Pisachas

Chapter Nine

Gilia stepped out from the massive shower. It had shot steamy water pouring from three different directions, up above and on both her shoulders, and Gilia had almost felt like she was drowning at one point. But the beating of water droplets on her tense muscles was soothing and exactly what she needed.

She wasn't sure how many hours had passed since Sach had stormed out…Again…but Gilia was tired, filthy and hungry. There was nothing she could do about her stomach, since Sach hadn't left her any food, but the bathroom was still there, looking oh so tempting.

A flush pink towel Gilia missed upon her earlier examination of the room, was hanging behind the door on the wall. The scent of fresh lily of the valley soap on her skin and shampoo of the same fragrance wafted around her with such delight she felt for the first time in awhile she were twirling in a field of flowers. No nightmares of rape consuming her thoughts, even though they were still there, but less dominant. She was calm now. Gilia didn't know if there was some special relaxation powers the soap had or whether it was just the lack of sustenance getting to her brain. Either way she felt peaceful right now.

Gilia lifted up her tattered, dirty robe and shook her head. There was no way she was putting that awful thing back on. If she did, Gilia feared her peaceful trance she was in would disappear as quickly as it came.

Leaving it in a pile on the floor next to the door, she unwrapped the towel from her body and towel dried her hair and rest of the body as much as she could. When she finished that, the towel was soaking wet and it was very cold in the room. The fire had died completely and the chill from earlier had crept back into the stone room. There was no way she was going to leave the towel on or stand there naked in the freezing room.

Gilia hung the towel back in its place and ran towards the bed, jumped under the covers and laid there shivering. The calming trance was still there, only with a bite to it from her shaking body.

She tried to ignore her thoughts, but Gilia couldn't help wishing Sach was there to build another fire and bring her clothes and food. It was hard to admit, especially after everything that had happened between them, but she needed him. For survival and peace of mind that other women weren't being tortured and raped…she needed him.

Her hair was making the pillow damp, but the rest of her body was now dry and slowly warming under the thick covers. Very slowly.

Her soft skin felt like silk beneath them and Gilia had to swallow hard trying not to think about Sach naked underneath those covers with her.

Suddenly the fireplace made a long hiss, as if one of the logs had let its last breath escape before collapsing to the concrete below. Her heart began a steady pound as she lay still, un-breathing, listening to the silent room. The peaceful spell she'd been under from the shower faded to a little spark of fear.

Gilia knew she was thinking crazy, but the noise from the log had been so sinister; she couldn't help being on alert. Her eyes were quarter size as she glanced around the room and with great care not to make any noise, Gilia sat up keeping the covers tucked beneath her arms.

The fireplace made another small hiss as smoke drifted out in two directions like fingers curling to reach her. She shivered and pulled the covers closer around her.

This was stupid. She was being stupid. It was just a fireplace making noises like any other would after being lit for hours. Gilia would prove to herself nothing was going on. She flung the covers back and tip toed over towards the wall with the hissing logs. It sounded like they were trying to say something to her in a snake tongue, but as she approached the noise grew fainter. The last bit of whole burnt log together crumbled into a pile of ash and was gone. The noise stopped and the curling smoke dissipated.

Like she thought, it was nothing. As Gilia turned to head back towards the bed, she ran smack dab into an invisible wall. Her eyes danced around the room as she bounced off, but saw nothing in her path. The wall had felt warm though, unlike the cold stones entrapping her. She jumped back as a smoky form of a man slowly developed. Waves of color and flesh rushed together forming a shoulder and then a chest, legs and head of dark raven hair.

Gilia gasped when she saw Sach standing there between her naked self and the bed she desperately wanted to jump and hide in.

He still had his black slacks on, but his feet were now bare. Gilia knew this because her head was bowed, cowering as she tried to cover the more intimate parts of her body. She didn't care if Sach had seen her before or not. Her skin always itched and burned where his gaze traced over her. She didn't like being looked at like a piece of artwork, similar to the ones hanging on his walls now.

She dared a glance up to his face and saw a raw flame beneath his ice blue eyes. A contradiction in itself. Was he still mad at her? If he was surely he'd start yelling at her some more or something.

When he didn't Gilia became uncomfortable. She tried to step around him to at least get a sheet to cover her body, but he stepped with her blocking her path. She tried the other way, but he followed as well.

Gilia was getting frustrated, "Can I please get some covers to make me decent?"

He didn't answer her. Instead he began, "I thought about what you said…"

She huddled her arms closer around herself, "About what?"

"About not raping anymore women."

Gilia stopped fidgeting and looked up at him with a serious expression.

"I don't want to rape them. I never wanted to rape them."

"So, you've come to take me up on my offer?" She suddenly felt more naked than before, if that was possible. And she wasn't sure if her offer had been such a good idea now that he was considering it.

Sach smoothly, unnoticed at first by Gilia, moved a step closer. "No, I had no intentions of that, but when you wander around the room in nothing but your skin, it's more than I can bear little one."

Little one, she huffed. She wished he'd stop calling her that! And it wasn't her fault the stupid fireplace was making noises and she didn't have any clothes! "Well, if I had something to change into after my shower, besides that mangy robe, I wouldn't be standing here naked!"

"And if you were kind enough to leave me some damn food…I wouldn't be starving either!" Gilia could feel the flush of anger rising up to her cheeks. She was seething now and tired of his crap. He called her his companion, yet he treated her like a real prisoner. Well, fine. But she didn't have to stand here and allow him to treat her as such.

Gilia pushed her way around him and flung the comforter off the bed, grabbed the sheet below it and began tying it around her like a toga.

