Fic: A Light That Never Went Out (Cara/Dahlia, Legend of the Seeker 6/12)

[fembuck]

Title: A Light That Never Went Out
Author: Janine
Fandom: Legend of the Seeker
Pairing: Cara/Dahlia
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: I don't own them.
Summary: After defeating the Keeper our band of heroes heads back to D'Hara, and on the way Cara meets a familiar face.

( Part One ) ( Part Two ) ( Part Three ) ( Part Four ) ( Part Five )

xxx

Part 6

The sun and Dahlia's body against her warmed Cara as they rode and she found herself genuinely relaxing as they trotted through the woods surrounding Ragora. Despite Dahlia's reassurances that she wouldn't, Cara had feared that Dahlia would ramble on incessantly about inconsequential matters as village women liked to do, but Dahlia had been true to her word and had been quiet during their ride, content to simply enjoy Cara's presence and the beauty of their surrounding.

The ride was peaceful, the silence comfortable, and not for the first time since arriving in Ragora, Cara thought that it was pleasant to be around Dahlia again.

As they rode on, Dahlia's head eventually fell to rest against the warm leather covering Cara's back and stayed there long enough that Cara began to wonder if she had fallen asleep. However, it seemed that Dahlia had just been enjoying being as close to Cara as possible for when they neared a fork in the road, Dahlia lifted her head and spoke, murmuring that she knew a spot nearby where they could stop for a rest.

Cara was used to riding long distances without stopping and did not need to rest but she agreed to Dahlia's suggestion. Richard's decree at the tavern meant that she had nothing pressing to attend to and nowhere else to go, so she saw no harm in stopping so that they could stretch their legs.

Dahlia directed Cara to a wooded enclosure through which a stream ran. The denseness of the trees made the enclosure slightly warmer than it was beyond the thicket, but the air was sweet with the scent of one of the plants that grew inside it and the clear water trickling through the space looked cool and refreshing. The area was lovely, but Cara was not one to marvel at such things. Kahlan would have been beside herself with pleasure had she been with them however, and Cara made a mental note to tell the Confessor about the spot when she next saw Kahlan.

Cara dismounted first and then offered her hand to Dahlia, helping her dismount. Once she was on the ground, Dahlia stretched prettily and murmured, "I want to show you something," to Cara before moving off towards a small clump of bushes.

Cara thought to herself that Dahlia was already showing her something as she watched the gentle, enticing sway of Dahlia's hips before she was gifted with the lovely sight of Dahlia bending over as brunette picked some fruits from the bushes around her. Trees and flowers generally left Cara unmoved, but she was not immune to other sorts of beauty, and the enclosure was currently offering her a breathtaking view.

When Dahlia returned to Cara her hand was filled with small, purplish berries with red seeds. Dahlia showed the berries to Cara who simply arched an unimpressed eyebrow at her.

"They're very good," Dahlia whispered, allowing her lips to curve up just the slightest bit. "They're the most delicious thing I've ever tasted … besides you."

Cara's lips pulled up into a small smile that quickly crept into large one as she took in Dahlia's saucy tone and the playful look in her eyes.

"Is that so?" she purred a few seconds later.

In response to her question Dahlia simply smiled and then used her free hand bring one of the berries up to Cara's mouth. Cara's lips parted to allow Dahlia to deposit the fruit inside, but Dahlia's smile turned impish and instead of placing the fruit in Cara's mouth, she slowly, teasingly trailed the plump berry over Cara's lips before finally depositing it into Cara's mouth. Cara held Dahlia's eyes with her own as she chewed, and when her mouth was still full with the juice of the berry, Dahlia leaned forward and captured Cara's lips so that they could share the berry and a kiss.

The rest of the berries Dahlia had picked met the same fate and when the last of them disappeared, Dahlia found herself suddenly lying on a soft patch of grass with an extremely aroused Mord'Sith on top of her.

"My dress," Dahlia protested as Cara's lips attacked her neck while her hands pushed their way under the dress in question.

"You should have thought of that before enflaming my passions," Cara murmured into Dahlia's warm, deliciously salty skin.

Dahlia laughed softly and lifted her hand to Cara's head to run her fingers through silky golden hair.

"I meant for you to take it off, not to stop," she whispered when Cara lifted her head to look at her.

A rush of desire slammed through Cara's body upon hearing Dahlia's words and she leaned forward to capture the brunette's lips in a fierce kiss as her hands clutched and squeezed at Dahlia's thighs. Dahlia moaned into her mouth and lifted her hand to the back of Cara's neck, holding her where she was, as desperate to be close to Cara as Cara was to be close to her.

Cara's head swam with the taste and smell of Dahlia, and unbidden, images of her and Dahlia passionately exploring each other in the fields where they had played as children came to her. Images of them splashing together naked in streams under the cover of darkness, and kissing huddled together under Dahlia's sheets after barricading her bedroom door played through Cara's brain, and before Cara was even aware that she wanted to speak she heard herself panting, "I wish we could have grown big together," into Dahlia's waiting mouth.

Dahlia breathed sharply upon hearing Cara's words, and her eyelids fluttered quickly as she tried to clamp down on the sudden welling of tears in her eyes.

