“Something like that. What we put on the tree reminds us of times gone by, of where we came from, of those that helped us become who we are today.” Lisa looked at him but her eyes were filled with memories.
“When I was Miki’s age there was a blizzard,” She smiled softly at his confused look. “Lots of those white flakes that fell last week.” Grim nodded his understanding.
“Anyway my dad had to stay home from work. He and I sat together at the kitchen table, drinking hot chocolate and making a paper chain just like that one.” She pointed to their tree. “It decorated our tree every year until it finally just fell apart.”
Grim looked from her to the tree and suddenly saw the chain differently. The links in the chain were different colors; they were different sizes and different shapes because different people had made them. He remembered the night the girls had insisted he help them make it, giving up their bedtime story if he would.
He had meant to refuse them for there had been trouble with one of his warriors that day and he needed to see to it but he couldn’t refuse them. They had spent the next two hours making that chain. The girls had laughed and giggled when he managed to get more glue on his fingers than on the paper but their little fingers had immediately helped his much larger ones make those links, had helped him thread his through theirs until they were all one.
Suddenly he understood what Lisa had been trying to explain to him. The chain was about more than the paper and glue it was made of, it was about the links they were forging together, the lives they were building… together.
When he looked back to his Lisa, he found her holding out a wrapped package to him.
“This is for you.” She told him softly.
“Lisa…” Grim looked at her surprised.
“Please Grim.” She whispered, holding it out to him.
Grim looked at Lisa in confusion, he’d never received a ‘gift’ before. A warrior had to earn everything he received; nothing was ever just given, not to a male. Slowly he set his glass aside and took it.
“Open it Grim.” She gently encouraged.
Carefully Grim removed the wrapping. He didn’t remember Lisa wrapping this one. She had shown him every gift she had acquired for the girls before she wrapped them. Making sure he understood it would be from both of them, making sure he approved of them.
She’d done the same for the females from Earth and every male in House Luanda. They would all be receiving gifts tomorrow before the Festival of the Goddess.
He hadn’t realized she would have one for him though. She was his gift. Didn’t she know that?
∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞
Lisa could barely breathe as Grim slowly unwrapped her gift. It surprised her how nervous she was.
What if he didn’t like it?
Maybe she shouldn’t have given it to him.
Would he be insulted?
∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞
Grim’s eyes widened at what was revealed. It was a box. A box made from a type of wood he had never seen before. When he tipped it for a better look, something inside rattled. Looking to Lisa, he was shocked, she looked… nervous as if she wasn’t sure he would like her gift.
“Lisa?”
“It was my father’s.” She whispered looking from him to the box. “When we went to get the girls it was wrapped in my nightgown.” She looked up and saw he remembered. “I didn’t even know I had it until I took the nightgown out that night on the Searcher.” Lisa’s fingers shook slightly as she reached out, slowly running her fingers across the silky surface.
“It was his father’s, manno’s,” she corrected using the Tornian word. “And his manno’s before him. It was always given to the eldest male in the family upon a manno’s death.” The eyes raised to Grim held just a hint of sadness and regret. “Dad never had a son, a male to leave it to.”
“He had you my Lisa, it was more than enough.”
“I know and he never made me feel like he was disappointed, but on Earth, to have a son, a male, to carry on a mannno’s name… well it’s important. Like having a female is for a Tornian.”
Grim didn’t know what to say. Didn’t know how to ease the pain he saw.
“Open it Grim.” She encouraged softly.
“What?” He looked from her to the box.
“The top slides open.” She showed him where to push.
Grim’s eyes widen as the box’s contents were revealed.
“It’s a memory box.” Lisa told him, leaning forward to look inside. “Every male puts something inside that matters to him. Something that’s important, to him, something he wants future generations to know about.” Carefully she reached into the box and pulled out a round, whitish, somewhat flat disk.
“This is a sand dollar.” She told him. “You can find them on the beaches of Earth.” Carefully she placed the small disk in Grim’s large hand. “My great grandfather found this the day he met my great grandmother. And this…”
Grim frowned at the brown, brittle looking strip.
“This used to be a blade of grass. Do you see that mark?” She asked, pointing to a barely discernable indentation.
“Yes.”
“It marks the size of my grandmother’s finger. Grandpa wrapped this around it so he would know what size of ring to buy her when he asked her to be his wife.” She carefully set the fragile blade back inside the box.
“And this,” She reverently pulled out a faded blue ribbon, threading it threw her fingers. “My mother wore this in her hair the day she married dad.”
“And these?” Grim carefully set the sand dollar back in the box and lifted out several remnants of discolored paper then looked to Lisa. He was shocked by the tears streaming down her cheeks. Her fingers trembled as she carefully touched the paper.
“Lisa?” He asked concerned.
“This is all that remains of the chain dad and I made.” She whispered looking at the paper. “I never knew he saved part of it, that he kept it in with mom’s ribbon. He only showed me the box once, when he told me what each item meant, these weren’t in it then. It was only after he died that I opened it again and found them.”
