outside her control. It infuriated her while simultaneously keeping her mind searching for the reason why. So frustrating. Had his actions not proven to her that Kovac shared her dilemma, she would have expelled him from the dream and her home, severing their connection for good. But that knowledge prevented her from moving past him, whether it was because she was curious, or because she had some faith, however misplaced, that he had never really meant to hurt her.

Without warning she felt a searing pain shoot across the plane of her abdomen, and then drill through her skin to settle below her diaphragm where it twisted like a writhing snake trying to eat it's way out of her body. She curled involuntarily and shoved Kovac's hand away.

"No!" She shouted, trying to quell her subconscious, stifling the thread it had begun to unravel. "No! Kovac wake up!" She pushed him away, slamming her hands into his chest to throw him from the dream.

***

She awoke curled over her legs, sweat having turned her hair into damp copper ribbons that clung to her body. She sat with both of her arms clamped around her stomach in a vise-like grip trying to hide from the eyes she knew would soon be upon her. Each breath she drew was like pulling a razor laced flame into her throat and she shook with the anticipation of Kovac's reaction to her having thrust him into the waking world.

The sound of her breathing seemed deafening as she awaited his questions.

[Kovac]

"Fool. I have given you the perfect escape... even your sentimental heart cannot repair some things." Even as the roiling flames filled the glass-like Chemar, her hard words came forth with venomous disdain. Kovac tried to ignore her taunts, his warm hand pressed against the prone Chemar's chest. He hunkered down over her as the crystalline Chemar shattered, casting shards all about. He waited. Though the cool skin beneath his hand was warmed by his touch, the rest of the woman remained lifeless. Come on, come on. Petch, woman, why do you do this to me? The walks were dreams. Symbols, anaolgies, experiences that revealed truth. Deep, hidden feelings about his mother were discovered on their first walk. This dream, too, certainly carried revelation. But this time, the avora was not sure whether what transpired was an element of his own psyche, or the personal interjections of the dreamwalker, for this time it was personal. No beating in her chest. The translucent Chemar had offered him escape, separation from the dreamwalker. Thats what he had wanted, escape from the nightmares. But, now, well... There was a reason why he stayed the night with her a year ago. It wasn't because that wacko connection compelled him to do it, nor his overactive libido. Shyke, he just liked her. But it was kind of hard to forge a friendship when your nights are haunted by visions of the woman killing you over and over again. Maybe it wasn't her fault. Kovac assumed it was her of course, some flaw in her character that interfered, some mistake she made in whatever protocols dreamwalkers must have. He lied so well to himself. It was probably just another side effect of his twisted up subconscious. "You pick the most inappropriate times to cop a feel." Kovac laughed. Laughed in relief, laughed at the uncharacteristic jibe Chemar made at him. The pressure of her hand on his, even through the thin fabric, felt good. Then the thrum of her heart began again, the soft ripple of her pulse pressing at his palm. The hunter pressed his other hand against his own chest. The rhythms were mirrored. He looked down on Chemar, the woman seeming so innocent as she lay, her piercing gaze now concealed behind soft lids. The sync of their pulse was still there. Kovac didn't understand why, but, as he studied the contours of Chemar's lovely face, he was okay with it. The moment crumbled as Chemar screamed, shoving him away. Kovac was startled, bracing for whatever new horror was to arise. He felt a draw upon him, and the sensation of being ripped from the dreamworld to the real one. The avora's eyes shot open, in moments his eyes relayed to his mind that he was, in fact, awake and in the dream chamber. A quick turn of the head revealed Chemar hunched over, just as she was when he was torn from the dream. She was in great pain. Oh gods...did I do something to her? He rolled to his hand and knees and hastened to the dreamwalker's side. "Chemar, Chemar, what's wrong?"

[Chemar Tisserand]

When the actual, physical pain she experienced in the dream began to fade into a sense memory of the pain she'd gone through months after Kovac's disappearance, Chemar relaxed. She was able to catch her breath, the fear and grief of the moment retreating into her memory as it safely dissolved into the manageable depths of her subconscious. The shock of Kovac rushing to her side snapped her mind firmly into the present.

Chemar, Chemar, what's wrong?

Shyke. The honest concern in his voice was evident, and when she looked up at him from her hunched posture, she was met with as gaze that disarmed her. He watched her with real concern and it bastardized the solid animus she'd felt for Kovac, morphing her feelings into something she didn't really understand. Her choice would not have been to have him find out her secret this way...or...at all. But here they were, and without the revelation of the past year, there would be no moving on.

