Archive of Our Own

Shadowheart endured much growing up in the Sharran cloister under the watchful eye of the Mother Superior. As reluctant as she was at first to admit it, she now supposed that it was… somewhat likely that much of what the Mother Superior referred to as “training” was more accurately called “senseless child abuse”. 

Still, as harsh as her upbringing may have seemed to others, it was undeniable that it’d forged Shadowheart into a formidable warrior. Someone truly worthy of serving a god; and not just any god, but the Lady of Loss herself. Her savior. Or, at least, who she thought was her savior. 

It may have turned out that Lady Shar was not… the god Shadowheart thought she was, but at the end of the day, Shadowheart still owed her indomitable spirit to her.

Shadowheart’s bravery. Her determination. Her resilience. She owed it all to Lady Shar.

But now? She really didn’t feel like any of those things applied to her. Not anymore. 

Shadowheart would never have betrayed her god. She would have sooner ripped out her own heart than dare to spurn Lady Shar. She would have done anything to prove herself worthy of her— so who was she, then? Her actions that day had proven that what Shadowheart would do was not necessarily what she would do. Whoever she was now was a walking contradiction. A worthless excuse for a cleric who couldn’t do anything right.

Because instead of killing the Nightsong as Lady Shar had trusted she would, Shadowheart had tossed away Her blessing like yesterday’s rotten leftovers, as if all of Shadowheart’s hopes and dreams and ambitions were as insignificant as a speck of dirt beneath one’s shoe.  

Shadowheart wanted to say she had no earthly idea why she did what she did. To claim that she must have been possessed by some momentary spell of complete and utter madness, because it wasn’t her, it couldn’t have been Shadowheart who committed such a disgustingly treasonous act. 

But it would be a lie. And Shadowheart may have trained her entire life to become an expert in deceit, but gods was she sick of lies. 

It was her; she was in complete control of her thoughts and actions at the time and she knew it. She remembered how pitifully easy it had been for her supposedly iron-clad resolve to crumble after hearing but a few pretty, terrifyingly convincing words from a— a fucking Selûnite all people! 

The thought had Shadowheart bursting into another round of restrained sobs where she sat by the still lake water not far off the forest path. Apparently all this sniveling she’d been doing for the past hour was another aspect of her newfound identity, because when all the events of this profoundly harrowing (horrible) day had sunk in, she’d had to rush to excuse herself so nobody would see her in this pathetic state.

She’d been horrified when she realized what the unfamiliar sensation rising in her throat and building up behind her eyes was when the group had begun to set up camp for the night. The thought of what a close call it’d been, that her companions that had come to know her as their unshakably confident cleric were almost witness to her breakdown made Shadowheart’s breath hitch on a miserable whimper. 

She hated the sound so much that she wanted to choke it out of herself, scarcely able to believe it had really come from her. But the shame and humiliation were threatening to suffocate her from the inside out, and she simply couldn’t help it. 

She hadn’t been able to hold it back any easier back at camp; as soon as she’d started to break down, that was it. In that moment, she, Shadowheart, had cracked and buckled under the weight of her own life-shattering decision, under the suffocating pressure of her companions’ genuine concern. Concern that she didn’t deserve. Hell, even Lae’zel appeared to pity her. How pathetic must she look for the Gith, of all people, to actually feel bad for her?

The faintest glimmer of self-pity attempted to reach out and soothe her upset, nothing but a wisp of a thought: you know what the Nightsong said to be true; deep down, you know. You trusted your instincts. That is not a bad thing.

But Shadowheart wasn’t yet ready to forgive herself, to listen to her attempts to self-soothe. The errant whisper of sympathy was ruthlessly blown away by the whirlwind of self-loathing, despair, grief, and fear still raging in her chest. It just hurt so much.

Shadowheart had just enough room in her heart to feel grateful that she chose such a secluded spot, because the excessively loud sob that ripped its way out of her throat next surely would have alerted anyone nearby. She couldn’t even remember the last time she’d so much as shed a tear, but her disgust with her own weakness did nothing to mitigate her need to release of all the emotion clogging her chest. 

But it wasn’t long after she got started that Shadowheart heard quite possibly the absolute last thing she wanted to hear right now. 

“Shadowheart.”

Another person’s voice; but not just any person. The Gith. Shadowheart felt like she couldn’t bear to be around anyone right now, but literally anyone else would’ve been better than Lae’zel. 

However, the shock of hearing someone call her name so suddenly during such an uncharacteristically (was it uncharacteristic? Perhaps it wasn’t— she no longer knew) vulnerable moment made Shadowheart forget that she wasn’t supposed to be letting anyone see her like this. Before she could stop herself, her head was whipping around to face the unwelcome guest, spitting, “W-what do you want?” in a voice so disturbingly weak and broken that it was as if she were a completely different person. 

