How long had it been now? Too long perhaps by human
standards, but then human standards had never quite applied to
Nymkatte.

She trailed her fingers over the masonry and steel of the
temple, allowing herself to be immersed in memories of that time when
she had lived here with Exar Kun. She'd loved him, she supposed. As
much as a katte COULD be in love with a human. Their battles, she
grinned, their battles had been invigorating and always ended up with
neither one quite the victor. Her hand trailed down over her body as
she shivered remembering other times as well. The times when their
bodies and minds had been in unison striving for the one same goal of
flesh's paradise.

The vast empty area echoed her sigh. He was gone now and
perhaps if only she might have remained or, or something, he might
not have been. She shook her head against the foolishness of her
thoughts. Deathkatte had warned her that he would only have taken her
with him. She brushed away a tear. Deathkatte was no longer here to
give her comfort. Their twins learned from the teachers on Pursa and
would someday cause as much trouble as she and he had.

The thought of the twins made he smile but a cold wind blew
over her. It was as if the temple were angry with the thoughts of her
children. Nymkatte shook her head to clear it of that silliness but
somehow it didn't seem so silly to think some... thing... still lived
here. The walls did not echo so much as she traveled in further. She
went deep, even deeper than she had once thought to when she had
lived here. It was dark, but a feeling of, of summoning drew her in.
She grew tired and lay down in a room that surrounded her with the
feeling of... not safety but of finding a goal perhaps. She wasn't
sure but she felt so tired she did not ponder it for long.

Nymkatte curled up on the floor and gave up the struggle
against sleep. As she drifted off she thought it was strange that she
should be so fatigued. Very strange it was indeed.

___________________________

He reached through the mists and parted them. She lay
vulnerable to his whim in his inner sanctum. His smile was not kind
as he touched her silver tipped locks. He stroked her hair for a
moment and then as his expression changed his form began to seep into
her.

______________________

HE was here. Nymkatte opened her eyes into her dream and
simply knew it. She looked around for him and found him quickly. He
stood there quietly seething and his eyes pierced her like coals from
the hottest fire.

"Traitor. Why do you return?"

She turned away from him, but he was standing in front of her
still. He would not let her escape his questioning. She got angry,
but refused to hide the truth. "Because I missed you still, you
egotistical bastard!" She threw at him.

"Missed me?" He practically hissed. "You are the little tramp
who was married to another and merely SERVICED me."

She closed her eyes. "Exar... Exar, I did love you. Think on
it though, you were merely enthralled with me because I did something
to your psyche when I lay with you the first time. It bound you to me
more surely than any emotion."

Exar stood there waiting. She finally opened her eyes to look
at him. Nymkatte met his gaze and it was as hard as
granite. "Nymkatte...." His voice was as soft as a sigh. "Nymkatte...
I knew what you had done. I knew when you returned to me with
Deathkatte at your side. I knew... And I didn't care."

She blinked. Twice.

"I learned to love you. The obsessiveness may have vanished
with the release of your mind of mine but the heart's pain never left
me. Perhaps that is why I dared to dance with death and ended up
here." He laughed harshly. "Trapped in my own temple."

Nymkatte stepped closer to him. When he didn't flinch away
she slowly reached out and touched him. His body shuddered and his
eyes closed. In this dream state she did not have to read his mind to
know that he had not been touched in longer days than he could count.
She enfolded him into her embrace. His arms came around her and
suddenly he was clutching her to him as if she were a floating log
and he a drowning man.

Their lips found each other and they breathed each other's
breath. Their tongues mated and their hands traveled over each other
frantically rediscovering that which had been lost. Their clothing
melted away like butter in the sun. It was as like and yet unlike
their previous times together in measures of passion and desire but
gone was the obsessive need to dominate.

Exar slipped his mouth from hers and traveled his tongue over
her skin to her ear and down her neck. He nibbled there and his hands
slid up to pull her close to him, fitting her every curve to his hard
planes. One hand settled over her buttocks and slowly caressed her
there. Her skin was soft as he remembered and his finger slid
provocatively in the crack. His finger slipped lower into the
meeting of curls and soft curve. He relished Nymkatte's gasp in his
ear as he threaded all his fingers into her curls and slipped one
finger deeper into her wet heat.

Nymkatte clung to him as her bones seemed to turn to jelly.
Liquid heat burned through her body. Her arms wrapped around him and
held his head to her. They whispered words of love and lust. Nymkatte
lost her balance and they fell to the floor which cushioned them as
if it were made of the softest fleece.

Their arms and legs tangled and their mouths came together
again for a searing kiss. Nothing existed in that moment but they
two. His mouth and teeth and tongue branded her body as his. Her
hands and whispered words confirmed it. They worshiped each other in
a frenzy of loving.

They became still as statues as he slowly penetrated her.
Their eyes never left each other's. The colors in her eyes deepened
and blended into a deep purple. He saw it and the pleased and
triumphant look in his eyes made her laugh. He arched an eyebrow as
he grinned at her. She poured into him all the joy she was feeling in
that moment and he had to grit his teeth to keep from loosing
control. His smile as he took her mouth in another kiss was a perfect
echo of hers. Their laughter blended perfectly in with their moans as
he took up the pace of the mating ritual.

Their bodies danced an ancient waltz. Pleasured coursed
through them and was shared by each. Theirs was a perfect blend of
body and mind. Exar knew this was all he could ever have wanted but
would never now have. Nymkatte knew this was all she had missed and
would never find again.

The climax as they found it was shattering. It was more than
a pouring of seed into one. It was more than an outpouring of love.
It was a blending of two souls into one and Exar gave into her soul
all that was good in him that she might be sustained by more than her
own will to live until he could come again for her.

________________________

Nymkatte woke outside the temple near her own ship. Her head
hurt as if it had held more than its fair share of knowledge. She
looked back at the temple and the pang of final parting shook her.

"One day my love, we will be joined never to be parted."

Nymkatte turned away and climbed into her vessel. She would
not return here again unless forced by circumstance. It was too
painful knowing what lay within but beyond her help. She blew a kiss
towards the inner sanctum just before her ship turned and sped its
way out of this galaxy.

From deep within came the whisper, "One day... forever..."