"I'm fine." When she heard her own voice, it sounded worn, but even so, when Chemar uncurled from her protected posture, and watched Kovac he did relax a bit. Usually so well versed in unraveling the details of the past,this time she felt paralyzed; Lacking a way to begin this conversation. Chances were good that this would drive an insurmountable wedge between them, but in all fairness to Kovac, she needed to be honest. "When you left..." Her mind quickly played through all the ways she might complete her statement, but each sounded imperfect in one way or another.

Too angered.

Too bitter.

Too much the victim.

She groaned softly, her head lowering and the long tumble of her hair momentarily hiding her soft features. Without another word, she reached out and took Kovac's hand, gently guiding it to the plane of her stomach where she pressed it flat and held it there. Adding no other motion she began to whisper, her eyes focused on the floor as though following lines of text to be spoken. "When you left, I was not without a lasting memory of you. Here." The pressure of her hand on his increased just enough to make him take note. Having no wish to imply that he was beholden to her, she blurted the rest out in a choppy fragment of thoughts."...but..don't worry, there is nothing you need do. I was so angry. There is nothing of it left. Him. Nothing of him..." She caught her lip in her teeth and considered her words, shaking her head. She heard herself, sounding like a weakened idiot. A long sign uncurled her spine and brought her gaze back to Kovac's. With a clear line from her eyes to his she continued. "There was no room for a child within me when all I felt was bitterness and anger." She gave a quick nod. "It was a boy. He died. Now you know. I can't imagine what a mess of a boy he would have been with we two for parents." She offered a sad smile as her words faded into the warmth of the room, unaware that she still held Kovac's hand pressed to her stomach, her fingers laced comfortably into his.

[Kovac]

What? What? "What?" Kovac's question sounded perplexed, but he certainly understood what Chemar had meant. It was the sudden revelation that clashed with his reality, threw the paradigm he had only recently rebuilt into a vortex, causing an incongruity between the facts and his ability to make them fit into the world as he knew it. The fact, even if it...he...was no longer existing, spun a new twist around the volatile dynamic that already entangled the Inartan Dreamwalker and half-bred archer. In remembered dream, thought and fantasy, the avora had imagined Chemar and he as enemies, rivals, cohorts, lovers, and a even murder/suicide, but never as parents. The ill-equipped Kovac was quite literally stunned. Of course, his first thoughts were still of himself, how his life would have been impacted had the child lived. Truth was, Wind Reach was not like Avanthal or other places he had heard of around Mizahar. There was a detachment between parent and child in Skyinarta, for the community itself raised the Inarta's children. The repercussions in reality would have been not so much being a father, but that another element of connection would have existed between Chemar and himself. But Kovac knew, even with no child now, that the pregnancy and loss must have been devastating. He had to accept some responsibility for that. In one instant, it seemed no longer relevant to dance around each other in innuendo and crafty attempts to navigate the others inner intentions. Chemar's news was as if a bucket of cold water had been cast over him, washing away everything, leaving him naked and bereft of petty defenses. Kovac was not a man of depth, not one to join noble causes, or seek to heal the broken-hearted, or tend to the needy, debate philosophy or piety. He was shallow and self-interested by practice. But the avora was not without a measure of compassion, as he was able to demonstrate to the Dek Haya and the Yasi Rista. Compassion was something the sardonic mongrel certainly owed this woman, with whom he had shared such intimacy, in and out of the dreamworld. "It was a boy. He died. Now you know. I can't imagine what a mess of a boy he would have been with we two for parents." "Chemar," his voice was low and hesitant. "I'm sorry, I ...I didn't know." Of course he didn't know. He avoided the woman until he was able to flee to Water Reach. Back then, if he had known, would he have cared? Kovac didn't want to answer his own question. He was trying to forget that man. Only days earlier, Kovac had run into Aidara. He too had things to clear up with her, owned her some honesty. Chemar, even more so, deserved to hear what the dreams seemed to be telling him all along. For the moment, Kovac's hand remained on Chemar's, though he slipped it from the softness of her belly to rest on her knee. "Look. You are special...to me. You have to be, why else would this strange... thing...with our heartbeats exist. I can't really wrap my arms around what it is. I am attracted to you," A subtle grin flashed across his face as he recalled that night with Chemar, and even the strange evening they had shared with Sairque. "I like being around you, though to be honest, you used to scare the shyke out of me. But not so much now." Another lopsided smile. "I want to experience the things, people, I could not while I was with the Endal. I am not afraid to explore with you, if we can avoid the nightly nightmares. I want...something. To put a name on it seems to only limit what it could be." Kovac sighed, unaware really of how much he had said, or if it made a spit of sense to the woman sitting next to him.