Lae’zel must have thought the same, as a look of shock so complete stole over her features upon hearing and seeing Shadowheart in such a state that it would have been downright comical under any other circumstance. Likewise, under any other circumstance, Shadowheart would have reveled in having caught the Gith so completely off guard, but considering what had to happen to achieve it, she wasn’t feeling particularly celebratory at the moment. Mortified, more like.

It was this instant mortification that had Shadowheart frantically turning back to face the calm lake, furiously wiping at the wetness covering her cheeks even as more tears and sobs threatened to burst out of her, undeterred by the presence of the person Shadowheart would have sooner pitched herself off a cliff than allow to see her like this. If anything, that just made it even harder to hold back, her misery multiplying twofold. 

Lae’zel, on her part, was also feeling quite a bit unlike herself. She felt… unsure. Lacking in conviction. It was a feeling so foreign that frustration began to spark at her fingertips. She clenched them in the hopes of quelling both the strange uncertainty and the distracting irritation, to no avail. Chk. She failed to understand why it is she’d even come out here looking for this mess of a half-elf. 

Surely it was only recently that Lae’zel would have scoffed at this deplorable display of weakness. Just mere weeks ago, she would have been disgusted to see an ally of hers showing such feebleness. Her people had no use for those prone to such excessive emotion. 

Looking at Shadowheart now, Lae’zel certainly did find the brief glimpse of her red, tear-stained face illuminated in the moonlight distasteful, yet it was not disgust that had Lae’zel’s eyebrows pinching together and a frown pulling at the corners of her mouth. It was… it was…

T’chaki! She didn’t know, did not understand what bizarre compulsion was pushing her to act without knowing what it was she wanted to do, and it only served to worsen her agitation. Lae’zel wished to know how to react, what to do, for all of the confidence she was so used to feeling to be once again within her reach, but it felt impossible without understanding what was going on in her own head. 

Shadowheart was still stubbornly refusing to look at Lae’zel, her face now buried in her hands as she tried desperately to stave off her tears. Despite Lae’zel’s stunned silence, Shadowheart seemed to sense that she had not yet left her to wallow in her misery. 

She tried to snap, “Why are you still here? Go away,” but her tone was fragile. Disquietingly so. A ghost of Shadowheart’s typical self-assured, gratingly snarky speech, and it made Lae’zel’s heart inexplicably clench.

What had Lae’zel reeling was this: this was a woman who, personal differences aside, had managed to impress Lae’zel with her fighting prowess, her courage befitting of an admirable warrior, and an unwavering loyalty to her god. For an istik to not only possess such qualities but to be impressive enough to have earned Lae’zel’s grudging respect was no small feat. 

And yet here was that same istik, looking and sounding about as weak and pathetic as a human infant, and yet Lae’zel did not feel as though all her respect for the half-elf had instantly fizzled out to nothing as she would have expected. Instead, whatever it was she did feel had her moving without the permission of her brain, as if that damnable ghaik parasite had finally taken complete control over her body, to sit beside the woman.

Shadowheart flinched when Lae’zel lowered herself down next to her, her typically unmatched ability to hide her reactions completely out the window, only making her feel even more raw and exposed. Still unable to bear to allow Lae’zel to see her face, she immediately turned it in the opposite direction. She knew it probably looked ridiculously childish, but she couldn’t bring herself to care.

Shadowheart felt so humiliated, so stupid and small in ways she’d never felt in front of the Gith, that the barest hint of her usual passion came through when she snapped, “Go ahead then! Just m-mock me and get it over with. I-I’m sure you’re just d-dying to tell me how-how- weak—“

No sooner had Shadowheart spat the word did Lae’zel make a move that shocked her to her core. It shocked her so much that it managed to temporarily stem the seemingly endless flow of her tears. Lae’zel— yes, that Lae’zel, the one that hardly seemed able to tolerate her on a good day, that was allergic to any emotion that wasn’t good for eviscerating her enemies— cradled Shadowheart’s cheek and turned her head so that they were finally face to face.

So astounded was she by this turn of events that Shadowheart put up absolutely no resistance. She looked at Lae’zel with wide, red-rimmed eyes, as Lae’zel did nothing for a brief moment but look at her. Normally, Shadowheart could tell very easily what people were thinking by the most minute change in their features, but at the moment she was finding herself at a complete loss.

Lae’zel couldn’t claim to understand her own actions much better than Shadowheart did, but she knew that the vicious throb her heart gave upon getting a proper look at Shadowheart’s suffering must’ve been a product of the same emotion guiding her battle-hardened hands to… to what? To comfort?

