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Chapter 33: Touch Me There

Wynn ground her teeth as she climbed the cliffs, her curls limp with sweat and falling into her eyes, her shapely body twisting as she lifted her foot, found a hold, and pulled herself higher. The cold air howled around her the higher she climbed, and she could feel the many cuts and scrapes from the climb burning in her fur, could feel her tail hanging lifeless against the cool morning air - could feel the nagging prod of Eleu's dagger in her back.

When Eleu left her the night before, Wynn had stubbornly attempted to follow him. This, of course, was futile, and she was captured instead by more lusty pygmies. The pygmies argued about whether they had time to play with their spoils, but realizing that it was almost morning, they decided to return Wynn to the village for their queen's praises.

As the pygmies were marching Wynn through the jungle - all ten of them, damn them - they came across Eleu sitting forlorn on a rock. The rock was beside a small pool and he was tossing pebbles in. Upon seeing their prince, the pygmies halted and announced that they had captured the princess. They all bowed low to Eleu and looked at him with glowing eyes, as if awaiting his approval like the most eager of pets. Wynn was a little stung when Eleu actually glared at her, though she knew he was silently scolding her for not going home when she had the chance. His angry eyes shifted from Wynn to his subordinates, and he demanded to know if they'd caught wind of the others. A pygmy reported that "the winged one" had been spotted in the night flying over the jungle with the princess. He had stolen away with the princess up to the cliffs, and they had warriors stationed beneath them even now.

Wynn stiffened to hear this news. So Inden had failed to escape. And what was worse, he had Elele with him: the pygmies would never give up the chase so long as Inden kept Elele in his company. By the way the pygmies spoke so heatedly of Inden, they seemed convinced that the winged prince had kidnapped Elele.

"The captain wants to shoot him on sight," Wynn remembered hearing a pygmy tell Eleu. She had stood there in horror, on the brink of losing her wits and protesting.

Eleu had hidden his alarm well, instead ordering the pygmies to lead him to the cliffs. His subordinates did as they were told, but were surprised when Eleu took the rope from Wynn's neck and let her walk free. They stared at him, and he snapped that anyone who questioned him would be wearing the rope instead. No one argued, so the group moved on toward the cliffs.

Wynn had walked miserably at Eleu's side, wanting desperately to speak to him, to tell him she was sorry - not just for refusing to go home, but for tasting his lips so many years ago and then running away, for failing to explain that she cared for him but, no, she was not in love with him, for . . . breaking his heart. She was suddenly aware that just the sight of her infuriated Eleu. He didn't show it in his face, but his muscles tensed and his mouth became a hard line whenever she was near. Heartbreaker. Liar. Bitch. Of course he was bitter. And of course . . . he was still in love.

She tripped as they marched for the cliffs and he helped her up with the air of a gentleman spreading his cloak over a puddle. If ever he had to speak to her, it was with a calm respect that was almost warm in tone. And though Eleu tried to hide it well, she caught the furtive glimpses he sometimes passed her way. He was studying her, the way she moved, the way she smelled, the way her curls tumbled down her back. He thought she was beautiful. One time she caught his eye as he was watching her, and with a small smile, she swung her hip to the side as she walked, allowing her tail to brush him playfully. She had meant to be flirtatious, to make him smile, but Eleu didn't seem to think it was funny at all. With a dark expression, he pulled a dagger from his hip, and shoving Wynn in front of him, he made her walk with a blade touching the small of her back.

Wynn couldn't believe Eleu's anger. But then again . . . she could. He had always been such an angry little boy. He hated the shemales because he'd been taught to blame them for his tribe's sad condition. As a child he had always been so thin, bags under his eyes, his fur so hard and filthy. Sometimes there would be bugs in his fur, and Wynn would tease him. Being the sensitive thing he was, he would cry, and they would fight, and he would - nine times out of ten - run home with some horrible scratch or bite. But the more they crossed paths in the jungle, the more they liked each other, until one day as they were sitting together under a tree, Eleu took a flower from his mane, and giving it to Wynn, he said bashfully, "I love you." Yes, she remembered now. She felt so guilty for forgetting him! Those words had been spoken to her before Inden, and they'd been spoken by Eleu.

