H&M: After a Long Day (locked to Gabrielle) (NC-17)

[iolaus_dw]

Who knew that repairing and sanding floorboards could hurt more than fighting a hydra?

Iolaus had been on his knees most of the day, hard at work on the flooring to the derelict building that would house Herculaneum. Almost a third of the surface had to be replaced with new wood, which required measuring, cutting, fitting, then more sanding until not a single threat of splinters remained. The sun had already set by the time he looked up from his work and realized it was too dark to continue.

It wasn't until he started walking back to the hotel that he began to understand exactly how stiff and sore he was. He'd used muscles today he hadn't used in a long while (especially his bruised knees). His chest ached as bruised ribs only recently healed protested a day's worth of stretching and bending with little respite.

Reaching the door to his room, he fumbled the key from his belt pouch. Gods, he was tired! And he'd glady fight a dozen hydras for a long hot soak inthe bathing tub.

Taking a deep breath, he forced himself to stand a bit straighter as he opened the door. No sense worrying Gabrielle.

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[potadeiabard.livejournal.com]

She smiled before kissing the pad of his finger as he softly traced her lips. "I'm glad you're enjoying the view." Gabrielle's eyes softened as she looked at the man opposite her.

"I had it lucky, the view was just as beautiful where I had been sitting as it is where I'm sitting now." Her eyes slowly roamed from his eyes down the column of his throat to his chest and lower until she returned her gaze to his eyes with a grin. "Well, maybe it is a bit better."

[iolaus-lj.livejournal.com]

"Thanks . . . I think," he grinned, letting his fingers trail down the line of her jaw to just under her chin. "Maybe you just need a closer look." He inched nearer, bending his knees under water so he could gently hook his legs around her (and so he wouldn't have to lean forward at the waist).

"How's this?" he asked, brushing her lips with his. "Better?"

[potadeiabard.livejournal.com]

"Much." Gabrielle agreed as her lips brushed his as she spoke, then pressed harder in a gentle kiss. She fell into it, enjoying his taste before she pulled back with a smile.

Inching forward, she slid her legs around his body making it easier for him to reach her and for her to reach him. Gabrielle's fingertips stroked along his jawline, loving the feel of his skin under her touch. "I can definitely get very used to this."

[iolaus-lj.livejournal.com]

Finally able to reach her properly, he slipped his arms around her, drawing her close as he gazed into her eyes. "I still haven't decided if this village is a blessing or a curse. But being here with you is the greatest gift the gods could ever give me."

But though he did not voice it, he also knew the time would come when they would find their way home and resume their old lives.

"The truth is, I've already gotten used to this. To wake up every morning, knowing that the first thing I'll see is you beside me and that's . . . it's a wonderful feeling. I've never felt quite this way before. This . . . complete."

[potadeiabard.livejournal.com]

Gabrielle's heart expanded further, something she didn't think was possible, as Iolaus' words warmed her soul.

"I have, too." Her voice soft in her confession as she gazed into his eyes. "The first thing I do when I wake up is look to your side of the bed, my hand already reaching to softly touch you to make sure it's still real and not one of my dreams."

She knew when they returned to their 'normal' lives, the memories of this time would be etched in her heart. If this was all that the gods would give them, then it would be treasured.

[iolaus-lj.livejournal.com]

"I know. I keep wondering when I'm going to wake up. Then I open my eyes and see you there . . ." He softly cupped her cheek, ". . . and can touch you . . . and know that this is really happening."

But what would he do if Hercules were to stumble onto the village and find himself trapped as well? Would he be forced to choose, between this newfound bliss with Gabrielle and his love for his best friend.

Gods, may it never happen! And if it did, may he have the strength to make the right decision.

"I always wondered what it would be like, if we found each other and had the time. If we weren't committed to other people. Now I think I know. Being with you is more than than I could ever have imagined."

[potadeiabard.livejournal.com]

There was a wish in her heart that she would always be able to have this. That she wouldn't have to choose between being with Iolaus and being with Xena. There was a small voice in the back of her head that always whispered that she never would have been truly happy with Perdicas. That she would have longed to be by Xena's side eventually. Gabrielle had always ignored that voice, but deep in her heart she knew it was right. But, not with Iolaus. She would have managed to have both in her life, not choosing one over the other. How can you choose between the one that holds your soul and the one that makes you who you are?

"Every so often I have a recurring dream." Gabrielle's voice was low as she confessed something she'd never even told Xena. It began the night after she killed Hope. "I'm in a cottage with a daughter." Her voice stops as she takes a deep breath, "My daughter. She has beautiful blond hair and laughing eyes so much like her father's and we're waiting for him to come back home. Both of us light up when the door swings open and you stand in the doorway."