[Chemar Tisserand]

It was done. She'd let go of the secret she'd protected for the last year and the world had not ended. It felt as though she'd shrugged off a suit of armor that left her feeling light and even serene, allowing her to move on now without the constant feeling that some how Kovac would learn the truth and demand some sort of recompense for what she'd taken from him.

What? What? "What?

Chemar watched as Kovac digested what he'd been told. The stages of his process were written across his features so clearly, that when he moved his hand from her stomach, she could feel the distance he was trying to achieve. Even in the midst of his apology she felt a chasm forming, and she was prepared to offer him release now that he knew everything, she'd even opened her mouth to speak when he continued.
Words were withheld as she listened; almost stunned into silence that he was very nearly admitting true feelings.

Who was this man? Since their very first encounter, Kovac had been at best, guarded, at worst, self involved and willing to play any role to get what he wanted. Chemar narrowed her eyes as he just kept talking of what his wished for them.

I want...something Now she was the one who widened the chasm, shifting so that his hand slipped from her leg, breaking all physical contact. I want...something.

The Kovac she knew, was familiar, in so much that she knew how to protect herself. This 'new' Kovac was terrifying to her. Since his departure, she had acknowledged within herself a weakness, a desire even, to let herself go with him; a habit she did not wish to encourage. The duplicitous Kovac made it easier to resist those feelings, but this man, open, and almost vulnerable, left Chemar without defense. What was he doing? Still somewhat unnerved by the dream itself, she began to fidget. Tending to her appearance by gathering her slightly damp hair and tying it in that looping knot that was now familiar to Kovac, it helped her concentrate by doing the mundane. Playful curls were left tickling her bare shoulders, and the flush that colored her pale cheeks had since blossomed along her throat, leaving her looking flushed and quite sultry without her knowing it.

"The dreams...were never of my design." She tried to retain her businesslike manor, when all she could hear were Kovac's words replaying in her ears with deafening clarity. "I cannot make them go away when you are the one who is creating them. Clearly, you see me as some...monster, out to get you." He had said that he no longer saw her that way, she was contradicting him. Just stop speaking Chemar. She needed more time to think, but as he sat there, waiting for her to say something that made sense, it was impossible to concentrate.

"Perhaps, since you say you no longer 'fear' me...they may go away on their own." At her heart, she was still a caretaker, and she no more wished nightmares on Kovac than he wished them himself. Without thinking, she raised her hand to her mouth and began to play with her lower lip, the distraction, however slight would help her think.

"I imagine you wish you had never visited the Dreaming Lady? Her question was honest, spoken in the softest voice. "Even the best sex, may not be worth all this." A very small smile curled one side of her lips. Upon consideration, she had no desire to rebuild the multitude of defenses that had existed before, Kovac had somehow gotten through, and the last year had given her some small sense of perspective. With Sai gone, she had no one that really knew her, the Avora, however flawed, was her...'something." "It was good though..." She smiled outright now, shaking her head.

She took pause the get to her feet, then tentatively extended her hand to Kovac to help him from the floor. "If this is some game, there are far easier ways to get into a woman's bed, and far easier women to go there with. "Standing face to face, she stared into Kovac's green eyes looking for any sign of deceit. Her fingers uncurled, releasing him if he so chose to withdraw his hand. She leaned closer, studying his face. "You will learn that I hold on with an open hand." She glanced at their hands."It is the only way to really tell is someone truly wants to be with you. "

[Kovac]

