Denna/Richard=Heat of Summer, Domesticated Denna, First Time "Reclamation" (lovey dovey warning)
Both women, Kahlan and Denna, had mellowed with time, and with each other that there was simply a cool indifference between the pair, neither trusting the other, and a sliver of jealousy riding between them. Kahlan, helping him in D’Hara, but also ruling from Aydindril had her traveling quite a bit, which also put a strain on their relationship; it was a blessing that Kahlan had Cara as a traveling companion while she was away.
All the while, Denna was there, in the People’s Palace, with Richard. He noticed, as he watched her, that she wasn’t nearly as hard as she used to be. She was becoming much more at ease, and relaxing some of that tight grip most Mord’Sith keep on their hearts. He knew in his heart that the time that they’d spent together, when she was training him, changed her. She was no longer Darken Rahl’s creature, but had found the compassion---or at least some of it, and the independence to find her own way. And her own way had somehow led her back to Richard.
He knew she was more comfortable than most Mord’Sith in adapting to different attire, and the heat was unbearable. All the Mord’Sith were having trouble with their leathers drawing up the sweat, and the salt from their skin, but very few simply chose to reshape them, and wear something else in the meantime.
He had to admit she looked beautiful in the simple garment. She looked touchable and soft, her hair pulled back, but looser than the usual braid. She looked like the woman he imagined she would have been if it weren’t for the Mord’Sith and his older brother taking her from her family, and it was something beautiful to him. “Denna?” he called, moving to where she sat in the shade, peeling an apple with a practiced flick of her wrist.
She looked up, the green skin spiraling in one continuous spiral in front of her. “Yes, Richard?” she answered, innocently, as she watched him rather than the knife in her hands. He had made her promise not to call him Lord Rahl in private. It unnerved him to no end, and he knew it was a battle for her to not remember the horrors that had happened to her under his brother.
“Can I join you?” he asked, watching the spiral settle into the lap of her dress. “The breeze is cooler here than anywhere else on the Palace grounds.”
She smiled a little and nodded. “Of course. I learned of this spot years ago, and have taken refuge here many times. I would be happy to share it with you.” She shifted a little, giving him the back support of a good section of the tree trunk she was up against.
He sat down, relaxing a little with a sigh. “I’m glad you’re here, Denna,” he said, after a long pause. “I like you being here. It makes it safer, and it’s good to have company.” He was naturally a social creature; that everyone knew. And it was hard to not have Kahlan there.
“I’d never let anyone harm you,” she answered quietly. “I am here to protect you, and I take that seriously. I am glad you’ve given me another opportunity to prove myself to you. I know I didn’t deserve it. But I am trying to earn your trust.”
Richard looked over at her and smiled, pushing a piece of her wavy hair away from her cheek, and kissed her. It was the first time he’d started any of their contact; Denna was unsure of herself. It was different from other kisses. It was gentle, explorative, and all Richard. She opened herself to him in a quiet way that she never had opened herself to anyone else before. She smiled, as he pulled back, and offered him a bite of apple, before taking a slice for herself.
Their fingers brushed as he took the bite from her. He knew that this was all a risk. Kahlan was his Queen, and the Mother Confessor. If Kahlan purposefully confessed Denna, it would burn Denna up and kill her. Richard knew what the Con-Dar looked like, and what it could do when Kahlan let out that boiling rage inside her, and knew that no matter what, Denna wouldn’t survive it; wouldn’t survive Kahlan’s jealousy.
“I know that you’ve been doing everything you can since returning,” he said, before taking a bite of the apple slice. It was crisp, and cool despite the smothering heat of the land around them. “And I appreciate you.”
She smiled slightly and took a bite as she mulled something over in her mind. “I know that Cara didn’t trust you with me,” she said, with an apologetic tone. “And I know you trust her. But amongst the Mord’Sith…she isn’t considered a Sister anymore.”
He nodded a little. That was something he was already very aware of; she’d lost her position following him when Darken Rahl still controlled the Mord’Sith. He also knew that Denna herself defected from her Sisters, but hadn’t been stripped of her collar and braid. Those things she kept. “I know. What are you getting at?”
Denna looked at him, and gave him the frankest answer she could. “I’m glad she’s with Kahlan in the Midlands.”
He chuckled a little at her answer, and took another bite of his slice of her snack. “I trust her with Kahlan more than I’d trust you and Kahlan traveling together alone.”
“You think one of us would kill the other, don’t you?” she asked, tone not changing from the breezy voice she’d been using for a while now. She was relaxed, and it showed.
He looked over at her. “I think it still might come to that,” he answered softly, before looking at her. “I don’t want it to.”
“I won’t harm her unless she attacks me. That I will swear to you,” Denna answered, tone changing finally to something that reminded him what a Mord’Sith was capable of, and it stirred something in him. Stirred something so deep all he could think about was taking her, right there, and damn the consequences.
He took a breath to steady himself, closing his eyes, and temporarily gave into the mental picture of what all that beautiful, pale flesh would look like under him, before he shook himself. Her blue eyes studied his face, making his cheeks redden in spite of himself. “I know that, Denna.”
“You’re thinking about something a lot different than murder,” she murmured in that purr he occasionally dreamt about. It ran an involuntary shudder down his spine as surely as if she’d run her fingernails over his skin.
He looked at her, frowning slightly. “What am I thinking about?” he asked, defiantly. He never quite believed her when she said she’d trained him enough that she could see into his mind. But there were times when she did have an uncanny ability to predict what he’d planned to do.
Denna chuckled and leaned in. “You were thinking about what it’d be like to undress me right here, and take me,” she answered, whispering. “And I can tell you, I’ve been thinking about the same thing…” She slowly started to untie her dress, sliding the light linen over her delicate skin. He groaned as he watched the few scars she’d received since the last time she was brought back to life show up pink on otherwise white skin. He leaned forward, once her shoulders were bare, and kissed those scars.
She shivered under his lips, shifting her hips up to get out of the dress. It was too hot for clothes; she knew part of their lack of regard for who could stumble upon them was due to the heat, outside and between them. Once she was out of her clothes, she kissed him again, pulling him gently on top of her. He looked down at her, hair fanned in the grass by their tree, and smiled before pulling off his shirt. His eyes trialed over her neck and down to the swell of her breasts, and made a low sound, before his calloused fingers toyed with her nipple, propping himself up on one hand. “How do you know things like that?” he asked, as he bent to kiss her neck.
“I know because I can see your heart in your eyes, and it tells me everything,” she answered as she unbuckled his pants and began to stroke him. He groaned softly, hips shifting against her hand as she positioned him at her entrance. “Please, Richard. I need you.”
He couldn’t argue with her eyes, or the way she said his name, or the silky wetness she was sliding him against; her body---her essence called to him, and he pushed into her in one slow stroke to answer the call. They moved against each other, moaning and sighing, each thrust bringing the both closer to the brink. It was the first time that Denna had ever been touched like this, and she couldn’t help but like it. Couldn’t help but think about what her life would have been like without the Sisterhood. Would every lovemaking session have been this gentle? Some more fumbling than others, of course, but the feeling of love, and true desire wrapped around her like a warm blanket would have been always there?
It didn’t matter. She’d reclaim this part of her life, this missing piece from her heart, and maybe even her soul. She swore that to herself as they both cried out, mouths locking together, as they met their respective releases together.