Gabrielle's hand rose to cup his cheek as well. "I'd like to think it is the gods giving me a glimpse into what might be, rather than what might have been."

[iolaus-lj.livejournal.com]

Iolaus opened his mouth to reply then closed it again as the words caught in his throat. What did he say to something like that? What could he say to such an image? Returning home -- a real home! -- to walk through the door and find her waiting, with their child in her arms? Their daughter?

He'd had something like that once, years ago, with Anya and their infant son. They'd been happy, the short time they were together but that life had come and gone in the blink of an eye; their deaths leaving him with an emptiness inside filled with ghosts and memories.

And yet. He'd longed for that happiness again. Someone to love him for who he was -- not simply because his best friend was the son of a god. And children! How he'd love to have children to call his own -- sons and daughters to carry on.

Tears misted his eyes at the thought.

"It's a beautiful vision," he said quietly as words finally returned to him. He wouldn't say dream, for who was to say what the future held in store? "Our daughter." Turning slightly toward the hand on his cheek, he kissed her palm. "My wife?"

[potadeiabard.livejournal.com]

"Your wife." Gabrielle leaned forward ever so slightly and placed a loving kiss on his lips. She could only hope that he was right and that it was a vision rather than her mind reassuring her that she did have a maternal instinct.

Her lips curled into a smile, "It's a bit different than the dreams I had after Prometheus." Gabrielle rubbed the tip of her nose against Iolaus'. "I do love you, Iolaus. Sometimes it feels as if I have forever."

[iolaus-lj.livejournal.com]

Could that truly be what the Fates held in store for them, someday in the distant future, perhaps when they'd both grown too old to travel with Hercules and Xena were over? For he couldn't see either one of them willingly leaving the side of those heroic friends that meant the world to them.

"I wasn't sure at first if maybe I wasn't a little infatuated with you. I'd be a classic case, you know. Beautiful bard nurses clumsy, hard-headed warrior back to health?" He looked at her with open adoration. "But now I realize I was wrong. I wasn't infatuated. I was falling in love," he admitted. "You know what they say about absence making the heart grow fonder? It's true. It also hurts like hades. Especially when every dream is haunted by a beautiful woman you can't have."

He looked a little sheepish. "I had you in those dreams, tho."

[potadeiabard.livejournal.com]

Gabrielle placed a kiss on either side of his lips, teasing him with their softness before kissing his lips proper. It was a kiss that held promise, not just the promise that passion would build, but also the promise that her dream was a vision. That some way, some day they'd be together.

"More like young village girl captivated by heroic warrior with a large heart that took the time to reassure her that she was special." She caressed his cheek with the back of her knuckles. "A classic case of a young girl falling in love with her dream."

[iolaus-lj.livejournal.com]

"But you are special," he insisted. "You always have been. Xena saw it. I saw it, too. And I still do. It's there . . . right there . . . that beautiful light in your eyes and your heart." That Perfect Light.

Taking both of her hands in his, he kissed each before clasping them to his heart. "Whatever lies ahead of us, I'm going to hang onto your vision. Our vision." He smiled then, laughing at himself. "Let's see if you're still interested in 20 years time when I've got a grey hair and a sagging belly, while you're beating off every eligible bachelor in Greece."

[potadeiabard.livejournal.com]

She laughed and shook her head. "I think even when you're ninety, you'll be able to take anyone. Not that I can ever see you with a sagging belly, but even if you did, I wouldn't notice the eligible bachelors in Greece. I'd only have eyes for one large hearted, beautiful souled, brave warrior that lights up a room with his smile."

[iolaus-lj.livejournal.com]

She meant him. Those words and the look in her eyes were really and truly for him. Not Hercules. Not the son of Zeus. But Iolaus.

I wouldn't put any dinars on the beautiful soul part, he thought. Not after Dahak. And that, more than anything, was most likely to burst the blissful bubble they'd built for themselves. But not now. Not tonight.

"You forgot demented or delusional," he said, keeping his tone light. "Because right now, I'm sitting with a naked goddess practically in my lap and I haven't tried to take advantage of the situation."

[potadeiabard.livejournal.com]

"Not demented or delusional at all. You're just tired and sore. Besides if anyone should be labeled demented and delusional, it should have been me." Her lips curved into a smile before she leaned forward, kissing him.

She'd seen the light in his eyes go out for a moment before Iolaus tried to hide it. Gabrielle didn't know what had caused that sad look, but she would try to help him forget it.

"I washed a naked god and didn't once take advantage of that."