She'd been a child. She didn't know what the words meant. She just knew it was something wonderful to say, something nice, so she said it back and happily took the flower. She didn't notice the light that sparked in Eleu's eye, that light which meant the beginning of an undying love. Why did pygmies get so stuck on one and only one? Finivive had become obsessed with Avi as a result of her desire, and it suddenly seemed as if Eleu had emulated his mother. But there were so many wolves in the world to love! And yet Wynn knew she could bet that not only had Eleu only ever loved her, but he was probably still a virgin because of it.

And so they had marched toward the cliffs, and when they arrived, Wynn's heart sank to see so many pygmies standing around the large rocks and boulders, armed to the teeth, ready and waiting for Inden and Elele to fly or descend. According to the captain - who ran forward to report to Eleu - some pygmies were even in the trees firing.

"Order them to stop firing. We're going up," Eleu told the captain and pushed past him.

Wynn just stood there staring. Everyone stared. Pygmies didn't climb anything taller than a tree - and sometimes not even that. Pygmies were afraid of heights. Wynn remembered with a smirk the look of terror that had been on Elele's face as Inden swept into the sky with her. To climb anything higher than a tree was considered damn-near a sin to the pygmy. Wynn wasn't exactly sure why this taboo existed, but she knew there was some old story about a pygmy who climbed a mountain and did not live to tell the tale. Shemales had always sneered on this pygmy fear, but Wynn was too preoccupied at the moment to show derision: Eleu was willing to risk his life and godly reputation to bring his sister down from that cliff.

Wynn didn't know why she was surprised: Eleu and Elele had always been very close. But still, she stayed where she was. She may have found the pygmy's fear repulsive, but that didn't mean she wanted to go risking her life either. It was a long climb and became very steep at the top, and Wynn was so tired after the long rape the night before that she didn't think she could do it. Surely, Eleu would leave her down here with the others? But, no, he had said we're going up. Wynn clenched her fangs, silently cursing the pygmy prince.

Eleu looked at Wynn. "We're going," he repeated, this time to her. He gently prodded her flat belly with the dagger and said almost sadly, "Get moving."

And so it was that Wynn found herself scaling the face of the cliff. Eleu moved steadily beneath her. Each time she paused to rest, he caught up and gave her a sharp jab with his dagger. He never drew blood, but the jab was just hard enough to make her start moving. Wynn was too tired to protest this jabbing, too weary to argue, so she kept going until the top finally came into view, and with great relief, hurled herself over the edge. She collapsed on the rocky earth, breathless and filthy, her eyes closed. She heard Eleu climb up after her and cracked her eyes open. He was standing over her, his sculpted chest heaving, his mane limp with sweat in his eyes. He glared down at Wynn, then whispered for her to get her ass up.

"Who the hell do you think you are?" Wynn suddenly burst. Dragging herself upright, she scowled at him and opened her mouth to say more but was cut off.

"Shut up, Wynn!" Eleu snapped at her, suddenly just as angry. His entire body tensed, which tightened his muscles and - unbeknownst to him - made him very appealing in one stroke. "Just shut up!"

Wynn climbed wearily to her feet, a sneer on her lips. "Don't you tell me to shut up! Just because you're bitter and angry, it doesn't give you the right to treat me this way --"

"I tried to help you escape, you came back!" Eleu said over. He trod on Wynn's feet when he took a halting step toward her, and their faces were very close, their eyes menacing. "So don't blame me for your stupidity! Now if you don't shut up," here he shoved her ahead of him, "I'll make you shut up. Get going toward those trees --"

"Ha!" Wynn shouted, whirling on him. "You won't shut me up, Eleu! You don't have the ner --"

Wynn couldn't believe it when Eleu suddenly closed his paw over her mouth, then shoved her away by the face. He shoved Wynn so hard, she fell on her tail. She sat glaring up at him, he glared down at her, and then suddenly, they fell on each other, scrapping and rolling in the dirt. It was just like when they were children: Wynn could feel Eleu's frenzied bites all over, the heat of his mouth, the wet press of his tongue as he sank his fangs into her neck, her ears, and even her cleavage. She twisted against him, scratching him and wriggling and doing her damndest to get free of his teeth, and as they struggled against each other, biting and rolling and shouting insults, they both suddenly realized that Eleu was hard. Wynn felt the brush of his hard cock on her thigh, and they paused, staring at each other breathlessly.