"Me too," she whispered softly stroking her fingers tenderly across Cara's cheek before she used them to direct Cara's mouth back to hers. "Show me what we missed," she breathed into Cara's mouth a few seconds later, understanding that this adult Cara was more at ease with actions than words.

Cara's hands smoothed up Dahlia's thighs to her hips, carrying her dress with them and Dahlia lifted her arms so that Cara could pull the dress over her head. Despite her haste to touch Dahlia, Cara remembered her earlier words and was mindful to place the dress carefully to the side instead of giving into her natural instinct to toss it carelessly somewhere behind her, and then she turned to face Dahlia and surged forward, pressing their lips together eagerly.

If she had grown big in Stowcroft her lips would have been the first to kiss Dahlia's, of that she was sure. But she had not grown big in Stowcroft. Lips that were not hers had been the first to kiss Dahlia's, hands that were not hers had been the first to touch her breasts and feel between her legs. A body that was not hers had been the first to bring Dahlia to orgasm, and arms that were not hers had been the first to hold Dahlia's naked body as she drifted off into a peaceful, post-coital sleep.

All of the firsts that would have been Cara's had not been hers, and there was nothing Cara could do about that. As she had told Dahlia that morning, the past was past. She could never make her hands, her lips, and her body the first for Dahlia, but she could make them the most memorable.

Cara knew she could not be Dahlia's first, but she would be her best.

xxx

Dahlia's fingers trailed over Cara's skin lazily, tracing old and newer scars as well as stroking flawless expanses of smooth, unblemished skin.

"How did you end up here?" Cara asked, breaking the silence that had settled between them after their love-making.

"Well, I was peacefully walking through town when a leather clad ruffian on a horse pulled me on behind her and rode out of town with me," Dahlia began lightly, dipping her head to press her lips just above Cara's heart, her lips curving up into a smile a second later when she heard and felt Cara huff.

"Here in Ragora, not naked and debauched beside me," Cara responded pinching lightly at the pale flesh of Dahlia's hip, making her squeak and then laugh.

When Dahlia had first approached her in the town square she had assumed that Dahlia had married and moved to be with her husband, but no husband had turned up or been mentioned. Dahlia had not been as rambunctious as Cara had been when they were children, though she had been brave and daring in her own quieter way. Despite that, Cara did not think it likely that Dahlia would have packed up and moved to the Midlands by herself.

"With my family," Dahlia responded, resting her head against Cara's chest. "A few years after you were taken I was almost snatched in another raid. I was thirteen, but smallish for my age and they feared that when the Mord'Sith raided again that I might still be targeted even though I was nearly at the age when girls are generally safe. Ragora is where we ended up. The cottage I live in is on the outskirts of a vineyard my parents own. They're away at the moment or I would have already dragged you to see them," she said grinning as Cara made a face. Her mother in particular had always adored Cara and would have been thrilled to see her, but Dahlia knew that paying a social call to her parents was not something that Cara would have looked forward to. "I moved into the cottage a few years ago after they found that I was virtually impossible to marry off. I think they hoped that if they could prove I had domestic skills and could take care of a house on my own that the process might've moved along, but alas …" she sighed, not sounding the least bit disappointed by her parents inability to find her a husband.

"Who wouldn't want to marry you?" Cara asked sounding almost irritated by how illogical the concept was.

"Despite the rumours about me and village girls, finding men who want to marry me hasn't been the problem," Dahlia replied smiling a little as she snuggled closer to Cara. "The problem has been finding a man I'll agree to marry."

Cara smiled at that. It didn't occur to many village girls to refuse a match their parents had made for them – especially a match to a well-off family – and Cara knew that Dahlia's parents were wealthy enough that they only would have tried to match her to a husband from a comparable background. Dahlia had always had her own mind however, and Cara was sure that it never occurred to her to agree to something she did not want simply because it was expected.

"Besides, it's not as if they need to get me on someone else's tab," Dahlia continued. "I make a fairly good living, and not as a barmaid," she added knowing that Cara was likely to make some cute remark.

"And what non-barmaiding job allows you to ride off in the middle of the day to have sex in the woods?" Cara asked arching a pale eyebrow.

"I'm the town healer," Dahlia declared importantly. "Well, technically I'm the apprentice healer, but now that my training is done Old Thom barely sees patients. Nine out of ten times if someone is injured or sick I'm the one who treats them."

"And what are the sick and injured suppose to do while you're out here having your way with me?" Cara asked smiling.

"Old Thom, despite the name isn't that old. He's just lazy and prefers to spend his days talking at the barber shop and his nights talking at the tavern," Dahlia responded rolling her eyes though there was fondness in her tone when she spoke of him. Not many would have taken a young girl on as an apprentice and she would always love him for taking her on and giving her a chance to prove herself, even if he did shirk his responsibilities much of the time. "He's perfectly capable of treating people when I'm out gathering supplies."

"Is that what you're doing?" Cara asked, looking down her torso to watch Dahlia's fingers as they skimmed over her ribs, just beneath the swell of her breast.

