A Journey of Love and Life Part 8
Gabrielle sat there watching her beloved sleep, glad that when Xena awoke she would be able to give her the good news about the baby. She had seen the fear in Xena's eyes before she had passed out from the pain, and knew when Xena awoke she would believe she'd lost the baby. Gods that can't happen again, I need to get her somewhere safe, I can't bear to think of her going through that again, but where could we go that we'd be safe? The amazons, surely they would protect us, but Xena isn't an amazon and they may stop her from sharing my hut, where can we go that she will be safe? Gabrielle asked herself, knowing she would gladly declare her love for her warrior to the Amazon's, but she had no idea if they would be okay with her being with a non amazon. They could stay in Amphipolis for a while, Xena's mum would make sure she would do the right things, make sure she'd take it easy, but could Xena take staying in the one place until the baby was born she asked herself, she knew Xena loved this baby, and if it weren't for this sickness Xena would have been a lot stronger and more able to fight the men that had fought her, and it's not like we are going to be fighting armies all the time, maybe a few fights here and there, but can I let her take the risk? All I want to do is protect her, Gods that sounds silly, me protect Xena the Warrior Princess? She laughed to herself, knowing that without the sickness Xena even pregnant would be someone to reckon with. This pregnancy was bringing out a side to Gabrielle that she had never thought she would see, a very protective side and she vowed she would do all she could to ensure Xena and the baby's safety.
She was so lost in thought she almost didn't hear Xena awake in fact she was sure she hadn't it was like her heart had heard Xena's emergence from sleep and she smiled, she would have the chance to talk to Xena about her worries and fears now, and she knew her warrior would always hear her out.
“Xena take it easy, you've been through quite a bit in the last few hours, but you didn't lose the baby, our child is fine Xena, okay?” Gabrielle asked smiling at the tears of relief pouring down her soul mates face, and bent down to kiss away the tears, vowing to never let Xena have to deal with the death of a child ever again.
“Gods I was so sure I was losing the baby, I could feel it Gabrielle, I could feel its life fading from me, I couldn't stop it, I-” Xena said her heart still able to remember the pain she'd felt, not just the physical pain but the aching emotional pain as she felt another of her children slipping away from her. She felt Gabrielle's arms come around her and allowed herself the comfort of crying the tears she knew she needed to get out, and be comforted by the only person in the world she would ever trust to see her cry like that. She cried for the baby she'd almost lost and for her son, who would never know his sibling, her beautiful son who had been taken from her before she could tell him that his mother had been there all along that she loved him and was never going to deny his existence again. When the tears finally subsided she lay back exhausted from the outpouring of emotion and allowed Gabrielle to cradle her as she fell into a sleep filled with dreams of her son, and her child who she was yet to meet but loved with all her heart.
They never did discuss where they were going to go that day, and when they got around to it they decided to keep journeying for now, Xena wasn't ready to accept that she deserved to be an amazon yet and she knew that once the morning nausea ended she would begin to start feeling better and more energetic and she'd already spent too much time in the one place. So with a promise to Gabrielle to think about going to the Amazon's when the baby's birth was closer they headed out as soon as the morning nausea stopped, both feeling optimistic about the future. They decided to travel to Athens, taking it slowly and leisurely, making sure Xena rested as much as necessary, and Gabrielle was surprised to not have to fight Xena to get her to rest most of the time.
“Another day or so and we should reach Athens, unless you can think of another reason to stay in a tavern before then?” Xena grinned mischievously, Gabrielle had used almost every excuse in the book to get them to stay in taverns, which always delayed their arrival in Athens, because a day would turn into 2 or 3 days, as one of the side effects of Xena's pregnancy came out rather unexpectedly keeping them very busy wrapped up in pleasure and themselves. Her libido had grown ten fold and she found that she couldn't get enough of her bard and she just wanted to spend days making love to her beautiful Gabrielle.
“Hmmm in the mood are we warrior princess?” Gabrielle asked coyly already knowing the answer, to say that Xena had been amorous in the last moon or so since they'd left would be an understatement, they had not spent a night so far without making love furiously till the sun came up and then spending the next day sleeping until very late barely making it for lunch most days at the taverns they stayed in. Not that she was complaining, their lovemaking was very fulfilling and borne of the love they shared and every intimate moment spent with Xena was like Elysia to Gabrielle, she didn't care if this side effect from Xena's pregnancy lasted the whole pregnancy, she had never seen Xena so open and wasn't sure if was because of the baby or their newly discovered love, and she was going to do nothing to change it.