His heart was pounding. Kovac wondered if Chemar's was too. Of course it was. He wondered which of them was driving the synchronous, steady thump in their chests, though he suspected it was himself. The half-blood felt a twinge of dismay as the Inartan shifted away, his hand falling away from her thigh as she moved. Chemar remained silent, fumbling with her hair instead. It was definitely his racing heart that drove their shared pulse. Was he wrong to be honest? Kovac was sadly inept when navigating the shoals of a persons emotions, and he floundered. Fact was, he used to be little concerned about it. Though, upon his return to Wind Reach, Kovac had wanted to, was compelled to heal wounds he had left in Chemar, and even Aidara. Shayth, well, that was a rocky shore he would not be navigating anymore. The countenance of the dreamwalker shifted, and he sensed defenses rising again. Suddenly, it was if they were back in her apartment a year ago, when he accused her of haunting his dreams. The words he was hearing could very well have been spoken that night, repeating that she had nothing to do with his nightmares, that they were the design of his own mind. "Clearly, you see me as some...monster, out to get you." What? Back then, yes, maybe. Chemar was a dreamwalker, a mysterious woman. Unlike her twin, Rae, who escorted clients through pleasant dreams, Chemar was tasked with guiding them through nightmares. Back then she was a monster of sorts to him, frightening, unpredictable, and very attractive. But now,after a year, after this dream, after he learned about the baby, after he peered into her vulnerability, he saw her for the woman she was. The very assumption that he still thought of her so left him hurt and a little miffed. But as the hunter watched the redhead in the dim light of the dream chamber, he could not stay angry. The Avora could see Chemar was wrestling with herself, sense again her vulnerability. Kovac found no will to be Chemar's adversary. "I imagine you wish you had never visited the Dreaming Lady? Even the best sex, may not be worth all this. ..It was good though."" The remark was so unexpected that Kovac had to nod, sharing in her smile. No, he did not regret it. Chemar was a catalyst that helped bring changes to his life. He allowed her to help him to his feet, the Inartan woman and the half-blood man standing again face to face. He did not release her hand. Chemar leaned closer, those gold-rimmed eyes searching him yet again. "If this is some game..." Yes, Kovac had changed, but not entirely. He had learned some lessons though. "I hold on with an open hand," she had said. Shayth held on with an iron grip. He did not want to be 'owned' again. It was not the inartran way. What kind of hold Chemar might have? It was worth finding out. "I like games," His grin taking on his signature snark. "But not those kind of games. I have games we both can enjoy." Then Kovac took Chemar's other hand in his, leaned in and pressed a kiss to her full lips. Pulling her close as the kiss lingered, Kovac pressed himself against her slight frame.

[Chemar Tisserand]

He will let go...

The thought replayed in Chemar's mind even as she felt the pressure of Kovac's hand tighten around her fingers. She was surprised to say the least, and when a small tremor flipped through her stomach, even more so. After everything, she did not want him to release her. She contemplated her own insanity as she pondered another try with the half blood, but she was wishing for it, her heart told her, her instinct told her, and her body told her.

Nysel save me, why does my body have the loudest voice of all.

I like games. Without a hint of hesitation or ambiguity Kovac encircled her other hand and overtook her with a kiss. She was unprepared, for any of it. Chemar waited for that voice in her head to scream at her to push him away, but it remained silent. Even as he guided her hands behind his back to close any distance between them, her traitorous subconscious said nothing. Within the tangle of her pounding heart, the pressure of her fingertips on the small of Kovac's back and the familiar taste of him on her lips, there was no way the small voice of warning had a chance. But as she soon discovered, she didn't want to be warned, something within her needed to explore whatever possibilities there were for the two of them. A bite on Kovac's lower lip broke the kiss and she leaned back to watch him through heavy-lidded eyes. It took a measure of concentration to speak, to temporarily block the familiarity of the intimate memories brought forth by that kiss, but as she saw the look in Kovac's eyes, she found a little bravado she didn't even know she had.

"Does this mean that each night you dream of me, you will bust down my door?" There was no sense of forboding in the mention of his dreams, she smiled with a quirk of her eyebrow.The skin beneath her fingers grew hot, and she felt a trickle of sweat drip along the center of Kovac's back. Whether it was the mind altering effects of the mountain or the relief of releasing her agonizing secret, the burden of the last year was dispelled, at least for the moment, and she found herself feeling playful. A lift onto tiptoes placed the plushness of her mouth against his jaw, letting a soft whisper waft easily past the curve of his ear. "You're not opposed to all dreams...are you Kovac?"

Where his breath touched her skin, Chemar felt a tingle that seemed to soak into her flesh and send tremors through every muscle. Knowing that what she was feeling was reality rather than a dream served to further disarm her; the times were rare when she let herself feel out of control. Perhaps that abandon was exactly what she liked about being with Kovac, there was also some comfort in knowing that between them, the worst had already taken place.

Control...

Without considering anything beyond the moment, she dragged her mouth along his jaw until it reached his lips, she did not kiss him, but remained poised there, only their breath and shared heat acting as a barrier.

"Good thing I locked the door."