Then, in a painfully gentle gesture that neither Shadowheart nor Lae’zel herself would have thought her capable of in a millennia, Lae’zel’s thumb gently stroked at the damp skin just beneath Shadowheart’s eye. She looked into the half-elf’s eyes for another moment, one that felt like an eternity, and she did not cease her ministrations when she said, “You are many things; most of them unpleasant, it is true. But weak is not the word that comes to mind when I see this face. Especially not after what I witnessed today.”

The part of Lae’zel that would have normally recoiled at the very idea of such pretty words coming out of her own mouth in order to comfort another seemed to have shut off at some point. When, she did not know. Her usual firm grip on logic had certainly not faltered at the sight of such a pathetic expression in place of Shadowheart’s usual haughtiness (where was the cool overconfidence this infuriating shka’keth typically oozed from every pore?).

Still, Lae’zel could not deny that it felt natural to offer this comfort, to do something for Shadowheart that Lae’zel had never done for anyone else, not even herself. In fact, it felt necessary. It… settled something inside of her to do so. Lae’zel could not see the harm in seeing where this peculiar impulse led her. 

Shadowheart felt her mind go numb. For a few long seconds, no thoughts could enter or leave it; once the numbness faded, there was just utter confusion and disbelief, nearly torturous after all the trauma her brain had already been through that day. 

So overpowering was her doubt that this was even real in the first place that she didn’t realize at first just how deeply Lae’zel’s words had affected her, but as the seconds ticked by and Lae’zel simply continued to hold her stare, the hand on Shadowheart’s face gentle but firm, the dam began to burst. 

Shadowheart gave a hoarse cry as Lae’zel’s words sank in and her chest flooded with emotion. She tried, with a strength and force that surprised even herself, to wrench her head away before the humiliating tears returned, but Lae’zel easily held fast, not allowing her to get away this time.

But all Shadowheart knew was to hide. “L-Let go of me!” She sobbed, tears already streaming down her face. Damn it all! She reached up to grab Lae’zel’s hand and fruitlessly attempted to pry it off. “W-What the h-h-hells is wrong w-with you?! I don’t w-w-want your PITY!” 

“Chk,” Lae’zel scoffed, and for a fleeting moment Shadowheart thought that the Gith had finally had enough, that she would finally drop this— this— whatever this was, this farce, that she would finally leave her alone.

But then the mere thought of being left alone caused another wet sob to escape her, and suddenly Lae’zel let go of her face. Before Shadowheart could so much as feel the beginnings of despair creep up, Lae’zel wrapped one arm around her back and the other under her legs before bodily lifting her to sit sideways in her lap. 

Shadowheart yelped at the abrupt change in position and, upon realizing just where it was she’d ended up, became so flustered that she momentarily forgot what it was she’d been crying about. She even felt the slightest stirrings of heat in the pit of her stomach, but she was still far too rattled by just about everything else to take much notice of it.

She managed to compose herself enough to sputter, “What— what do you think you’re doing?!”

Instead of answering that, Lae’zel grasped Shadowheart’s face with one hand and said, “Shka’keth! My words may have been pretty, but not a single one was a lie. I do not pity anyone, least of all you. Chk. You would accuse me of being capable of such a useless emotion?”

Shadowheart… actually believed her. It was true; Lae’zel wasn’t the type to give someone false comfort for the sake of their feelings. Hells, she wasn’t the type to comfort anyone at all; but Lae’zel’s motivations for doing and saying all of this didn’t matter. The acceptance that Lae’zel had really meant what she said had Shadowheart diving to hide her face again, unable to stop herself from surrendering to her emotions; and this time, Lae’zel let her.

Lae’zel decided to allow Shadowheart to bury her face in her neck and wallow in her misery for now. And wallow, she did. Lae’zel expected to get impatient with all the sniveling after a little while and was mildly surprised when she did not. 

Shadowheart hadn’t yet completely surrendered to Lae’zel’s embrace, instead opting to clutch her own arms to her stomach as if attempting to make herself as small as possible. The sight was invoking another strange feeling in Lae’zel… an urge to protect.

It was unlike anything she’d ever felt before, and part of her wanted to balk at it, to reject it. The Githyanki lived to serve their queen and no one else, after all. Not to mention how confusing it was to be feeling this way towards Shadowheart, of all people. 

… But the queen Lae’zel would have given everything for had turned out to be unworthy of her people’s devotion, had she not? Just as this evil Shar that had put her traveling companion in such a state had done nothing to deserve such a loyal subject. Lae’zel had never expected to have something in common with this infuriating istik, yet here they were. Both having turned their backs on the fate someone else decided for them.

