Tear My Heart Open

It was rare to see the princess of Seyruun looking forlorn or melancholy, but that was because she took her fleeting moments of depression in private.

Amelia sighed as she crouched down and placed a white rose on the grave of her late cousin, Alfred.

It was the anniversary of his death, and unbeknownst to even her closest friends and family, the usually cheerful Amelia Wil Tesla Seyruun had scars on her heart that had never quite healed right.

Alfred had only been a couple of years older than she, so they had been close as children. With her older sister gone, Alfred was the closest thing she had to a sibling. Like a brother.

Amelia let herself drift to her knees in front of the grave site and finally allowed tears to flow freely down her cheeks. Memories of the past surfaced, and for a brief time she was a little girl again.

Chasing fireflies in the garden had always been a game she and Alfred had enjoyed together. Amelia would catch them and give them names, never allowing each new “friend” to fly away until she allowed it. Alfred, on the other hand, would catch them with the intention of squishing them and using their glowing bits as war paint.

“Uncle Christopher!” Amelia could hear her younger self in her mind, “Alfred is killing the fireflies! It's unjust to kill something helpless, make him stop!”

Her Uncle Christopher would give Alfred a stern look, and the little boy would stop squishing the bugs...momentarily.

In revenge, he had taken Amelia's “friends” and squished them all.

But he had also taught her how to eat the sweet nectar from inside wild honeysuckle. And he would play “heroes and villains” with her and always allow her to be the hero. They shared laughs, tears, fruit punch on hot summer days, and hot chocolate while snow fell outside.

They were family.

“I miss you,” Amelia whispered.

Then she stood and walked back to the palace with dry eyes and a forced smile.


**


“Amelia, are you feeling all right?”

The princess looked up from the book she was reading with a quizzical expression.

“I'm fine, Zelgadis-san. Why do you ask?”

Zelgadis Greywords gazed at her from over his own book, narrowing his eyes in concentration.

“Something just seems off,” he said, unhelpfully. “You're very quiet tonight.”

With a sigh, Amelia placed her book down next to an oil lamp on the end table. The lamplight flickered, and for a moment Zelgadis saw sadness flash across Amelia's features.

When she looked back up, though, she was regular Amelia again.

“I guess I have a lot on my mind,” she said with a small and obviously fake smile.

“Cut the shit, Amelia,” Zelgadis snapped.

Amelia's eyes widened in shock. Zelgadis had snapped at her before, but he had never cursed at her.

The chimera placed his own book down and gazed around the large sitting room. It was quiet as a tomb since everyone else in the palace had long gone to bed. He lowered his voice so as to not wake anyone or draw unwanted attention.

“I've been living here for a year now,” Zelgadis went on in hushed tones, “And in that time we've gotten to know each other better than ever. Which is why I can't keep pretending that I don't know you cry yourself to sleep some nights. I can't keep ignoring the fact that you put on this facade when something is obviously bothering you. So you can either tell me what's wrong right now, or I'll keep bothering you about it until you do.”

Amelia pursed her lips into a pout because she knew she'd been caught.

“How did you know about the crying?” She found herself asking.

Zelgadis pointed to one of his long ears with a sardonic smirk. “Good hearing, remember?”

Amelia smiled back and said, “I tend to forget that. Your ears are so cute, I keep thinking they're just for show.”

Zelgadis blushed at the remark, briefly caught off-guard. Then, realizing that was the princess' intention, he stood and walked over to her chair, crouching down to look at her.

“Don't change the subject,” he said in a whisper. “We were talking about you.”

Amelia's smile slowly disappeared, and she looked rather distant for several minutes.

Finally, she said, “I was thinking about Alfred. Do you know what today is?”

It only took a brief calculation for Zelgadis to determine that it was the five year anniversary of Alfred's sudden death.

“I'm sorry, Amelia,” he said, suddenly pulling her into a hug.

As Amelia wound her arms around the chimera's shoulders and hugged him back tightly, something inside her broke. The delicate wall she usually kept in place came crashing down in the wake of her friend's kindness.

She began sobbing quietly into one of his shoulders, and he let her. He dared not move until the princess' tears slowed, and her breathing began to even out.

“Zelgadis,” she whispered into one of his aforementioned sensitive ears. “Sometimes the pain is too much to bear. My mom is gone forever, my sister is gone, Alfred is dead, my grandfather has been sick and could pass at any moment, and even my uncle Randy is...” Her thought momentarily trailed off before she was able to finish, “...Sometimes I wonder what I did to deserve it all.”

“Stop that,” Zelgadis said, firmly, pushing Amelia away only slightly so that he could look her in the eye.

“You've done nothing wrong. Sometimes bad things happen, and there's nothing we can do about it. So we just have to keep moving forward and doing the best we can.”

