General Copyright Disclaimers

Characters and backstory of Xena: Warrior Princess are the property of Renaissance/MCA/Studios USA.  This story is not meant to infringe upon their rights.  This story was not written for monetary gain.  Anything not copyrighted to the above mentioned parties is copyrighted to me.  If you wish to archive or link this story, please contact me.

Content Disclaimers

This story is rated NC-17 for explicit sex and language.

This story contains themes and descriptions of a loving, sexual relationship between two consenting adult women.  This story is intended for a mature audience with an open mind.  If it is illegal for you to read this story for any reason at all, please close this web page and find something that is legal for you to read.

Author's Note

This is a first-time story.  This is a PWP story.  If there is a plot, it's very thin and wouldn't support a dancing flea.

Comments can be sent to [email protected].

Bardly Pursuits

By TZ
Copyright June 5, 1998

"Ouch!"

"Gabrielle, hold still," the tall warrior admonished as she tended to a small gash on the bard's forehead.

"But, Xena, it hurts," Gabrielle complained with a wince for added emphasis.

Xena muttered under her breath, trying not to lose her patience. "Just be still," she growled, "or else I'll resort to using pressure points to paralyze you."

"How was I supposed to know that branch was coming my way?"

Dropping the rag that she had been using, Xena sighed. "If you had been paying attention, you would have heard me warn you."

"I'm sorry, Xena. I was just...daydreaming, I guess," Gabrielle admitted sheepishly.

The warrior chuckled. "About what this time? Gods? Kings? Last night's sunset?"

Gabrielle could feel the blush coloring her face. *Hmmm...she'd probably use me for a chakram target if I told her the truth.* "I was thinking about you, actually," she admitted. "I was trying to revise a story I wrote last year."

"Oh? Which one?"

"The battle with Gareth."

"Why revise it?"

Gabrielle could only shrug, not wanting the warrior know what she had been thinking before she had gotten a faceful of foliage. "It's a bard thing."

"Uh, huh." Xena shook her head. "Well, it doesn't require any stitches. Do you think you are all right to continue travelling? No headaches or anything?"

The bard felt a twinge of sympathy for the hopeful tone in her friend's voice. She proved herself able by jumping to her feet and grabbing her bag and staff. "Fit as a lyre," she declared with a brilliant smile.

Xena only mumbled some more before she stowed the bloody rag in one of Argo's bags. Sure that the bard would follow, she struck out for the road, eager to reach Apamantus by evening.

Gabrielle did not mind following the warrior, especially when Xena opted not to ride, but rather, lead Argo. With a sinister lift of her brow, she could not help losing herself in her fantasy once more. She had not lied to Xena. She had been thinking about the day that they had battled Gareth. But her mind had been occupied by a cozy hot tub, not the actual fight. Letting her eyes travel the warrior's backside, Gabrielle burned with the blood that was rushing to sensitive areas. *Oh yeah, darlin', work that leather.*

Unaware of the bard's roving gaze, Xena began to whistle softly. The elder council of Apamantus had sent word requesting aid. Their messenger had delivered a scroll that explained in sketchy detail the problems that the prosperous village was having with an opportunistic warlord.

Her song was interrupted by her own soft snort. It had been years since she had seen Sarinos, but if he had changed at all, it had probably been for the worse. He would be little more than a nuisance to her, but to the villagers of Apamantus, he had proven himself capable of raiding their outlying farms for livestock and grain.

Xena turned to make sure that Gabrielle was still with her, since the bard was not chattering on about some nonsense. The quiet was almost as frightening as the stark look of intensity on the young woman's face. "Gabrielle?"

The bard jumped and raised a flushed face to meet the warrior's questioning brow. "Oh...um...just working on that story," she said cheerily, hoping that the warrior would assume that her blush was caused by being caught daydreaming and not what she had been thinking. *Oh...and the fantasy was just getting good.* The bard let a mask of innocence cover the devious smirk she could feel tugging at her lips.

Seeing the bard smiling openly, the warrior merely shook her head. "Try not to exaggerate too much, huh?"