Lae’zel was still not completely convinced that she’d made the right choice in defying Vlaakith, but… if Kith’rak Voss’ claims were true, then it only stood to reason that much of what she’d been taught growing up was wrong, as well. Every fiber of her being screamed out in enraged protest whenever she entertained this thought process and every time she deigned to follow an impulse that contradicted Vlaakith’s teachings, but she found that as time went on, it became easier and easier to stomach. 

And Lae’zel was finding that she was more than content to sit with this half-elf’s weight in her lap for as long as she was needed. To indulge in this novel desire to shelter another from harm, if only for tonight. 

It took a good ten minutes for Shadowheart to expel the worst of the ugly emotion squeezing painfully at her insides, but she was still feeling absolutely wretched. Her heart couldn’t seem to decide if being curled up in Lae’zel’s lap was making it better or worse, the humiliation from not only another person, but Lae’zel seeing her like this at war with a surprisingly intense craving for the affection. 

Of course, the very existence of that craving only worsened her shame. It was awful. She was utterly sick of feeling ashamed, but all her body seemed to desire was to press herself closer to the addicting warmth of another person’s body, to bathe in the comfort being offered to her, uncaring of who was offering it. 

It was then that Shadowheart noticed something, something that had nothing to do with the thick haze of despair and self-loathing clouding her mind. As Shadowheart cried, Lae’zel had at some point wrapped one arm around her waist, one hand resting on her hip, the other on her thigh, her thumb rubbing in slow circles there in what appeared to be a subconscious attempt to soothe.

Intimate, unsettlingly so, but that wasn’t what had Shadowheart’s face flooding with heat, what set her heart pounding against her ribs. No, it was the fact that Shadowheart was so astonishingly wet right now that she could feel it soaking right through her underwear.

What in the nine hells is wrong with you?! Shadowheart internally hissed at herself. This was just wonderful; now she had an entirely new reason to be embarrassed, as if she didn’t have enough already! How was it even possible for her to get aroused right now? And all because of a little touching from the Gith?

Shadowheart was so distracted by this discovery that her tears came to an almost abrupt stop, and she turned her face to bury it into her hands under the guise of wiping her eyes, mortified beyond belief and praying that Lae’zel wouldn’t notice despite her uncanny sense of smell.

But little did Shadowheart know that Lae’zel had picked up the scent of her arousal not long before Shadowheart had noticed it herself. Normally Lae’zel would have noticed sooner, but she was distracted by her own thoughts and the admittedly heart-wrenching sound of Shadowheart’s cries. However, it eventually became impossible not to notice, such was the half-elf’s arousal. And once Lae’zel had breathed it in, she found that she could not ignore it. 

Shadowheart was… utterly drenched. The smell of her was intoxicating and endlessly distracting now that Lae’zel had taken notice of it, and she realized, with less surprise than she would have expected, that she wished to do something about it. And now that Shadowheart had finally seemed to calm enough to potentially welcome Lae’zel’s advances, perhaps she would be amenable to a little distraction from her suffering.

Mind made up, Lae’zel decided she would take things slower than she normally would, to see how the half-elf reacted. She knew that if she was as direct as she usually preferred to be, Shadowheart would not be able to handle it, not now. No, first she would prove to the istik that she wanted this, wanted Lae’zel first. 

Lae’zel’s grip on Shadowheart’s hip suddenly tightened, and the answering throb of Shadowheart’s pussy was so violent that she barely held back a gasp. This was ridiculous— Shadowheart had never lain with anyone before, it was true, but still, how could she be so godsdamned sensitive? 

Shadowheart knew she should put a stop to this and leave now if she wanted to keep so much as a shred of her tattered dignity intact, but she couldn’t get her traitorous body to obey; her head lifted from the sanctuary of her hands in the effort, and she even weakly braced one hand on Lae’zel’s shoulder, but no other part of her was willing to move. Especially not when Lae’zel’s other hand slid further up her thigh, tantalizingly close to where her body longed to be touched most. 

Shadowheart shuddered at the sensation, and this time she had to bite down hard on her lip to stifle the noise that tried to escape. Still unable to look at Lae’zel, she closed her eyes, her other hand instinctively rising up so both her hands were now gripping at Lae’zel’s shoulders for lack of anything better to do with them. 

This delicious reaction did not go unnoticed; Lae’zel felt heat rapidly pool in her own abdomen at the sight. Shadowheart did want this; of course she did, Lae’zel thought smugly, and she couldn’t help pressing her face to the half-elf’s bare neck for a taste.