[iolaus-lj.livejournal.com]

"Tired and sore, maybe, but there are a few body parts still working," he teased, kissing her nose. "The ones with out the bruises. Like these . . ." Gently tangling his fingers in her golden hair, he brushed her lips with his own, softly, before gently probing with his tongue and deepening the kiss. His free hand slid up her soft, damp skin to cup a pert breast and tease its nipple with his thumb.

[potadeiabard.livejournal.com]

She arched her back as pleasure speared her body, and pressed her chest further into his hand. She wanted to give Iolaus as much pleasure as she was getting, but she was aware of his sore body and didn't want to cause him more pain. Gently, sliding her hands along his shoulders, she began a soft caress with her fingertips, exploring the hard planes of his muscles.

Gabrielle's lips opened under Iolaus' gentle probing of his tongue, and she softly moaned into his mouth. His taste was intoxicating, something she was becoming rapidly addicted to. With regret, she broke the kiss, but only far enough so that she could talk.

"Even tired and sore with few working body parts, you make my blood sing." Her lips curled into a smile moments before she returned to kissing him deeply.

[iolaus-lj.livejournal.com]

"I only need a few," he promised of his limited working body parts and proceeded to demonstrate further. Drawing her even closer, until they were almost breast to breast, he felt swelling manhood brush the inside of her thigh. Moaning softly into her mouth as he kissed her, he let his hands explore where they would, caressing deceptively soft skin and the lean, fit muscles.

Breathless for the brief moment she broke the kiss, he smile into her eyes and whispered, "I think we make beautiful music together," before losing himself in the taste of her once more.

[potadeiabard.livejournal.com]

They certainly did and Gabrielle wanted to write a symphony for them. She slid her hands from his chest to wrap around his waist as she got more comfortable. The feel of his hands on her skin, his hardened length against her thigh and his taste, were conspiring to make her forget Iolaus was sore.

"Your few are very impressive." The words came out on a breathy moan as Gabrielle tilted her head and lightly scraped her teeth along the column of his throat.

[iolaus-lj.livejournal.com]

Sore ribs and muscles or no, he wanted nothing more than to show her exactly which body parts were still capable of working perfectly well under duress. He sighed at the shiver of pleasure her attentions sent trilling through his body, making him feel like a gently plucked harp string.

"I wish it could be more," he apologized as his fingertips traced light patterns across her submerged thighs, moving steadily closer to her womanhood. "But I promise . . ." Gently nibbling on an available earlobe. "I'll make up it up to you."

[potadeiabard.livejournal.com]

Gabrielle moaned against the column of his throat, before placing an open mouthed kiss on the silky skin and sucking gently. Her legs fell open, allowing Iolaus better access to inner thigh and core.

Her breath hitched in her chest when his teeth latched onto her earlobe and pleasure skittered down her spine with the warm caress of his breath. "Gods, believe me it's plenty and we'll both make it up when we can." She moved her head slightly so that she could look into his eyes, "It'll be a contest of who is the most agile."

[iolaus-lj.livejournal.com]

"That's a contect I'm looking forward to," he replied, softly nibbling on her lower lip before moving to place light kisses on her chin, along the line of her jaw, and then down to nuzzle the swan-like arc of her throat.

He lifted his left hand, dripping with fragrant warmth, to her breast to tease her nipple at the same moment the fingers of his other hand found her secret place and slipped inside.

[potadeiabard.livejournal.com]

Gabrielle's neck arched back at the magical feel of his touch, both with his hands and his mouth made her body to come alive. Her right hand slid from his back and into Iolaus' drying locks, holding him close. A mewl sounded in the back of her throat as her hips rocked forward.

There was nothing more that Gabrielle wanted to do than to give him as pleasure as he was giving her. She knew she had to take into account his soreness, but there was another part of him that wasn't hurting. Her left hand slid down Iolaus' back, caressing the muscles as she went before moving to his waist and beginning the journey to his hardened length.

[iolaus-lj.livejournal.com]

Nipping and kissing the arch of her neck, he moved along the hollow of her throat, his breath hot against her skin. Moving gingerly, bending only slightly, he kissed his way across her shoulder down to her collarbone. Then slowly to the soft swell of her breasts while his fingers probed deeper into her core, caressing that innermost part of her.

And oh, when her hands moved down his back and slipped under the water, he moaned her name aloud.

[potadeiabard.livejournal.com]

Her small fingers curled around his manhood, squeezing gently before sliding up to the head and teasing the bundle of nerves hidden there.

Iolaus' name escaped on a breath and a moan at the feel of his mouth and teeth on the swell of her upper breast, combined with his fingers stroking her heat. She was on fire and Gabrielle was surprised the water around her wasn't boiling from the heat.

"Gods, that feels good." Her fingers that held Iolaus' head tightened automatically as her back arched in need.