"This doesn't mean --" stammered Eleu, the color rising in his face, "--I still hate you for what you did --" His voice broke off when Wynn took his paw and sank his fingers in her pussy. He colored up more. "Wynn! You're wet . . .!"

"I guess I still have some old feelings," she admitted, "buried inside."

Eleu laughed dryly. "Or being bitten just turns you on."

They looked at each other and laughed.

"No, Eleu. I care about you. Can't you accept that?"

He scowled at her. "You don't care the way I want you to, Wynn! So it doesn't matter, does it? Now, let go of . . . damn it, Wynn, stop!" For Wynn had not let go of his paw and was forcing his fingers deeper in her wetness. He felt her pussy lips suck against his fingers and shivered all over. Before he realized it, he was caressing her by himself.

"You've never touched a girl there before, have you?" Wynn said soothingly.

"Wynn . . ."

"Touch me there . . . with this." She closed her paw hard on Eleu's erection. He was still nervous, but sank himself in. Wynn smiled as he eased into her wetness and whispered to himself, "Oh, god . . ."

Wynn arched her back under the sudden thrust, pressing her breasts against him with a groan. He frowned and asked if he had hurt her, but she smiled and pressed her thighs tight around him. He dropped his head forward and pulled gently on her nipple as he moved inside, his brows pressing together, his face the perfect blend of suffering and pleasure.

"Oh, Wynn, I - I've loved you so long . . ."

"I know, Eleu, I'm sorry . . ." She hugged him tight as they moved together, as his hot kisses found her breasts, her neck, her lips. They moved faster as the day grew brighter, as their bodies hissed with breathlessness. Wynn felt her juices wash over Eleu, and feeling her hot arousal, he cried out, then quickly pulled himself free. Wynn lay there breathless as she listened to him moan, to the splatter as he spilled his seed in the grass. She sat up on her elbows, her shapely body stretched away from her as she watched Eleu's silent struggle. He was on his knees, leaning forward on his paws, trying to catch his breath. He seemed to find it difficult to look at her. Wynn tried not to laugh: Eleu was embarrassed.

Still kneeling with his head bowed, Eleu whispered from behind a sweep of sweaty mane, "Why?"

"For a hundred reasons," Wynn answered, watching her childhood friend fondly. "Because I wanted to know you inside. Because you wanted me to. Because I care about you and enjoy feeling close to you. But most of all . . ." She sat up, and leaning toward Eleu, she lifted his face as she said gently, "because if I didn't, you would have spent the rest of your life waiting for it."

Eleu managed a hollow laugh. "God, you know me so well. You're right - I . . ." His voice trailed off as he gazed helplessly into Wynn's eyes. "I can't help loving you . . ."

A flicker of sadness went through Eleu's gray eyes, and wanting to take that sadness away, Wynn leaned forward to kiss him. But Eleu, as if he'd just caught himself, cleared his throat and got quickly to his feet. Wynn stood too, dusting herself off as Eleu adjusted the crossbow on his back and tried once again not to look at her.

"Toward those trees," he said with a nod and took off.

Wynn followed, her heart thudding guiltily in her chest. They would find Inden and Elele somewhere in those trees, and surely, the pair of them reeked of sex. What was Inden going to say? Sylas she could make understand, but Inden? She smiled to herself as she followed Eleu's rapid pace: she and Inden were no longer together, and yet she still worried so much about sleeping with other males.

