Chione was still deeply in sleep’s embrace when her lover began to stir beside her. The last days had been a blur. One seldom spent outside of Ana’s presence. She had never been the sort inclined to linger in another’s bed, yet she had been quick to slumber alongside Anastasia. Though the insatiable desire between them had seen them rest only at the point whereupon they collapsed in an exhausted heap sometime after dawn.

As the Greek woman’s lips brushed against her skin, Chione began to stir, shifting towards her lover instinctively. Even in sleep it seemed she craved the other woman’s touch. Her fingers closed around Ana’s hand, even as her head tilted, encouraging the gentle caresses and kisses the bard offered her. It was such a peaceful way to wake, this gentle serenade, that she nearly thought it a dream. Her eyelashes fluttered open only as Ana’s lips claimed her own, kissing her sweetly in return.

When she pulled away, Chione found herself rolling towards her, loathe to lose any contact between them. The moment the Greek flopped back into the bed, Chione’s arms encircled her waist, tugging her close. The way her fingers trailed down the Egyptian’s body had her shivering, even as a slow heat began to spread through her. She rolled to her back, eager to give the smaller woman all the access to her body that she might want only to groan as she stopped short. It would be so easy to stay here, in this room, this bed even for days on end. Delighting only in the pleasure they could draw from one another.

Yet it seemed Ana had other plans.

Her suggestion brought a coy smile to the noble’s lips. “It simply isn’t right to hide such a beautiful sight beneath so much fabric,” she answered with a small shrug and a mischievous glint within her eye that said she was anything but sorry. She stretched slowly, fully aware of both the blush that colored Ana’s pale skin and the way her eyes lingered over each enticing curve of Chione’s body as the motion accentuated them.

“When you put it that way...” she purred, “...however could I refuse?”

Chione would gladly sacrifice a dozen outfits to spend as many days in this enchantress’s bed. She watched as Ana inhaled the opium. Head tilted back as she relished its effect. Chione couldn’t resist teasing her, raking her fingernails lightly over the sensitive flesh of her inner thigh, stopping just short of the junction of her legs.

Only then did she begin to rise herself, taking a long drink of water until she felt that delectable body pressed against her back, tugging her close. A soft sigh left her lips as she leaned back against her newest and most intoxicating lover. Taking the offered bowl, she inhaled deeply, letting the smoke fill her lungs and send her soaring. It only made every place their bodies touched seem to ache and burn with want. What was this power that Ana seemed to have over her? It was like nothing she had ever known before.

“I fear that to sate my hunger would see us never set feet upon the ground,” she murmured, lifting the paler woman’s arm to press a kiss to her slender wrist. Her head tipped back to rest on the other woman’s shoulder a moment, turning her head slightly to press another soft kiss to her throat. “I shall have to wait to devour you until I can unwrap you yet again. As you said, it is only fair that I replaced what I have destroyed.” Only Chione intended to do far more than that. Much as she lavished her with pleasure and affection, so she intended to do with the Isazari fortune as well. What was one dress when she could have so much more?

Especially if it promised Chione the pleasure of being the one to remove them at day’s end.

Of course, that didn’t mean she couldn’t indulge at all. She pulled away to place the bowl safely away and to trap Ana between her legs all the while as she shifted over her. She paused there for a long, carefully studying the slight woman’s features. Her fingers raked softly through the woman’s hair, trailing down the line of her neck, along her shoulders, down her sides. She lingered along the gentle swell of her breasts only to settle at her hips, squeezing lightly there.

“Whatever god sculpted your form has my eternal thanks,” she murmured, head dipping low to trail kisses along her collarbone and then lower still. Her lips closed around the soft pink bud of her nipples - first one and then the other - sucking and teasing until they were flushed and peaked. Only then did she pull back with a devilish smirk.

“Such sweet perfection,” she murmured as she studied her work before slipping from the bed altogether. She glanced over her shoulder, eyes sparkling with mischief. “Now now, no time for dallying. Time to get dressed. Tell me, what shall I borrow for this little outing? I’m afraid my own garment fared little better than your own from last night’s adventures.”

Chione knew all too well by now that the woman beside her was far more intoxicating than any drink nor opium she would ever taste. Every touch and taste of her only demanded yet more. Even when their bodies were beyond spent, there was no true satisfaction, no relief from these cravings. Only a curse upon her body and the world around them that she ever had to do something more than be tangled up in this woman.

She had always possessed a more than healthy libido, yet never such an inability to control herself. It was true, she often chose not to, yet it was still a choice. With Anastasia... that choice was far beyond her reach. She couldn’t resist her, couldn’t hold back from teasing touches that all too dangerously flirted with exposing them to the very law which required they hide behind closed doors. What she said was true. Constantly was she tormented by the memory of the body that hid beneath her clothes, plagued by a desire to keep her bare and secluded, so that her own indulgences might never end...

It almost frightened her, the level of desire she felt for this woman. It was so beyond what any man had ever inspired of her, she wasn’t sure it was even comparable. Would this fade over time? Chione truly didn’t know if she hoped for that or dreaded it. It was all far too complicated to think on, and she hated such things. Instead, she focused on the woman before her, and her goal of taking every last drop of pleasure she could in her presence.

It was so easy to tease, and she simply couldn’t help herself. Not when a part of her - by far the larger part - was more than content to never leave this bed so long as Ana remained in it with her. Chione laughed with her love. “Is that so? I never would have guessed,” she teased. No one had ever kept up with her quite the way the bard did. “Your body certainly tells another story,” she whispered as she ducked her lips by the Greek woman’s ear.

“Oh, you would like that, now wouldn’t you?” she purred. “If I kept you trapped here, at the mercy of my every whim. Would you beg for release?” Her lips closed around her rosy nipple. That sweet moan she fought so hard against was music to the Egyptian’s ears. By the gods, it was so tempting to let them both fall into the comforts of one another. Into an endless haze of pleasure that was all too difficult to leave.

But Ana wanted to go out, and for now... Chione would oblige her. Of course, that didn’t mean she had to entirely behave. She laughed softly at the frustration she’d created even as she flounced over to the armoire. “Well, maybe with some modifications,” she replied, pretending to ponder the suggestion of wearing a sack. She quickly shook it off with a laugh, though she couldn’t help but preen a little as Ana continued to compliment her. She knew she was beautiful, but she would never tire of hearing it. Perhaps because there was that tiny seed of doubt that wondered if it was truly enough.

“Must you tempt me so,” she groaned dramatically at the ensemble that the petite woman chose. Though she would truly not complain about easy access. It would make little accidental touches all the easier. Her teeth raked over her lower lip as she considered that thought a moment longer before turning her attention back to the wardrobe. Her eyes soon closed though, as Ana encircled her from behind, hands grasping at her breasts in a revenge that Chione was more than content to permit. Her head tipped back in a soft moan. “Cruel, beautiful woman,” she muttered without a trace of irritation. How easily she responded to the Greek’s touch, already growing slick with need once more. “Perhaps we left bed too quickly after all.”

Still, she tried to focus on the matter at hand, even with the distraction her lover provided. “Mmm... yes, a sheathe... that could work,” she managed to murmur even as she fought her every instinct to beg for more.