Grim looked from the fragile pieces in his hand to the tree that held the chain he and the girls had made and suddenly it all made sense to him. Lisa was linking him to her past, to her family, making him a part of it, a link. With this gift, she was giving him a piece of her past, a piece of something that mattered greatly to her. She was giving him her family.
“Lisa….” Grim didn’t know what to say.
“Dad would have wanted you to have it Grim.” She looked at him her eyes full of conviction as she caressed his cheek. “He would have liked you.”
“You think your manno would have approved of me?” Grim asked roughly his eyes full of doubt. A doubt she knew came from being declared unworthy and unfit, by his own people.
“Oh yes.” Lisa’s voice contained no doubt. “You love and protect me Grim. You love and protect the girls. You make us happy. That’s all that would have mattered to him. It’s all that will matter to you, when it’s the girl’s time."
“That won’t be happening for many, many years!” Grim frowned darkly at the thought. Carly and Miki were his daughters and no male would ever be good enough.
“We’ll see.” Lisa carefully puts her mother’s ribbon back in the box. “And one day, you will show this to your son. You will tell him about his ancestors from Earth, along with his Tornian ones and one day this will be his.”
∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞
Lisa watched Grim carefully put her gift in the secret compartment of the cabinet. He had shown it to her so she could take out the Raptor’s Claw and Heart whenever she wished. That he would store her father’s box in the place reserved for Luda’s treasures touched her deeply. When he didn’t return to her but instead stood looking at the tree, she frowned.
“Grim, what’s wrong?”
“I have no gift for you my Lisa.” He finally looked at her, tears filling
his gray eyes. How could he not have realized she would have something for him? He should have had something. “I did not realize….”
“Of course you didn’t." When she moved to rise Grim was immediately there, pulling her into his arms. "Grim, it doesn’t matter. The Holidays are about giving, not receiving and you give to me every day.” Using her thumbs, she wiped away her warrior’s tears.
“I don’t my Lisa.” Grim denied his voice deep with barely restrained emotion.
“You just did.” She smiled softly at him. "I am your Lisa. Every time you call me that, you give me a gift Grim. I am yours. I don’t need anything else, just you.”
Grim saw the truth shining in her eyes. She thought he was a gift. When the truth was, she was the gift.
“I love you my Lisa.” He whispered gently kissing her lips.
"And I love you Grim." Lisa dug her fingers into Grim’s shirt when he would have pulled away.
Grim's response was immediate. Lifting her against him, he captured her lips deepening the kiss.
Lisa sunk into Grim’s kiss, her arms encircling his neck, her pulse started to race and her world spin. God she loved it when he kissed her like this, as if he would absorb her into his body. Suddenly she realized she really was spinning because Grim had spun around and dropped down onto the couch.
Grim settled Lisa across his lap, his hand slipping under her gown to caress the soft skin of her inner thigh. His tongue mated with hers, trying to express what her words meant to him. She had shown him that his world could be completely different, that it could be better yet she never once tried to change him, never demanded anything he couldn't give. She accepted him as he was and because of that, he found he could give her everything, everything he was and more.
Moving his hand between her legs, Grim found her already wet with desire, her berry swollen with need, demanding his attention. Rubbing his thumb across it, he felt her jerk.
“Grim!” Lisa cried, ripping her mouth from his as he caressed her. Already, with just a kiss and a touch, she was drenched and aching, her breast swelling, her nipples tightening to the point that even the fine silk of her gown irritated. This is what Grim did to her, every time they Joined but since she’d conceived it was as if her libido had kicked into high gear. This hadn’t happened with the girls and while it had surprised her, it had shocked Grim.
Already her hips were moving against his hand, demanding more from him and he gave it to her, driving two fingers deep into her slick sheath as his thumb quicken its pace against her nub.
“God Grim! Yes!” Lisa’s fingers dug into Grim’s shoulders as she pumped against his hand. Her entire world narrowed down to just him and what he was doing to her. His fingers plunging in and out of her trembling channel, his thumb rubbing just hard enough, in just the right spot that her entire being tensed seeking that pleasure, just out of reach, that only he could give her.
Grim’s eyes never left his Lisa as he pleasured her. Her eyes, heavy with desire, blazed into his, her nails dug deeper revealing just how close she was. She was always so responsive, always letting him know what his touch did to her. Twisting his fingers, he hooked them slightly and rubbed that spot he knew made her crazy.
Lisa’s breathing ceased as Grim caressed that secret spot deep inside her. Throwing her head back, she cried out as her orgasm ripped through her.
Grim continued to drive Lisa’s orgasm upward, his fingers unrelenting sending her into another orgasm. Did she know what it did to a male to know he could do this? To know that he was the only male that could.
∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞
Lisa’s eyes opened slowly bringing the twinkling light of the tree into focus, her brain starting to function again. She was sprawled across Grim’s chest on the couch, her cheek resting over the steady beat of his heart. This was what Grim did to her. He short-circuited her, mind and body. She loved it.
Lifting her head, she found her gruff, tough warrior was asleep, yet even in sleep his arms were wrapped around her, keeping her safe. She thought of how Grim believed she would want him to use the Serai now that she had conceived. How he had believed it would be too uncomfortable for her if he found his pleasure within her. It had taken a long talk and some amazing orgasms before she finally convinced him that they could still find their pleasure together.