As he spoke, Amelia could not help but think about Zelgadis' own situation. He had dealt with plenty of betrayal and loss, himself.

“How do you do it?” She asked. “How do you move forward knowing that...what Rezo said to you might be true?”

Zegadis frowned a bit and said, “I just do it. Because I don't have any other choice anymore. Besides, Amelia, I've learned there are other things in life that can make me happy. It's just taken me this long to realize it.”

With that, he placed a gentle kiss on her lips.

Amelia's eyes widened in surprise, and Zelgadis pulled away to discern her expression.

The princess eased his mind when she smiled, and threw her arms around him again.

Because, with that one kiss, she felt the darkness ebb a little. She briefly felt relief where there had been only sadness.

And she wanted more.

“Love me,” she whispered against his shoulder.

“I-I do,” Zelgadis answered, somewhat awkwardly. It wasn't exactly the confession he'd imagined.

“No,” she said, a bit more sternly. “Love.Me.”

Zelgadis pulled away slightly and looked at her, eyes narrowing in confusion.

“I don't think I understand what you mean.”

“Yes, you do,” Amelia answered, leaning forward and planting a heated kiss on his neck.

Zelgadis felt his eyes drift closed, and he responded automatically as Amelia's lips found his again and roughly kissed him.

He prodded her lips apart with his tongue, and she allowed him to kiss her more intimately.

Amelia broke the kiss and began nibbling on the chimera's left earlobe. He responded with a low growl.

The princess could feel herself letting go, throwing caution to the wind and just enjoying the sensations opening themselves up to her. Zelgadis' voice, for example, had never sounded more sensual to her.

As she moved her head to capture his lips again, she felt the sharp ends of his wiry hair cut a gash into her cheek.

It did nothing but turn her on more. Somehow, Zelgadis' stone body had never even occurred to her as being an obstacle. But the pain in her cheek reminded her that he was not soft and pliable, but hard and unyielding.

And she loved a challenge.

For his part, Zelgadis didn't notice the thin trickle of blood on Amelia's face. He was too swept up in the moment, and in the feel of her soft lips on him.

As Amelia kissed his lips, then up and down his throat, she could feel her lips beginning to chafe a bit. She paused in her efforts for a moment and looked at Zelgaids, her eyes heavily lidded with lust.

Her tongue flicked out to moisten her own lips, and the chimera finally noticed the wound on her cheek.

“Amelia,” he gasped. “Is that from...me?”

Amelia had nearly forgotten already. Her hand flew up to her cheek and she smiled in encouragement.

“This is nothing,” she assured him. She muttered “Recovery” and the thin cut vanished within seconds.

“See, no harm done,” she continued.

Zelgadis didn't look convinced, but a war was raging between both his heads, and the one between his legs was winning.

Amelia decided to prove her point to him by gently pushing against him, causing him to lay down on his back on the soft antique rug in the sitting room.

She pulled on his white shirt, embroidered with gold in the design designated for people of high standing in Seyruun. He had taken to wearing Seyruun robes only a few months prior, and Amelia felt her desire grow as she possessively admired how he looked in them.

Pulling the shirt completely off of him, the princess wasted no time spreading heated kissing all over Zelgadis' chest and stomach.

The pebbles scattered randomly across his body were rough, she discovered. They, too, scratched at her cheeks and mouth. She ignored it.

Amelia found herself at the waistband of his pants, and she experimented by unbuttoning them. He didn't protest, so she continued by reaching down inside and bushing her unskilled hand across his very aroused manhood.

She rubbed at him, and held back a giggle at the little choking sound he made in the back of his throat. She didn't feel any pebbles on his penis, and was glad for that. Finally, she removed her hand and boldly pulled Zelgadis' pants and underwear down around his ankles.

Zelgadis fought back terror as he was bared to her. It was no secret that he hated his freakish appearance...that is, until he began coming to grips with the fact Amelia found him attractive for some reason. Still, as he lay there watching her look at him, he felt his face flush hot with embarrassment and shame. Now that she could see all of him, he was afraid she'd finally come to her senses and kick him out of the palace.

Instead, the princess let a little moan escape her lips and whispered, “You're so beautiful.” Then she leaned down and kissed his length, swirling her tongue around the head before taking as much as she could into her mouth.

Thank L-sama for small favors.

Zelgadis whipped his head back against the expensive rug and let out a strange strangled sound.

Her mouth on him was like nothing he'd ever imagined. Well, that is to say, he'd dared to imagine doing this with Amelia, but he never thought it would actually happen.

As she pleasured him, though, he couldn't help but begin to feel that having her do all the work was an insult to his masculinity. So before he could finish in her mouth and bring their evening to a screeching halt, Zelgadis pulled away and sat up.