The smell of Shadowheart’s desire was even more potent with Lae’zel’s nose so close to the crook of her neck, and Lae’zel didn’t bother holding back her low growl at the delectable scent. Impossibly more distracting was the sound Shadowheart was unable to hold back when Lae’zel darted her tongue out for a taste, a quiet “ah!”. The first of many. It only encouraged Lae’zel to coax more from that pretty mouth that never seemed to stop running.

Lae’zel began to press open-mouthed kisses into the delicate slope of Shadowheart’s neck, unable to stop now that she’d had a sample. She moved the hand on her thigh back down only to slide it under the thin material of Shadowheart’s robe, her legs maddeningly bare underneath. 

Shadowheart gasped when Lae’zel once again cupped her outer thigh and began properly feeling her up, her hand sliding over her naked skin almost reverently, periodically squeezing in a way that had slick steadily seeping out of her sex. The mouth on her neck was threatening to drive Shadowheart completely mad, the feeling of Lae’zel’s surprisingly soft lips and wet tongue on her sensitive skin so new and pleasurable in combination with the hands on her that she couldn’t help the way her thighs squeezed together, her hips squirming as if they had a mind of their own.

Lae’zel’s hand on her hip abruptly moved to grasp the other while the hand on her thigh slid all the way up to replace it, holding her between her hands firmly enough to put a stop to Shadowheart’s squirming. Shadowheart tightly pressed her lips together to halt what surely would have been an embarrassingly loud noise at the easy show of strength. 

Lae’zel tipped their foreheads together, and the unexpectedly tender gesture made Shadowheart’s eyes involuntarily fly open. She was met with the amused but undeniably lustful gaze of her least favorite traveling companion. “There is no need for such desperation. Rest assured you will get what you need, istik. Although I can hardly blame you.”

Shadowheart wanted to say that she rolled her eyes at the Gith’s blatant arrogance, but if anything her desire only grew, the confidence in Lae’zel’s tone honestly making her feel a bit drunk.

By now Shadowheart was so wet that the scant fabric of her underwear had no hope of soaking it up. Her inner thighs were so slippery it was like someone had spilled warm water all over her lap, and she was positive that she was leaking through the bottom of her robe, but she found she hardly cared anymore. Her embarrassment and confusion at this entire situation was fading, the devastating despair from earlier in the evening completely out of her mind, replaced by heady desire. 

As soon as Lae’zel said her piece she moved her attentions back to Shadowheart’s neck; she seemed particularly taken with that spot, content to kiss and lick at the skin there for a bit while Shadowheart’s need grew to impossible heights. It felt too good to try and get Lae’zel to give her more, but she might lose it if Lae’zel didn’t really start touching her soon. 

Then Lae’zel pressed her lips to the crook of her neck and, instead of simply kissing or tonguing at the spot, she gently bit down and began to suck. Shadowheart’s hips jolted so hard that Lae’zel could hardly keep her still, and the first truly loud moan finally escaped her lips. They both froze, long enough for Shadowheart to feel mortification start to creep back in, before Lae’zel gripped her by the chin, forced her head to the side, and began biting and sucking at her neck in earnest.

Shadowheart held on for dear life as Lae’zel littered her pale skin with marks, now downright panting with desire and no longer able to hold back the little noises that rise up in her throat with every biting kiss. The hand not holding her head in place slid back under her robe to grip the flesh at the very top of her thigh, the tip of her thumb brushing the edge of her soaked underwear, so close to where she needed to be touched most. “Lae’zel,” Shadowheart finally couldn’t help pleading, unable to take it anymore. 

Hearing her own name said in such a way out of the half-elf’s mouth had an unexpectedly strong effect on Lae’zel. Where before she was hungry, now she was ravenous, perhaps even as desperate to get her hands on Shadowheart as Shadowheart was to have her hands on her, though Lae’zel would never admit it. All the same, her actions always did speak louder than her words.

She immediately dropped the hand holding Shadowheart’s head still, wrapped her arm around her waist, lifted her up just enough to grab at the part of her robe trapped underneath her ass, and had the damnable thing up and over Shadowheart’s head in the blink of an eye. Lae’zel had just enough wherewithal to think to adjust Shadowheart’s position when she lifted her so she was now straddling her; a position much more conducive to all the things she wanted to do to her. Other positions would have worked just as well, but Lae’zel found that she quite enjoyed feeling the weight of the half-elf woman in her lap.

Had the istik not been so obnoxiously tempting, Lae’zel might have stopped to admire the sight of Shadowheart’s half-naked body illuminated by the moonlight, but as it was Lae’zel was so eager to get her hands on her that she had no patience for such an indulgence. 

Shadowheart let out an embarrassing squeak at the suddenness of Lae’zel’s movements, and before she knew it, far more of her body than she’d ever planned on the Gith seeing was exposed to her and the chill of the night. Not that she could feel it; her body was so overheated it may as well have been on fire, and it only burned all the hotter when Lae’zel pressed her lips to hers. 