Gabrielle nodded and wiped her brow when Xena resumed their course. *Heh, heh...no need to embellish those assets,* the bard acknowledged as she licked her lips unconsciously. *My, my, my...I think I've gone and died.*

The bard was concentrating so hard on her object of lust that she did not realize that it was getting closer until she nearly bumped into Xena's back. The warrior's raised hand caused a frigid blanket of reality to be thrown over her lascivious thoughts. Focusing all her energy on her surroundings, Gabrielle gripped her staff and raised it to a defensive posture. When Xena patted Argo's rump in an order to leave, the bard knew that some action was forthcoming.

They were ready for the band of thugs that jumped from out of the thick forest on both sides of the road. Standing back to back, they engaged their opponents. Xena was comforted by the occasional sounds of wood hitting steel and flesh. When the sound ended abruptly, she spared a glance to the young Amazon who was standing apart and leaning casually on her staff. *Arrogant little wench,* the warrior thought as she recognized the bard's smug grin.

Needing to see Xena in action had been more than enough incentive to finish off quickly the three men that had attacked her, and Gabrielle was duly rewarded when she heard the warrior's feral snarl. The ensuing battlecry sent a delicious shiver of excitement down her spine to settle between her legs where it pooled into her cotton breeches. Her eyes followed sword thrusts and parries, long graceful legs as they landed incapacitating blows, strong hands as they met flesh will dull cracks.

When all of her opponents were out cold, the warrior turned and rushed to Gabrielle, who was just standing there, her eyes glazed. "Are you all right?" When the bard only raised her eyes to meet those of the warrior's, Xena became alarmed. Gabrielle's breathing was shallow and rapid, and the bard's skin was flushed. "Did you get hurt? Gabrielle?" She gripped the bard by the shoulders and gave her a gentle shake. "Gabrielle?"

Through the pounding of blood in her ears, Gabrielle could almost hear Xena's questions. The panicked look on the warrior's face, however, broke her out of her trance. "Oh, I'm just great, Xena. You know, watching the greatest warrior in all the known world can be quite awe-inspiring." *Not to mention stimulating.*

Xena was not sure if she wanted to strangle the young woman or smother her in an embrace. Instead, she rolled her eyes and sighed with exasperation. "Come on, we better get moving."

As predicted, they reached Apamantus before the sun had set. Xena sent Gabrielle to an inn so that she might haggle for a room and lodging for Argo, while the warrior sought out Trinais, leader of the town council. Several hours later, she rejoined her friend in the common room, nodding in approval at the bard's choice of tables. Sliding onto the bench behind the table, Xena accepted a port from the serving maid with a thin smile. With a quick scrutiny of the room, she recognized no threat from the small gathering of merchants and farmers and she let her guard down a little.

"That bad, huh?"

After taking a long sip of her drink, Xena sat the mug on the rough surface of the table and clasped it in her long fingers. "Sarinos is just a little piss-ant, nothing too difficult for us here. We've been against worse," she explained with a grunt.

"So what's got you so bothered?"

Xena leaned back with her mug so that the server could set a plate of questionable-looking stew in front of her. Noting that the complimentary bread looked more appetizing, she waited until the girl left them in private. "Trinais."

Gabrielle cocked her head in question at the warrior's growl. "Stupid or condescending?"

Tearing off a piece of bread, the warrior quirked a brow at her companion's insight. "Both," she smiled, letting the bard's sunny cheer warm her cold demeanor. She began to chuckle when Gabrielle grimaced after tasting her first spoonful of stew. "So, what did you do to keep busy while I had to suffer?"

"Oh, this and that. Got us a room and Argo a stall. Got her settled and brushed. Ordered dinner," she muttered as she tested the poor consistency of her evening fare.

"You didn't have to do all that. I could have taken care of Argo."

Gabrielle followed Xena's example and snagged the other half of the bread. "Don't worry about it. Consider it my good deed for the day," she replied with a saucy grin.

Xena reached across the table until her fingers were brushing the back of the bard's free hand. "You're a good friend to me, Gabrielle. I can't imagine doing this without you." The frozen look of pain on the bard's face startled the warrior. "What? Did I say something wrong?"

Studying the hand that was now clasping hers, Gabrielle willed the little ache into the deepest recesses of her soul. *I wish I meant more than that to you.* Forcing a crooked smile, she shrugged. "Just wondering when you found that seed of wisdom."

