26- As You Command

26- As You Command
"Strip," Aisha barely reacted to Imset's words. Her mind was still a mess. Between what Josh had admitted, and what she'd watched Imset do to the man... Aisha was really in no position to do anything. She could hardly form a coherent thought.

Imset sensed it. The way her mind had curled in on itself. She wasn't in shock, not quite. But still, she wasn't entirely herself either. Imset had debated whether or not to hold back when it came time to torture the human. It was her first time, after all. And he wanted to be sensitive to that. But then she'd asked questions about a woman named Aiko and the male's responses had Imset's blood on fire. He'd have to make a note to ask more about Aiko later, but not now when she was already so sensitive. That coupled with Aisha's tearful story about her life. And the knowledge that the human had intended to hurt her... take something precious by force... Imset hadn't been able to curb himself.

He hoped he hadn't further traumatized her, hoped that she merely needed some time to process things.

Imset repeated himself, telling her to strip out of her blood stained clothes but Aisha's pupils didn't react. He clenched his jaw. She needed control and now that she'd told him why, he could understand it. But he also knew that relinquishing control in someone she trusted, would help her in a different way. Especially now when she needed something to ground her. He could do that, help ground her in the here and now. He could let his guard down, give her someone to trust. He pushed away the voice of caution.

Placing his hands on either side of her face, he gave her a gentle shake, stroking her cheeks. Enough to focus her eyes on him, "Strip," he commanded. Slowly, her eyes reacted, her hands moved to her skirt but he stilled them.

"Not you," he corrected softly, "Me." There he saw the look of recognition as she processed the command. He continued to study her, no expression on his face through sheer willpower alone.

"I-" her brow furrowed. She was looking for words to explain things she hadn't yet made sense of. She needed help, Imset understood. She needed to refocus her attention away from the trauma. It had been too much. He had been too much.

"Don't speak," he ordered, "Do as you're told." 

Aisha hesitated, swallowing the lump in her throat at the sight of the blood. So much of Josh's blood covered him. It made her skin itch, made her hyper aware of the sticky coating on her own flesh. And yet it wasn't guilt she felt. Not after what he'd admitted about Aiko. No, he had deserved what Imset reaped upon him.

But it was confusing for her. What did it say about Aisha that she enjoyed watching him suffer? What did it say about her soul? She'd always joked about how black it was but she'd never really considered that she could be this wrathful. What bothered her was the silence in her head. The fact that she didn't hate what had happened.

He was already bare-chested, so she inched forward, reaching her hands behind his neck to unclasp his breastplate. The weight of it surprised her, taking much of her focus not to drop it. As she tugged it down, it disappeared from her hands. One look at Imset told her he'd whisked it away with his power.

She hesitated then moved to his wrist, unsnapping the metal closures on one cuff, then sliding each ring off his fingers. Aisha fixated on the soft warmth of his skin against the cold metal, which disappeared just as she reached for the other wrist.

Reaching for the leather band around his waist next, Aisha untied the woven cord as her fingers began to sweat. Slowly... so terribly slowly she came back to herself. The rough cord against her shaking hands... Imset let the band drop to the floor, clattering loud enough that Aisha jumped. He eyed the peaks against her satin top, swallowing the urge to feel her. She needed trust.

She didn't think as she went to her tiptoes, reaching to tug his dreads free of the hair tie.

Imset opened his mouth, smiling wide enough for Aisha to see the metal sheaths over his canines as she lowered back down to her height. She brushed a thumb against one at the same time that he ran his tongue along it. When they met, neither took a breath. A thrilling pause went through them both. She withdrew her hand as he tilted his eyes, now hazel not red, to get a better sweep of her.

"Leave them if you like," he said. So she did.

Finally, Aisha remembered how to breathe as she stepped back. She felt flushed, impossibly warm, and very aware of how close they were. She gulped again, dragging the air as deeply as she could.

"Undress me all the way," he leaned forward, breath fanning her face.

"As you command," she whispered. Whatever thoughts she might have had about what happened in the pyramid disappeared. Like someone had opened a window and let the words fly out. Lust drenched everything in a haze. Such a powerful being. And he was asking her to undress him, leave him bare.

She reached for the cord that held his apron in place, subtly dragging him a step closer until they were sharing air. She loosened the knot slowly, savoring the scruff of the rough fibers across each of her long black nails. Aisha released one side, watching as the material snaked around the back of his waist, unwrapping him. She looked up, only needing to release the bit of fabric she still held and he would be bare.

Saliva pooled in her mouth as she stared, unable to remember what she was supposed to be doing. Her finger grazed his length and she shivered, swearing she heard a low sound come from him.

"All. The. Way." he forced himself to say. Forced himself to keep his hands at his side when all he wanted to do was touch. Each sweep of those soft fingers, each scrape of her sharp nails, undid him.

Snapping herself back to the task at hand, she dropped the cloth. She didn't stop until he was standing in only his underwear. Thank god for underwear, she sighed to herself, or she might have been a wet puddle on the floor by now.

Then she stepped back. Covered in blood, eyes a darkening hazel, dreads freely hanging around his face, standing in nothing but boxer briefs, Aisha studied him, her chest becoming full, begging to be felt. He was most definitely a god in every sense of the word. She couldn't stop her mind or her eyes from wandering back to the length between his legs. He hid nothing of his own desire.

"That's not all the way stripped, Aisha," her name a sharp caress on her sensitive skin. His eyes pierced through her. There was so much heat between her legs she thought she was melting right through her clothes. But she didn't cower. She quietly returned to his hips, dipping her fingers under the band of his briefs, dragging them lower until he was freed.

In her most secret moments, she thought about what he looked like but it was so much more than she could have imagined on her own. So much more than the cursory glance she'd snuck that night she washed his clothes. Her legs tensed together, trying to contain the thrill she felt as she went to her knees to pull his briefs the rest of the way. How many ways had she imagined losing herself in a man? How many nights had she dreamed of this kind of tension?

She lingered there, shamelessly staring at him like he was one of the wonders of the world. Everything she'd ever seen online did not compare to what was before her. She licked her suddenly dry lips without thinking and he grabbed the back of her head. She flicked her eyes up to his, watching him wrestle with something, eyes burning her skin. Ultimately, he pulled her back up to her feet. "Turn on the shower for me," he instructed and she could hear every bit of the strain it took for him.

She obliged, twisting the handle as he entered the door-less glass enclosure. Imset stepped into the stream of water and she couldn't help but watch. Couldn't do a single thing to force herself to look away. He stroked his length twice with an urgency that spoke of his need, his want. Looking right at her, he curled a finger, summoning her forward.

When she didn't move, he continued to eye her through the glass. She couldn't even feel her legs anymore, she'd been clenching so hard. Her knees were practically stuck together.

"Enter the shower," he commanded.

"M-my cl-"

"Don't speak. I don't care about your clothes, Aisha. Wear them or don't but enter the fucking shower."

Imset tried not to think too hard about what he was doing. About what he was letting his body make him do. What was happening between them would change everything. But the look in her eyes wasn't fear. It was naked want. Desire and acceptance and vulnerability. His walls caved. Everything he'd built around himself to keep the loneliness away, was gone. As if it had never been. Tonight Aisha saw everything he truly was. And there she stood, looking at him as if she might combust.

So when she unlaced her heels and stepped into the stream of water, he knew he would not be able to resist.