Grim was hers and no one, sand creature or not, touched him in that way. He was her gift from the Goddess. Her gift… a small smile started to form at the corners of her mouth. Grim had been upset when he had no gift to give her. That she had nothing to unwrap. Well he was wrong.
∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞
Grim awoke to Lisa pressing hot, open-mouthed kisses across his chest, a chest that was now bare. “Lisa?” He questioned sleepily, his arms tightening as she moved.
“Do you really want to give me something to unwrap Grim?” She asked huskily looking up at him through thick lashes.
“I do my Lisa but I have nothing.” His eyes darkened with regret as he remembered.
“Oh but you do Grim and I know just what I want.” Her hands moved to unfasten his pants.
"Lisa? What are you doing?" He asked his eyes widening.
"I'm unwrapping my gift Grim." She said playfully.
"You are going to unwrap me?" He didn’t try to hide his shock.
"Oh yes." She said kissing her way down his chest, sliding easily between thick thighs that parted to make room for her. Her gaze traveling over the magnificence she had revealed. Grim's chest was more beautiful to her than any piece of sculpture. For while both were full of hard muscles and chiseled abs, underneath Grim’s, there was a warm beating heart.
"Do you know how beautiful you are to me Grim?" She whispered. "You are so strong. You give so much, yet you expect nothing for yourself." When her eyes traveled over his scars, she paused then leaned over and kissed each one, trying to ease that long ago hurt that was more than skin deep.
She knew it still bothered him… that he had been declared unfit and unworthy by his own people. It would take time to ease the pain caused by years of Tornian females shunning him. By the comments made by those like Luuken and Bertos. It would never completely disappear but she was determined to do her best to ease it.
"You never quit,” she said kissing the most vicious scar. “You never gave up when times were hard, when others would have. Is it any wonder the Goddess herself considers you her worthiest warrior Grim? But even she can't have you.” Her amber eyes were intense when they met his. “You are mine." She stressed.
While she spoke, Lisa's hands slid along Grim’s waist, pushing his pants over lean hips before wrapping a hand around his thick shaft, freeing him. Oh yes, her Grim was truly magnificent everywhere.
Grim's hips lifted as Lisa worked his pants down. His breath catching when she fisted his throbbing flesh, her touch causing him to swell even larger. His eyes narrowed when she didn’t move up to straddle him but instead slid further down between his legs, lowering her face gently nuzzling her cheek against his shaft.
Closing her eyes, Lisa rubbed her cheek along Grim’s satiny hot shaft, inhaling his unique scent deep into her soul. This was Grim at his most basic, powerful yet gentle, spicy yet comforting all with just a hint of danger. She needed a taste.
Easing back slightly, her eyes opened to find a glistening bead of pre cum hanging from the tip of his engorged head. Her tongue reached for it just as it started to drip down his slit, following its path she made sure she got it all. Her effort was rewarded with more of his sweet spicy essence pulsing out.
"Lisa!" Grim jerked up as she licked his cock. “What are you doing?” He demanded, his eyes glued to her tongue.
The shock in Grim’s voice had Lisa lifting her eyes to him as her tongue continuing to swirl around his cock making sure she missed nothing. She suddenly realized Grim had never had a woman go down on him before. It never occurred to her that this would be new for him, that he wouldn’t know she could pleasure him with her mouth.
"L
et me Grim." She pleaded, her hot breath flowing over the head of his cock the way her desire for him flowed through her body.
“Let you what?” He choked out, her heat burning him.
“Love you, the way you love me.” Her eyes never left his as she opened her mouth as wide as she could and took him in.
“Lisa!” He called out hoarsely, his hips involuntarily bucking into her hot moist mouth.
Lisa took advantage of the movement by taking him even deeper. With each pass, her tongue caressed the thick pulsating vein along the underside of his shaft, her body responded to the primitive beat by flooding her channel with need, preparing her for him.
“Goddess Lisa!” Grim’s knees corralled her, his fingers sinking into her hair, watching in disbelief as her mouth rode his cock. He'd never seen anything as erotic in his life as his Lisa’s lips stretched around his cock, her cheeks hollowing out as she sucked him.
“Don’t stop Lisa.” Grim pleaded, his breathing ragged as his hips pumped faster and deeper into the hot moist heat of her mouth. He could feel his balls tightening, knew he was close but before he could pull away Lisa took all of him, deep in her throat and swallowed. It was too much and with a shout his body exploded, his seed streaming down her throat.
∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞
Lisa greedily swallowed every drop Grim gave her, savoring it, even though she knew it meant her pleasure would have to wait. After several minutes, she slowly sat back, allowing his now flaccid cock to slip from her mouth. Looking up, she couldn’t help but smile. Grim’s eyes were closed, his mouth hanging open and his chest was heaving. She had totally devastated the most feared warrior in the Empire. She couldn’t wait to do it again.
∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞
Grim lay flat on his back trying to regain control of his breathing. Goddess, he had never known such a thing was possible, had never heard of it, not even from the warrior's that frequented the Ganglian pleasure houses.