Shadowheart’s gasp of surprise was quickly swallowed whole by Lae’zel’s tongue taking the opportunity to slide its way inside her mouth. As Shadowheart got lost in the expert slide of Lae’zel’s tongue against hers, her arms sliding around the Gith’s neck without her permission, Lae’zel’s rough, callused hands hungrily roamed her newly bared skin. Shadowheart’s stomach muscles jumped and her hips rocked forward at the feeling of Lae’zel sliding her hands past her toned abdomen, up her lightly muscled back, before deftly unclasping her bra. 

Shadowheart hardly noticed, she was so lost in their kiss. The Gith was unfairly good at it; whereas before Shadowheart would have expected her to a downright terrible kisser, more likely to shove her tongue down your throat than to have any real finesse, she could not have been more wrong. The kiss was a little messy, true, but Shadowheart found that she liked the way Lae’zel used her tongue as if she couldn’t bear for it to not be inside Shadowheart’s mouth for so much as a second. Later she knew she’d be thoroughly humiliated remembering the way she couldn’t stop moaning into the kiss like some sort of common whore, but right now she couldn’t care less.

But no matter how good the kiss was, it couldn’t quite distract from the shocking pleasure of Lae’zel’s hands palming her bare breasts. Shadowheart broke the kiss with a cry, unable to stop herself from looking down. There was something incredibly sensual about seeing someone’s hands on her chest other than her own, and the effect was amplified tenfold when Lae’zel immediately started thumbing at her nipples. 

Hot lightning jolted from the tips of breasts straight down to her pussy. “Oh!” Shadowheart’s back arched, pressing her sensitive breasts even further into the press of Lae’zel’s fingers. Lae’zel groped them as she rubbed circles into her hard nipples, her rough fingertips creating a delicious friction; it was unlike anything she’d ever felt before, far beyond anything she’d ever been able to achieve on her own.

Then, Lae’zel removed one hand to grasp her hip before leaning down to swipe her tongue against her nipple. Shadowheart clapped her hand against her mouth as a moan loud enough to make her irrationally worried that their companions back at camp would hear burst out of her. Her other hand frantically gripped the back of Lae’zel’s head as Lae’zel sealed her mouth over the sensitive nub and began to suck. 

Lae’zel’s patience was rapidly declining, her self-control crumbling shamefully quickly. Tsk’va, why did this shka’keth have such an effect on her?! Nothing was more important than bringing her to orgasm, than devouring her until Lae’zel has had her fill.

Later, Lae’zel would feel deeply uneasy when she recalled how completely her desire had consumed her, how she felt as though she would forsake anything and everything else just to keep gazing upon this maddening creature, to see her come over and over again by Lae’zel’s own hand, but for now Lae’zel easily ignored the faint stirrings of fear in her gut in favor of slipping her fingers inside of Shadowheart’s underwear.

The second Lae’zel’s fingers finally made contact with the istik’s hot, exceedingly damp sex, Shadowheart’s hips jerked forward, a shocked moan of Lae’zel’s name escaping her lips, and Lae’zel realized with a sharp spike of arousal that the woman was already close to orgasm. If this were any of Lae’zel’s previous partners, she would have thought them pathetic for having such poor stamina, but instead it fed Lae’zel’s ego and made Shadowheart all the more alluring in her eyes. What in Vlaakith’s name was happening to her?

Lae’zel ceased her oral ministrations on Shadowheart’s breast to press her forehead against hers once again, suddenly needing to watch the half-elf’s face, to watch as it contorts in pleasure. She felt Shadowheart’s entire body shudder and involuntarily grind downward as Lae’zel began teasing at her clit, and when Shadowheart predictably tried to hide, to turn her face away, Lae’zel’s other hand shot up to hold her chin in place. 

“Do not hide, Shadowheart,” Lae’zel said, her voice more unsteady than she would prefer, but the lust-drunk expression she earned for that easy display of strength was more than enough to forget her own detestable weakness. “Not while you’re with me.”

With that, Lae’zel blessedly, mercifully slid a finger inside Shadowheart’s core, popped right in with absolutely no resistance, her thumb simultaneously pressing on her clit, and Shadowheart could do nothing but hold on for dear life as Lae’zel finally began fucking her.

Heedless of the way it must look, the self-consciousness she initially felt at the Gith getting a front-row seat to her embarrassing reactions rapidly fading in the face of her pleasure, Shadowheart’s mouth dropped open at the feeling of Lae’zel inside of her. She was sure it only looked worse when Lae’zel wasted no time in adding another, surprisingly gentle at first in her thrusting. It was more like stroking, the Gith’s fingers caressing her inner walls almost worshipfully. 