"Huh?"

"For a while there, you were leaving me behind every time you went off to have all the fun," she explained with a slight pout, hoping that the warrior would forget her worry.

"It wasn't all fun, Gabrielle," Xena replied, a wry grin displacing her earlier anxiety. "You know, I'm not very hungry," she said as she cast a dubious look at the bowl in front of her. "Why don't we go on up to our room?"

"Sure, sounds great. I arranged for a bath," Gabrielle stated with a straight face as she forced herself not to reveal the sudden warmth that threatened to overwhelm her.

Xena nodded her gratitude as she led the way across the common room and up the stairs. Out of habit, she opened the room's door cautiously and concentrated on the sounds within. After a long look, she stepped into the room and waited for Gabrielle to close and bolt the door behind them. "Not too bad," she observed, noting the spare, but neat and odor-free furnishings. *That's an odd place to put a mirror,* she thought as she crossed to the large tub and lifted the cover. "Still hot."

"Why don't you take first turn," the bard offered, claiming the chair that she had strategically placed earlier.

"I got first turn last time. It's your turn tonight."

"No, really, Xena, I insist," Gabrielle argued gently. "You like the water hotter than I do anyway, and by the time you're done, it'll be just right for me." Gabrielle's eyes lit with expectation as she watched the warrior remove her weapons and place them conveniently near the tub.

Xena crossed to the bard and raised her arms, offering the young woman the space to release the buckles that held her armor together. Although she could do it herself, Xena enjoyed the happiness that it gave Gabrielle to perform the simple chore. She took the plates from the bard and placed them on the small table beside the bed. Sitting across from Gabrielle on the bed, she removed the rest of her armor. Laying the pieces aside in a neat pile, she stood and turned her back to Gabrielle who reached up and loosened the laces on her leather battledress until all she had to do was shrug the heavy garment off her body.

From under lowered lashes that hid her silent appraisal, Gabrielle watched as Xena tossed her shift to the top of the pile of outerwear and approached the tub. Sinking into the steaming water, the warrior released sigh of utter satisfaction. Leaning her head back against the rim of the tub, she closed her eyes and smiled. Then she froze when realization came to her like a hot slap on the face. Opening her eyes a fraction, she saw the bard studying her reclining form in the mirror.

Thinking that the warrior was oblivious to her actions, Gabrielle allowed her naked hunger to claim her features. The room was small enough that in the angled mirror, she could see Xena's breasts as they were revealed sporadically by the gentle waves of water that any movement from the warrior caused. She licked her lips and imagined how her friend's skin would taste. With a wicked grin, she remembered the time that she had tasted a bit of leather, just to test its flavor. She mingled that memory with one of sweat, and came up with something that tempted her palate more than any fine cuisine.

Xena was sure that the heat consuming her body surpassed that of the bathwater. In fact, she thought that if her body continued on its course, she would be the source to cause it to boil. She opened her eyes fully when she saw that Gabrielle's was transfixed by her chest and not her face. *Oh, gods, Gabrielle...how do you do this to me?* Unconsciously, she raised a leg to rest on the rim of the tub. Her nostrils flared when she saw the bard follow the movement. Rolling her head, she watched as Gabrielle began to squeeze her legs together. Closing her eyes, she struggled with control. "Gabrielle?"

The heavy-lidded gaze of seduction in which she was trapped was nearly her undoing. Clearing her throat, she pretended ignorance of Gabrielle's thoughts. "Would you mind scrubbing my back for me?"

Clenching her hands a few times to force her blood to rush to other parts of her body, Gabrielle rose on shaky legs and let herself be pulled into the warrior's enchantment. She accepted the rag and soap from Xena and kneeled to her task.

Xena could hear the soft gasps of pleasure the bard was receiving from her gentle ministrations. Leaning forward so that the young woman could reach her lower back, she bit her lip when the rag found a sensitive spot just above her buttocks. She laid her head on her knees and willed the bard to pursue any course she might have, to touch anywhere she wanted. *So long...I've waited so long.*

As if in a daze, Gabrielle followed the soft lines of Xena's muscular back. *Skin, so much skin.* She trapped a moan deep in her throat. She barely noticed when the washrag slipped out of her hands and she was kneading the warrior's back without its hindrance. When Xena offered no resistance, she let herself fall into the fantasy that she had been working on the entire day.