"It's what I'm going to tell him I was doing," Dahlia responded with a smile as she trailed her fingers up a little higher until she was cupping Cara's breast in her hand. "By the way we have to stop and gather some supplies before heading back to town."

"I don't have to do anything. I'm on vacation," Cara declared, her voice hitching the slightest bit when Dahlia's thumb brushed over her nipple.

"If you want to spend the rest of your vacation seeing me naked, you'll help me gather supplies," Dahlia replied before dipping her head down to wrap her lips around Cara's nipple, sucking on it and teasing it with her tongue until it was hard as diamond between her teeth.

Cara groaned and reached out for Dahlia, drawing the brunette's lips to her own so that she could kiss her.

If she was going to spend her afternoon picking little plants out of the ground, then by the Creator she was going to have a few more orgasms first.

To be continued ...

Thanks for reading!  If you enjoyed it, please consider leaving a comment.  They are always welcome and greatly appreciated, no matter how brief :D

Comments

[jax319.livejournal.com]

love it love it love it
I've read everything you've posted on ff.net twice half the fandoms i read now i can credit to you keep um coming

[butchon.livejournal.com]

Your fic is so wonderful and perfect,
it was just what I needed right now.

I love the way that Dahlia makes Cara feel comfortable enough to say things like "I wish we could have grown big together".
She truly is a healer.

[nudeinthegutter.livejournal.com]

A fantastic chapter. How do you make them so cute but so hot together?
A gold star for you!

[yukivampyra.livejournal.com]

Soulmates indeed. I love the world you've made for them, I really do. It helps me not be so pissed at Zedd for the Spell of Undoing.

[mayireadtoday.livejournal.com]

"Cara knew she could not be Dahlia's first, but she would be her best." So Cara and so fluffy!

Awesome: "If she was going to spend her afternoon picking little plants out of the ground, then by the Creator she was going to have a few more orgasms first."

Luv it!

[ldr04.livejournal.com]

Though I'm a C/K shipper at heart I havevto admit I'm really loving this C/D story and eagerly look forward to the updates. I like saucy Dahlia. She keeps Cara on her toes ;)

[valagil.livejournal.com]

I've said this before, but I am really enjoying the way Cara and Dahlia interact with each other. I'm loving this side of Dahlia. She is just so down to earth and carefree. Yet at the same time, she maintains her core personality.

Dahlia had always had her own mind however, and Cara was sure that it never occurred to her to agree to something she did not want simply because it was expected.

This right here is one of the reasons they are so good for each other. Dahlia knows what she wants. She doesn't feel the need to do what is expected of her, instead she just follows her heart.

Looking forward to more.

[sameafnir.livejournal.com]

Yummy. :)

[bonobo24.livejournal.com]

*happy sigh*

So when are they going to ride off together to the people's palace and have Richard marry them and grow old and grey together?

[sheepsus.livejournal.com]

As always, lovely. I'm always so pleased to come online and find you have updated!

[jesterradiobird.livejournal.com]

This was brilliant! Cara really can't say no to Dahlia and they're cute. No other word though it may be over-used.

It would be so cool if Cara got a scratch or fell and hit her fainting (Cara scowls at that word) and Dahlia used her healing ability to get her better.

Nice update! Look forward to the next one!

[xam21.livejournal.com]

*swoons and sighs at you, Cara/Dahlia and this lovely story dreamily*

I fear I may ran out of superlatives apt enough to describe the masterful way you write both of them. Gah, the banter! Such wit spewing from both with ease and fluidity! I could almost hear/feel/see them, that is how good your words breathe life into this story. :)

The top five fave things in this chapter that I want to buy flowers for, wine-and-dine, and woo just for the awesomeness that they are:

1) Dahlia's head resting on Cara's shoulder and Cara letting her lay it there as they ride in companionable silence ==> a simple gesture that speaks volumes re: their budding relationship; contentment in just being with each other in it most beautiful and purest form.

2) THIS LINE: "They're very good," Dahlia whispered, allowing her lips to curve up just the slightest bit. "They're the most delicious thing I've ever tasted … besides you." ===>
... Aaaand the room just got hotter by 10 degrees! Damn girl...

3) Images of them splashing together naked in streams under the cover of darkness, and kissing huddled together under Dahlia's sheets after barricading her bedroom door played through Cara's brain, and before Cara was even aware that she wanted to speak she heard herself panting, "I wish we could have grown big together," into Dahlia's waiting mouth.

...

Cara knew she could not be Dahlia's first, but she would be her best



====> Cara, the reluctant romantic. Always a pleasure to hear from you, my dear.


4) "If you want to spend the rest of your vacation seeing me naked, you'll help me gather supplies," ====> With that, Dahlia had the
formidable Mord'Sith wrapped around her finger ;)

5) Cara groaned and reached out for Dahlia, drawing the brunette's lips to her own so that she could kiss her.

If she was going to spend her afternoon picking little plants out of the ground, then by the Creator she was going to have a few more orgasms first. ====> and with this, Cara (subconsciously)
decides that is not such a bad thing after all...


More..please..soon? :)


-Xam

[seriousfic.livejournal.com]

Two dates and already whipped. Although if anyone wouldn't mind being whipped, it's Cara :)