“Don't you know it, I can't wait to get you into a tavern and-” Xena told Gabrielle letting her eyes rake over her beautiful bard already feeling the fire from her arousal beginning. If she had less self control she would take the bard right here right now, but she knew the chances of someone coming along and spoiling their fun was too great, they were on the main road to Athens and travellers came along the road frequently, and she knew that Gabrielle would be mortified if someone saw them being the modest woman she knew Gabrielle was.
“Well get your but moving warrior princess, the nearest tavern is a few more hours down the road and a certain someone will be wanting lunch before then” Gabrielle laughed loving getting a chance to tease Xena about her eating enough to feed three people, after spending years getting teased about it from almost everyone she knew. She looked at Xena and almost forgot to breathe, she looked so beautiful at almost 4 moons she was glowing with health and her very blue eyes seemed bluer than ever. Xena had decided to forgo her leathers now that she was carrying a child, and mainly wore tunics and pants, opting for the comfort of cotton instead of her leathers. Gabrielle had been shocked when Xena had suggested it but couldn't fault her warrior's logic, she would be less noticeable in more normal clothing and less likely to attract trouble. Xena knew dressing like a warrior was what got her the attention of thugs who thought they could take her on, and so far she'd been right. They'd been attacked once, and not because they thought she was a warrior but because they thought Xena was an easy mark. Boy had they been wrong she thought thinking of how easily she'd defeated them, with Gabrielle's help of course, it was almost as if she wasn't pregnant at all, the pregnancy not hampering her ability at all, but of course she was still only just over three moons gone at the time, things might change when she got heavier with child. Gods I hope we don't have to find out how good her fighting skills are when she is further along she thought knowing if Xena had to she would fight but Gabrielle knew it wouldn't be something she relished. She hadn't even got excited when she did fight those guys a few weeks ago, maybe this pregnancy is changing her Gabrielle thought wondering just how many more changes Xena would go through in her life.
“Hey whatcha thinking sweetheart?” Xena asked sensing Gabrielle had become preoccupied with something and had stopped talking, and silence didn't sit well with Xena anymore, she found she couldn't handle it if Gabrielle wasn't talking and found it was prompting her to start more conversations, something she was sure wasn't lost on Gabrielle.
“I was just thinking how much you've changed over the years, how much I love you and how I can't wait to get you alone in a tavern and strip you of that gorgeous tunic you're wearing” Gabrielle responded playfully as she took Xena into a passionate kiss that promised Xena that she would definitely be getting some loving that night.
“You were thinking all that huh?” Xena asked a little breathlessly the intensity of the kiss having taken her by surprise, and she smiled knowing what that gleam in Gabrielle's eyes meant and knew that she would be being taken tonight. It had taken a few weeks for Xena to finally realise Gabrielle's need to possess her as much as she possessed Gabrielle, and be able to surrender her will to her beloved bard, but finally her instinct to take over broke and she gave in and the experience had been more than pleasurable. She found that she looked forward to surrendering to Gabrielle now and realised that this proved yet again their bond, a bond that she hoped would never die.
“Lets get to that tavern huh? Gabrielle said taking Xena's hand in hers needing to get Xena there as soon as possible, it wouldn't be long before hunger for food would replace her warrior's arousal and she didn't want anything to get in the way of what she wanted, needed.
Needless to say Gabrielle got her way and they soon made it to Athens, choosing to stop for the night in the inn they'd stayed at before when they'd been in Athens, they'd decided to stay in Athens for a couple of weeks, Gabrielle wanted to shop and Xena just wanted to relax, something she'd never desired before but found she needed now, she was still not completely up to par with her normal energy levels and doubted she would get that kind of energy back until after the baby was born. It was like now that she was pregnant she finally had an excuse to do the things she had been wanting to do but as a stoic warrior didn't feel she could. It was unexpectedly liberating to know that she could enjoy herself and spend time just relaxing, thinking of just Gabrielle and the baby rather than trying to save the world. She slept longer than she usually did not because she needed to but because she was relaxed enough to do it, that and they were almost always exhausted from making love till almost dawn most nights. She was beginning to appreciate the little things Gabrielle did to make things easier for her and although at first she'd felt a little patronised at first because she still wasn't that far along she had grown to love Gabrielle's protectiveness. She knew the reason for it was that Gabrielle loved her and knew that she would be doing the same thing if not worse if it were Gabrielle that were pregnant.
“You are awfully quiet today my love” Gabrielle asked a little worriedly, she knew Xena was a mainly quiet person but lately she had become quiet the talker and silence from the warrior tended to worry her a little.