Amelia had to lick her lips again, as the act she had just been performing had badly chafed them, and dried out her mouth.

“Did I do something wrong?” She asked, innocently.

“Not at all,” Zelgadis said with a smile. “But I noticed you're still dressed, and I thought it was very unjust.”

Amelia's giggle sounded like a bell, and Zelgadis couldn't stop himself from leaning closer to her, and slowly sliding her off-the-shoulder dress completely down.

The dress was pink, and was a favorite of his. He had often imagined what it would look like laying on his bedroom floor.

As he bared her full breasts to his eyes, and then finally slid the dress completely off her small frame, he noted that it just looked like a puddle of pink ruffles on the floor.

But on the forefront of his mind was not the dress, but Amelia's beautiful body. He couldn't stop himself from thinking things like mine and split second fantasies of killing any other man who dared look at Amelia ever again.

The truth of the matter was, masculine possessiveness aside, she was his. She had been his for many years, and he had been hers. In their hearts, at least. Even when they were too stubborn and stupid to admit it.

He moaned her name as he leaned down and began placing heating kisses in the spot between her neck and shoulder. Amelia's eyes drifted closed as she let herself just feel the things he was doing to her.

His mouth moved down, rough but tender, and came to rest on her right nipple. As he suckled her and ran his tongue around the erect nub, he reached down and began stroking her inner thigh.

Amelia opened her legs slightly, allowing him access. He moved to her other breast, then grew bolder and placed his hand over her white cotton panties in a spot that felt very hot and wet.

He began rubbing her there, his stony fingers moving quickly over the soft fabric. Amelia flung her head back and gasped his name.

Zelgadis took that as a sign to go further. He slipped his hand underneath the thin fabric and down into Amelia's womanhood. First his middle finger, then his index finger, slid easily inside her wet folds.

Amelia had pleasured herself more times than she could count, imagining it was Zelgadis touching her and making love to her. To finally have him there, his weight pressing down on her as he lost control, was better than anything she had ever imagined.

She was wet enough that his stone skin did not hurt her in the place it counted most, but as her bare back met the expensive antique rug she winced when the pebbles on his chest rubbed against her tender breasts.

It was not a pain she couldn't deal with, though. After all, she was becoming an expert on pain.

Being with Zelgadis could never hurt her. Not even if he ripped her body to shreds. To her, he would always be warmth, security and love.

They began kissing again, touching and exploring each other with renewed fervor. Zelgadis ripped Amelia's panties clear off her body.

“Sorry,” he murmured, then kissed her some more.

As the chimera finally positioned himself to enter her, he leaned back just long enough to ask, “Are you sure, Amelia?”

She looked up at him with eyes darkened by lust and simply nodded. Pulling him to her again, she let his long hair slice into her chin. She no longer cared.

He entered her, and Amelia felt as if she'd been filled up with pure bliss. As if she hadn't even been a whole person until that moment. It didn't hurt, per se, but it was certainly different. He was so much larger than her own fingers.

He began moving inside of her, and soon they were moving in unison as they often had in battle. Amelia wrapped her legs around his backside and pulled him closer. The pebbles on his skin rubbed at her breasts, stomach and thighs, but still she held him tighter.

The pain of making love to Zelgadis was nothing compared to the pleasure. Or perhaps they were equal. Either way, Amelia knew she would happily bleed for him for the rest of her life.

Zelgadis found a rhythm that seemed to please the princess, so he kept at it for as long as he could. He pushed himself fully into her, wanting her to take all of him. At times, he had to slow down so that he would not finish too soon. He wanted to give Amelia everything he possibly could.

Before too long, the petite young woman seized up underneath him and muffled the sounds of her orgasm with the back of her hand. Taking that as permission, Zelgadis thrust deeply once more and came inside of her, long and hard.

Breathing heavily, the chimera sat back and looked at his new lover.

He gasped.

Her blood was seeping slowly into the expensive rug, and bruises were forming all over her body. Her chest heaved from the exertion of their lovemaking, and Zelgadis saw the welts and cuts on her breasts, neck and face.

“Amelia,” he breathed, “Gods...what have I done?”

“You've made me happy,” she answered with a smile, sitting up.

“But look at you!” The chimera snapped, his anger and guilt building up. “Look at what I've done to you! I'm so sorry...”

“Enough,” Amelia said with an air of authority. It made Zelgadis pause.

“I don't want your apologies,” she continued. “All I want is your love. And you've given me that. These will heal, and I would do it all again in a heartbeat.”

She began casting Recovery on herself once again, and Zelgadis picked up their rumpled and abused clothing, saying nothing.

“Besides,” Amelia muttered, almost as an afterthought. “I'm used to the pain.”

THE END