Before her mind could catch up with her body’s actions, Shadowheart was pitching forward to close the minuscule distance between their lips. Lae’zel immediately latched on with a lustful groan, the hand gripping her chin coming up to cradle her cheek in an uncharacteristically gentle caress, a stark contrast to the way she thrust a third finger inside of her and shoved her tongue in her mouth. 

Shadowheart felt her orgasm building at an alarming rate, but the fingers inside her weren’t moving fast enough, the thumb on her clit far too light of a touch to push her over the edge. 

She forced herself to detach her lips long enough to plead, “Lae’zel,” grinding her hips down on those fingers that refused to give her what she really needed.

But Lae’zel wasn’t going to make it easy. “Hm,” she said almost thoughtfully as she expertly pumped her fingers. Then, she moved to speak directly in Shadowheart’s ear, her warm breath ghosting over the skin of her neck. “Beg.”

A small part of Shadowheart wanted her to balk at the very idea of doing something so demeaning— and for the Gith? But the way her pussy tightened around Lae’zel’s fingers with a sharp jolt of arousal couldn’t be denied, and there was no hiding that reaction from her companion. 

Lae’zel’s free hand moved to clamp down on Shadowheart’s canting hip, her grip tight and possessive enough to make Shadowheart gasp in surprised pleasure. “You… you are captivating,” Lae’zel said with a strained growl, sounding as reverent as if she were bedding a goddess, and it was that thought that tore what little self-control Shadowheart had left into shreds. 

“Please!” Shadowheart all but sobbed, her body struggling to keep fucking itself down on the fingers inside of her. She buried her face into Lae’zel’s neck, the pleasure completely overwhelming her. “Please let me come, please fuck me! Please!”

With every “please”, Lae’zel’s fingers moved faster and faster until she was finally fucking her the way Shadowheart so desperately desired. Her fingers slid in and out speedily, now hitting her where she was most sensitive with unbelievable precision, her thumb rubbing at her clit with an amount of pressure that was almost too much. 

There was really no way Shadowheart could have possibly lasted. As she felt her climax reach its crescendo, she let loose the most erotic noises Lae’zel had ever heard in her entire life. “Ah, ah, ah!” she panted out, and Lae’zel could feel a bit of drool pooling at the base of her neck where the half-elf’s face was buried. Her arms clung tight around her, her nails digging into Lae’zel’s back, and Lae’zel found she would not have minded in the slightest if Shadowheart had all but torn her back to shreds; she would gladly wear the evidence of her ecstasy on her skin.

Lae’zel continued fucking her as Shadowheart came down from her high, her movements slowing. It was only when Shadowheart’s hips finally stilled and she went practically boneless in her arms that Lae’zel drew her fingers out of her, dragging them against the outside of her as she removed her hand from her underwear, reluctant to break contact. 

Ignoring the desire that still raged inside of her like a wildfire, Lae’zel leisurely cleaned Shadowheart’s divine taste off her fingers. This only made her long to shove Shadowheart to the ground to properly feast on her, oversensitive pussy be damned, but she could feel her start to tense where she sat in her lap, and Lae’zel knew that that was not what Shadowheart needed from her now.

As Shadowheart’s body truly began to calm, that unfortunately meant that her ability to think was making a comeback as well. A different type of heat altogether flooded her as humiliation began to sink its sharp, unforgiving teeth into her. 

However, before it could truly take root, she was startled when rather than pushing her off and mocking her for that pathetic display of desperate lust, Lae’zel hauled her closer until their upper bodies were pressed against each other. Then, almost tentatively, Lae’zel wrapped an arm around her in a half-embrace, her other hand rising from her hip to the back of her neck. Her thumb stroked at the skin there so painfully gently that Shadowheart slowly allowed her body to relax once again, silently wondering just what in the nine hells was happening here but surprisingly unwilling to break whatever spell had been cast to make this moment possible.

They sat quietly for a few minutes, and Shadowheart actually felt her eyes growing a bit heavy as she rested her head on Lae’zel’s strong shoulder before Lae’zel finally spoke. “Does your mind still trouble you with thoughts of your petulant god?”

Shadowheart was startled enough by the unexpected question that she lifted her head to look Lae’zel in the eye despite having felt completely unable to do so up to this point. “What?”

Lae’zel studied her undoubtedly ruined face, what with the redness, smeared makeup and bitten lips, but Shadowheart was too intent on what Lae’zel was trying to get at to feel self-conscious. Finally, she responded, “Did my efforts make you forget what burdens you, if only for a moment?”