"Once we find them," Eleu said as they walked, "I'll lead you and that male to a pass that leads down from the cliffs on the other side. The male can fly away with you then, take you back to wherever it is you came from --"

"What about my father, Eleu! And my uncle and my mother! I can't just leave them --!"

Wynn turned as if she would run in some other direction, to another side of the cliffs, perhaps, and down to the jungle. But Eleu grabbed her by the arm with the quick reflexes of the pygmy and shook her so hard her curls flopped, a menacing light in his eye.

"Forget them!" Eleu growled. "They're as good as dead!"

Wynn stared at him with her mouth open. What sort of monster had Finivive become?

Eleu stood with his mane streaking in his eyes as he regarded Wynn, that same desperation in his gaze. He let her arm go as he repeated in a softer tone, "For_get_ them, Wynn. You can't help them, you can't go there. Do you understand?"

Wynn swallowed hard, still looking at Eleu in amazement. What horror was he shielding her from? He turned to start off again, but Wynn didn't move: she had to know. She stood her ground, watching Eleu's rigid back when he realized she wasn't following. He halted in the dry leaves and groaned.

"Tell me, Eleu. What are you trying so hard to keep from me?"

Eleu stared at the sky a moment, at the blank sky and the murky green tops of the palms. He clenched and unclenched his fists before turning around and moving toward Wynn. His expression was terrible.

"If you go there," he said in a low voice when they were face to face, "she will make sure you never leave. You will be a slave in that place, a vessel for bearing my pups, nothing more. Mother will force me to keep you in chains," he said, his lip curling in a sneer, "chains so heavy that your wrists and ankles will bleed. You will live in a corner beside a clay pot of your own shit, chained to the wall and probably bloody and bruised from the beatings they will give you each time you resist. And I know you, Wynn: you will resist. It will be a sort of living death, your existence there. Don't ask me to witness such a thing. For once in your life, just fucking listen to me!"

When he had finished speaking, Eleu just stared at Wynn, his eyes still menacing and alight, and Wynn knew he was waiting to hear that she would obey him. A lump rose thick in her throat after all she had been told. Everyone was as good as dead. Her father, her mother, her uncle . . . she would never see Avi again. For the first time, what Eleu was trying to tell her was finally sinking in.

When Eleu saw the realization fill Wynn's eyes, he nodded sharply and turned toward the trees again. With a heavy heart, Wynn followed.

Arrows littered the grass everywhere, most smoking with the little flames that had long been extinguished by the mud. They picked their way through the spray, very often stepping on hard arrowheads and receiving painful nicks. Wynn caught glimpses of footprints every now and then, a feather here and there, and she knew they were on Inden and Elele's trail. It seemed that Inden had taken Elele deep into the trees, a little more than was necessary, and Wynn was starting to wonder if there wasn't a reason for this sudden need for privacy when Eleu lifted his paw and halted.

They were very far in now. The palm trees twisted against each other like white snakes in the little wood, and in the morning light, their gloom was deep. Bananas littered the ground here and there, some large and rotten, some tiny and green. Alongside the bananas, flowers crowded the earth, carpeting the grass in a pink and purple cloak. Stopping at Eleu's side, Wynn gasped: nestled deep in the flowers were the sleeping forms of Inden and Elele. Inden had his wings wrapped around them tight and was holding Elele to his chest. They were smiling in their sleep.

Wynn's fists clenched. Not long ago, Inden had shielded her with his wings in that way, had held her close in his sleep and smiled. It was hard to see Inden doing the same with another, harder than she'd ever suspected it would be. And for the first time ever, she really understood what it must've been like for Inden to imagine her with Sylas.

Without hesitating, Wynn kicked Inden and Elele each in their legs. The very thought of Inden touching Elele there with that was infuriating. She was pleased by the guilty look on Inden's face when he awoke and the embarrassed flush that rose on Elele's. She folded her arms and regarded them both coldly.

"Oh, Wynn," said Elele, rolling her eyes as she sat up. "You're not even with Inden anymore. He told me so." She got to her feet and brushed herself off.

