rise and rise again Posted on November 10, 2020 at 11:26:19 AM by Rade
to live and burn is
the most exquisite form of self destruction
Though it had been reckless to snag a tiger’s tail in his jaws, Rade was fortunate that he wasn’t unwise enough to linger. A bare second after he’d released the tendrils of fiery hair - save the few that clung unpleasantly to the surface of his tongue - the ‘Teke’s body rippled upward. Had he held her still, his chin would have been where she found only air. And then? The best he could hope for was a bruised and aching jaw… and the worst, a broken mandible that made eating much more difficult, if possible at all. It was a close call, but the golden stallion’s existence had been full of such near misses, and he scarcely paused to consider them anymore. At any moment in his life, a single misstep might have been the difference between life and death, but he was still here.
And if the gods wanted to take him before his purpose was fulfilled - then he would fight them, too.
Having picked up the single-minded thread of his mission again, the burnished palomino had taken only a couple strides closer to his destination when the flash of motion on his periphery indicated that the mare was yet undeterred from her pursuit. It was too much to hope for, apparently, that intelligence might outweigh emotion when it came to the fairer sex - who were, ironically, never fair at all. And this red woman proved it by sending her hooves at a creature whose indifference had been all the response her challenge ought to have needed. Whether she claimed it a victory or defeat, Rade could not have cared less. It was inane to press him for an offense that had been over in as little time as it took the roan to lurch forward now, soaking the twin blows with his flank instead of his ribs. While painful, it was not as debilitating as a broken rib - particularly since he yielded enough to the force of the blow that his hindquarters swung outward for a single, stumbling stride.
Even the brief satisfaction of her attack did not stay the chestnut ‘Teke for more than a moment. By the time the gilded creature had recovered and resumed his normal stride, she was beside him again. Matching her strides to his, and glancing his rump with the stinging lash of her tail. Rade’s eyes rolled backwards, showing a white edge that rimmed amber irises, which in turn surrounded dark pupils that were full of boredom more than anything else. Would she never tire of this monotonous game?
If you want me, you’ve got to try harder than that.
There was nothing that might have disguised the snort of laughter that escaped him at this statement. The heavy inhale that followed was saturated with the scent of the slender woman’s heat, but Rade had never wanted anything - or anyone - less than he desired her, and hastened to make it clear in a voice that shook with mirth. “In case my walking away didn’t make it clear,” he began, emphasizing the last syllable as one might do when speaking to a petulant child. “There is nothing that I desire less than you.” He knew there was every chance that his words would be received poorly, and her ire would only increase. But if there was no escaping her company, he might as well find what enjoyment he could of it. “Don’t get me wrong, I empathize with your struggles. How little interest you must be getting, to chase after those who find you so repellant that they’d sooner endure blows than a brief tryst.”
Again she struck like a bolt of lightning, quick enough that Rade had only the breadth of a single heartbeat to determine whether it was worth trying to duck the blow. But as there was little that could be seriously harmed amidst the broad plane of his back, he inevitably took the blow in order to maintain his gait with as little disruption as possible. The Lagoon - and Cullen - were the only things that mattered. She was welcome to claim her pound of flesh, so long as that which she claimed did not threaten his ultimate goal.
But such a sacrifice would not be given without cost.
Narrowing his cunning eyes and stiffening the joints of his limbs, Rade stopped abruptly. If the desert-bred woman still clung to him like the burr that she was, she would be forced to stop with him. Either that, or collide muzzle-first with the arch of his neck, and probably trip over her own hooves in the haste to right herself. “Is that the way of it, then?,” he purred in whatever brief moment of respite this trick bought him. “Unable to rouse the interest of a masculine suitor, have you decided to try your hand at playing stallion?” Another chuff of air escaped him, this time roughened by a chuckle. “You’re welcome to mount me, if it helps to still your loneliness. It’s not usually the way I swing, but your desperate persistence has moved me to pity.”
Rade’s own desperation was left unremarked, but it twisted within him when his eyes flicked briefly over the distant boundary of his old home. Absolution - and so much more - waited for him there, but it might as well have been on another world for all the good that its nearness did him.