“How much I love you and the baby, I don't think it will really sink in that I'm pregnant till we feel the baby move” Xena told Gabrielle smiling as Gabrielle's hand instinctively reached out to caress her abdomen, she was beginning to show and there was a definite little bump there now reminding them of the miracle that was taking place inside of Xena, both of them felt their love for their child grow stronger everyday and neither could wait till the day came that they would finally get to meet their child. Gabrielle sometimes just lay there caressing Xena's stomach as she slept, marvelling at the miracle of it and knew without a doubt that she would love this child as though it were her own, she couldn't wait to feel the baby's first movements inside Xena's womb and sometimes held back tears as she thought of how much this child meant to them. She felt tears welling in her eyes now as she thought of how beautiful her warrior was, especially pregnant, she had never desired Xena as much as she did now that she was pregnant, she wasn't sure what it was but her need to love her warrior princess was stronger than ever and she was beginning to take control of their lovemaking more than she ever thought she could. She still needed to feel possessed by her warrior but her need to possess her warrior often was stronger than her need to be possessed, and she had a feeling Xena didn't mind something she didn't think would be possible with Xena.
“You are so beautiful you know that, my pregnant warrior, you glow with radiance, when I look at you my heart stops beating and I forget to breathe, you take my breath away” Gabrielle told Xena as she kissed her passionately pushing her tongue into Xena's mouth needing to know that Xena was hers and hers alone.
“Tell me you're mine” Gabrielle whispered as she removed Xena's night shift taking in her lovers glorious body and felt her mouth claimed again by her warrior, she moved her hands to brush against one of Xena's nipples smiling as she felt more than heard Xena gasp at the contact, and began circling her finger around the now erect nipple.
“I'm yours Gabrielle just take me” Xena gasped out as she felt Gabrielle's mouth enclose around one of her erect nipple and emitted a low groan at the sensation of Gabrielle's wet mouth suckling her nipple, her hips lifting off the bed involuntarily as Gabrielle continued to move her tongue over her almost painfully erect nipple, she raked her hands through Gabrielle's hair bringing her bard closer to her breasts and moaned as she felt Gabrielle move to her other nipple, her hand still playing with the breast she'd already tasted, her hips lifting off the bed again as she felt Gabrielle's tongue loving her other breast. Her hands wanted to urge Gabrielle lower but her heart knew that to rush this would take away the pleasure of the love Gabrielle was giving her and so she kept her hands to herself and let Gabrielle have her way with her. Gabrielle continued her ministrations on Xena's sensitive nipples wanting to take her lover over the edge many times before she finished and placed her knee in between Xena's legs. She felt Xena's wet centre come in contact with her thigh and they both groaned at the contact. She moved back up to capture Xena's lips again wanting to taste every part of her warrior princess, wanting her to scream her name by the time she was finished. Slowly she tasted her way down Xena's body till she was resting her face just above Xena's dark curls taking in the sweet aroma of her lovers arousal, as her mouth watered as she thought of tasting Xena, she knew her lovers pleasure would become her pleasure and they often came together even when only one of them was doing the loving and she knew this time would be no different, she was so turned on by the sounds Xena was making and the desire she saw in those baby blues, the beauty of her warrior princess.
“Please Gabrielle take me” Xena gasped wanting Gabrielle to take her to the place where their love crested, to where they soared as one in ecstasy and groaned as she felt Gabrielle move to her centre using her talented tongue to bring her to heights of pleasure she'd only known with Gabrielle, as Gabrielle's tongue worked its magic she could feel the fire building in her and knew she was close, so very close to going over the edge, she could hear Gabrielle's ragged breathing and knew her bard was just as close, she screamed out Gabrielle's name as Gabrielle latched onto her swollen bud taking it into her mouth loving it, and felt herself going over the edge. She screamed out Gabrielle's name again as she came, her orgasm ripping through as she felt Gabrielle come too, both of them crying out the names of the woman they loved as Gabrielle continued sucking on that little bud, entering Xena with two then three fingers coaxing her to orgasm again and again until Xena placed her hand on Gabrielle letting her know she couldn't take anymore. Gabrielle climbed up Xena's body taking Xena into her arms as she held her waiting for the spasms to stop,kissing her hair and stroking her face.
“I love you Xena” Gabrielle told Xena, knowing her warrior was exhausted and would be asleep within minutes if she continued holding her, so she moved her hand to the place where it loved to rest, on the slight bump where their child grew, waiting for the day when she would rest her hand there and feel their child moving within the woman she loved.
“I love you too my bard” Xena said sleepily, smiling as she thought of how much they'd changed together, how much this pregnancy was changing them, of how easy it was to let Gabrielle hold her like this while she slept, of how much she loved it when she felt Gabrielle's hand rest on her bump. Feeling content they both drifted off to sleep dreaming of each other and the day they would bring their child into the world.