For a long second, Shadowheart was too stunned to think of a response, but she soon realized that the answer was… yes. So thoroughly distracted was she by what Lae’zel was making her feel that she hadn’t spared a single thought for the god that had ruled her life for so long, that had disowned her mere hours ago for daring to think for herself. So exhausting and satisfying had her orgasm been that even in the aftermath, she only felt something approaching warm contentment once her embarrassment had been temporarily soothed by Lae’zel’s comforting touch. 

But it wasn’t like she was going to admit any of that. Lae’zel’s ego was bound to grow ten times the size if Shadowheart let on that she had in fact fucked her so well that Shadowheart hadn’t even been able to recall her own name, let alone anything to do with Lady Shar. 

So instead of the truth, Shadowheart rolled her eyes and huffed. “Oh, please. Don’t flatter yourself, Gith.”

But Lae’zel simply smirked (which was infuriatingly attractive) and brought her hands down to squeeze at Shadowheart’s hips, causing Shadowheart’s pussy to give a traitorous twitch. “You may deny it, but your body tells a story far different.” 

Before Shadowheart could snap back at her, Lae’zel silenced her with a sudden serious gaze and a hand on her cheek. “If you find yourself in need of another distraction from your suffering, find me.”

The combination of this shockingly heartfelt statement with the way Lae’zel was looking directly at her turned out to be a little too much for Shadowheart to handle. She suddenly felt so flustered by this uncharacteristic behavior coming from the Gith that she scrambled to extricate herself from her lap. 

Lae’zel let her go, and as Shadowheart stood up on her wobbly legs she felt the warmth Lae’zel’s body heat had granted her begin to seep away, and although it was not a particularly cold night, she still shivered at the loss. She watched with a hint of wariness amidst her sudden bashfulness as Lae’zel stood as well, but all she did was hand her her discarded night robe. 

Shadowheart took it with a slightly trembling hand and blushed even redder when Lae’zel slowly dragged her gaze down her body, eying her like an insatiable predator, and that was when Shadowheart realized that her companion hadn’t even gotten off. In the interest of not embarrassing herself even more by failing to bring her sexual partner to orgasm in return, Shadowheart blurted, “You didn’t come yet.”

Lae’zel simply looked at her with her lips quirked up in an almost-smile before closing the short distance between them, settling her hands against Shadowheart’s naked hips, and leaning forward to claim a short kiss.

Then, she looked at Shadowheart and said, “I derive most of my own pleasure from watching those worthy of my attentions fall apart by my hand.” And as if Shadowheart wasn’t already flustered enough, Lae’zel leaned in to rasp in her ear, “I may not have reached climax myself, but feeling your body writhe in pleasure where you sat astride me, getting my fingers inside your delectable cunt while you begged for me, making the most…” Lae’zel slid her hands down to squeeze at her ass, “maddening noises. For me.” 

Lae’zel leaned back and offered her a devilishly attractive smirk. “Suffice to say, you are… immensely satisfying. But not to worry. I am sure you will get the chance to touch next time, if you are not quite so overwhelmed with pleasure. But I wouldn’t hold your breath.”

And with one last kiss, this time on the forehead, Lae’zel tossed a casual “I will see you back at camp” over her shoulder as she turned and disappeared through the trees, leaving Shadowheart alone to collect herself. 

And all Shadowheart could do was stare after her as she leisurely walked off, utterly dumbfounded that Lae’zel had just… just left her there! As if she didn’t know how much that little speech of hers had affected her— there was no way that stupid Githyanki nose of hers hadn’t sniffed it out!

Shadowheart was truly fuming a bit as she pulled her robe back on, not even bothering with her bra and soaked underwear. The bloody Gith was teasing her, that much was certain— and enjoying it far too much for Shadowheart’s taste. 

Now all Shadowheart could think of was how badly she wanted Lae’zel to come back here and fuck her again until she cried tears of pleasure instead of pain… and maybe even so Lae’zel would… hold her for a little while longer afterwards.

That godsdamn Gith. This entire evening had ruined Shadowheart. Leaving her like this was just the icing on the cake; it would have her crawling back for more, especially since the sex was so effective at clouding Shadowheart’s head with distraction. Something she was going to be in desperate need of in the days to come if she was ever going to get her head back in the game on this journey. 

The heavy weight of her burden wasn’t gone, hells no; Shadowheart suspected it would remain there for a long, long time to come. Even now, she felt a part of her aching for what she’d lost. But the pain was dull at the moment, her mind reeling with a whole new host of emotions alongside the pressing arousal that made it harder to think, and as Shadowheart walked back to camp, she decided that maybe seeing where this… thing with Lae’zel went wouldn’t be so bad. 

But first she needed to get herself off and get some bloody sleep.