She tried to ignore Sach as he came up behind her and placed his hand on her bare shoulder. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "I'm not used to being human anymore with certain human needs and I've never had anyone stay with me before."

Gilia tried not to succumb to his sensitivity, but she found it was getting harder and harder not too…which scared her even more.

She turned around to face him. "Please forgive me Gilia."

"I-I will. But only if you promise to treat me better than you have and not as a prisoner."

His eyes sparked, but he didn't open his mouth again. Sach swept around the bed canopy, stood in front of the wall next to the bathroom entrance and pulled the green stone necklace from his pants pocket. His mouth quirked as he looked back to Gilia and asked, "Is there something particular you like to eat?"

She shook her head and watched in fascination. "I guess I'll just conjure up the basics for now."

He placed the necklace around his neck, closed his eyes and took three very slow and even breaths, concentrating with all his might. At once a round brass bowl appeared on the wooden table against the stones, filled to the rim with different kinds of fruits. Apples, bananas, grapes, kiwis, strawberries and other vibrant, mouthwatering delicacies.

"Will this do?" he asked.

She didn't know what to say. Her stomach was roaring in her ears feed me as she shuffled quickly across the room holding the end of the home-made toga in her hand and reached for a grape with the other.

The first one was large and bright green. The sweet rush of juice in her mouth as she bit down on that blessed food, made Gilia want to cry. It was the most delicious piece of fruit she'd ever tasted. Her stomach rolled as though it had just been thoroughly teased and wanted more. She dropped the excess sheet from her other hand and dove for the bowl. She tasted a strawberry sweeter than any she'd tasted before; the apple was crisper, the banana soft with no strings. Everything was delicious and it wasn't until half the bowl was devoured Gilia realized how hungry she'd actually been.

Sach laughed from behind her. He'd sat down on the bed unnoticed to watch her eat. Apparently she'd been amusing to him. Figures. Everything about her was fascinating to him and she couldn't understand why on earth. What was so special about her?

Gilia grasped the sheet and tugged it up from where it had started to slip some while she was eating and sat down next to him on the bed. She wasn't too close nor was she far away. She had only to reach out to touch him.

"Maybe the dark circles under your eyes will go away now that I'm not starving you anymore." He said it as a joke, but Gilia knew there was no humor behind his smoldering gaze.

She wanted to ask this before he distracted her again. "Sach?"

Gilia cleared her throat, still tasting the sweetness of the last strawberry she'd eaten. "You said you've never brought anyone else here."

"Yes," he said and waited.

"And you never can be satisfied with…you know…sex, but you brought me down here for that purpose. To have me as your companion."

"Yes…although when I say companion I don't necessarily mean just for sex," he smirked one side of his perfect plumped mouth.

"Well, what I was wondering was…why you took me?" Before he could answer she went on, "I don't understand what's so special about me?"

Sach looked away contemplating how to answer. Gilia gulped seeing the confusion and desire cut across his features. "There is a myth for incubi like myself."

He seared her with his gaze now. "At first I didn't believe it. I assumed it was a ruse to make us storm the earth with greater rage to find the one, and wreck more havoc on helpless human women. But…but after I took you, I knew I was wrong."

"What do you mean?"

"The reason I took you back with me was because I came Gilia. When I forced myself upon you I actually had an orgasm. My first real orgasm in many, many years. That was the reason for my wings and the reason I left so quickly. Gilia…you are the chosen one for me, my savior and I never considered you existed."

"It was startling to think you were real and I returned home refusing to believe it. It took a week of human time to decide I'd bring you here in hopes I hadn't dreamt the whole thing."

Gilia wasn't sure what to make of all this. She still didn't see what was so freaking special about her. Her life was incredibly normal and boring, besides her eccentric grandmother keeping her on her toes. Other than that…

"What if you were dreaming and I am nothing like the chosen one or whatever you think I am?"

"It's possible, but I haven't had the chance to test that theory out."

She gulped again and clamped the sheet covering her nakedness further up her chest. "I won't force you again, Gilia. I told you that."

"After so many centuries of dealing with the same raging needs and cravings…the frustration and temper comes easily. I'm a monster. It's in my nature of what I am and I don't expect you to accept me."

"But you expect me to give myself to you eventually," Gilia whispered.

"We are meant to be together, little one. If the myth exists than you are meant to be mine. The only human capable of satisfying my uncontrollable cravings."

Gilia shook her head unable to fathom this. "Don't you see how incredible that is? You take me from my home and family and expect me to just become your lover over night because I'm some miracle myth?"

He sat a moment taking in the situation from her perspective. His breathing was a bit labored, but she wasn't scared of him. For once she wasn't scared. "I know it's not exactly easy, but I'm trying to give you time."

"I could have just continued taking from you like I do other women, but I didn't."

"I know you didn't, Sach. And for the life of me I don't understand why. It boggles my mind, but I'm very glad you didn't." To her own surprise, Gilia laid her hand on top of his in his lap. The skin on skin contact sent a surge of energy through both of their bodies causing Gilia to snatch her hand back.

A blue fire danced beneath his gaze and Gilia was momentarily wary he might spring at her and attack, but he held himself together, only reaching his arm across to clasp her shoulder gently. The warmth of his hand was like hot iron imbedding its memory deep in her flesh. She'd know his touch anywhere now. Not that she'd ever be away from him long enough to forget, she mused.

AN/ I've never really made many notes for this story, but a few ideas have come to mind. I look forward to seeing where the characters will go from here myself! Thanks for the reviews! It means a lot.