Inden got to his feet too, but the guilt left him when he realized who Wynn was with. He looked hard at Eleu, and the two males coldly sized each other up.

"So this is the one," Inden said, studying Eleu darkly. "The one you failed to tell me about. Your fiancée." He sniffed, and his nostrils flared angrily when he drank in the scent of bodily fluids.

It was Wynn's turn to look guilty. She managed to sputter out, "It's not - just like Elele said -- we're not together anymore . . ."

"But what's Sylas going to say, I wonder?" teased Inden with a smile.

Wynn shrugged dismally. "Maybe he won't say anything. I haven't heard from him in a long time."

Inden looked anxiously at Wynn, but before he could voice his concern, Eleu drew his dagger and told them all to shut up in the commander's voice Wynn had first heard him use down in the jungle. He roughly jerked Elele to his side (who cried out indignantly) and pointed his dagger at Inden as he demanded to know what "the fuck" he'd been doing with his sister.

"What does it look like?" Elele snapped before Inden could reply. She snatched her arm free of her brother, and giving his muscular arm a slap, she added, "Stop cursing and put that away! You're my brother, not my father, Eleu!"

"Damn straight, I'm your brother! Which means I have a say in who touches my sister!" He looked down at Elele incredulously. "How could you sleep with him? Are you crazy? He kidnapped you --!"

"I did no such thing!" Inden growled. "And what about you? You've bound Wynn and slept with her!" he added, waving his paw angrily at the obvious rope burns on Wynn's throat. He pulled Wynn to him by the arm with a protectiveness somewhere between sadness and indignation.

Eleu's fangs flashed when Inden pulled Wynn away. He pointed his dagger at Inden a second time as he pushed Elele in turn behind him. "You shut your fucking mouth! You kidnapping, manipulative -! If you break Elele's heart, I'll break your skull --!"

"Inden manipulative?" Elele laughed dryly and slapped her brother's paw off. "Eleu, stop making an ass of yourself. I'm seventeen years old, not seven, and who I sleep with is my business --!"

"The hell it is!"

"Shut up!" Wynn suddenly hissed. "Someone's coming!"

The heated argument fell silent. Wynn was right: a group of pygmies were marching through the trees in their direction. Wynn recognized the captain in the lead. He was short - even for a pygmy - and dark and ugly. His brown eyes glittered proudly as he led his warriors onward. Apparently, the pygmies had been inspired by their prince's willingness to break taboos, and they had followed his example.

"Shit!" Eleu spat under his breath. "Both of you, on your knees - and look like our prisoners, for god's sake!" he snapped at Wynn and Inden.

Inden looked as if he'd rather throw Eleu off the cliff than act like his prisoner, but a look from Wynn made him yield. He and Wynn knelt in the flowers and leaves as the group of pygmies faced their prince and princess at last.

"Your highness, we thought you'd need backup," said the captain, bowing in the way all the pygmies seemed to when they groveled so dotingly before Eleu, "so I gathered some warriors to assist you in your search for the princess and her kidnapper. I see you found them on your own. Admirable --"

"Has my mother been alerted," said Eleu over the captain, sounding anything but impressed by this ass kissing.

"Oh, yes, your highness, we sent messengers to the village right away," the captain answered, seeming very proud of himself for having anticipated an order not yet given. He was therefore puzzled when his idle was not pleased.

Wynn could also tell that Eleu was anything but pleased by this news. Now that they were surrounded by armed warriors and his mother also had full knowledge of what was going on, he knew there was nothing he could do but hand Wynn and Inden over. He ordered the pygmies to tie them up and carry them back to the village. He also ordered an escort for his sister. Then, casting Wynn an apologetic glance, he went off alone through the trees.

Wynn knelt dismally in the flowers as more rope was lashed around her wrists and ankles. As she was lifted in a pygmy's arms, and as she was carried away, her eyes followed after Eleu as the prince disappeared into the palms, and she knew: watching her suffer in the village was surely going to kill him as much as it would certainly kill her.