She noticed the change immediately, when Gabrielle's hands were no longer washing, but caressing. Small circles grew into long, languid strokes that covered every inch of her back. With a flip of her head, she tossed her raven hair over her shoulder so that the bard might have access to her shoulders and neck. Her blissful sigh was strangled by a groan when she felt fingertips brushing the sides of her breasts. *Please don't let it stop.* With an imperceptible movement, she lowered her knees a bit so that her chest was no longer pressed to them.

Gabrielle was only vaguely aware of the fact that she her backrub was turning into something much more intimate. As if of their own accord, her hands began a trail of slow caresses up Xena's ribs, ultimately stretching until her fingers whispered along the soft treasures her eyes had been devouring. She could only watch, helpless and ignorant of fear, as those same hands reached around to cup Xena's breasts.

She had trouble pretending that it was not happening, that the touches were just friendly. When Gabrielle finally caught two handfuls, she leaned back a little to offer the young woman better access. Her nipples hardened instantly, even though the bard was merely holding her and not stimulating the now highly-sensitized points of desire. She moaned in appreciation.

It was the sounds that Xena was making that finally snapped her out of it. She blushed and her mouth opened and closed in silent apology, even though she had yet to remove her hands. She could feel the evidence of the warrior's arousal against her palms, and she ached to squeeze them, to taste them. *This is crazy, bard. She'd hack you into a million pieces.* When she went to move away, she was brought up short by the strong hands that covered hers and held her in place.

"Don't stop," Xena gasped as she opened her eyes and turned to capture the bard in a look of utter arousal.

Gabrielle shifted her hands tentatively and felt Xena's responding growl vibrate through her fingertips. *Oh, gods.*

"Gab-ri-elle."

She knew that she was flushed. *Burning up is more like it.* The heat coursed throughout her body, tickling and teasing the spots she had found for herself to be susceptible to producing pleasure. The husky note in her companion's voice shred all doubt.

Xena spun to her knees when she felt the bard jerk her hands free. The spark of desire the friction itself had caused, had left her wanting so much more. Her mouth eased into a grin of pure anticipation as she watched the bard shed her clothes.

*In for a dinar,* Gabrielle thought as she took the warrior's outstretched hand.

Xena resumed her previous position and tugged Gabrielle so that the bard straddled her waist. *So wet for me.* Now, everything seemed so clear to her. The entire day, every time the bard seemed to mentally disappear, was thrown into focus. "You've been thinking about this all day, haven't you," she purred as she traced the delicate line of the bard's jaw.

Gabrielle, for lack of suitable words, could only nod. The heat between her thighs was like an itch that screamed for a good scratching, and instinctively, she did so the only way her body could figure. Fingers of pleasure began to tweak her clitoris as she ground herself into the warrior's abdomen. She closed her eyes with the exquisite sensations and did not realize that Xena had pulled her close until their breasts were caressing each other and soft lips found hers.

"So sweet, so sensual," Xena moaned when Gabrielle's hips began to rock. Long forgotten was the bath as she framed the bard's face in her large hands and pulled her in for a kiss. She struggled to go slow, to be gentle, but the bard's hands had insinuated themselves between their bodies and found anchor on two generous mounds.

She was lost, melting into a million droplets that scattered into the bathwater. Hard and soft. Her sensitized sex screamed its appreciation for the warrior's firm abdomen, and she marveled at the softness of Xena's breasts filling her palms. She gasped when their kiss deepened and moaned.

The vibrations along her tongue as she thrust it into the bard's willing mouth sent shudders of fierce need to her core. She wanted, needed, the bard to consume her. Without breaking the kiss, she managed to get her legs under her in the now-cramped tub and stand shakily.

Gabrielle's only realization that they were no longer in the water was the chill that chased along her wet back. Her shivers were caused by another reason, however, as she felt the bed under her body. *Oh gods.* Her mind was calling out incoherent utters of ecstasy, for her mouth was still occupied by Xena's skilled lips and tongue. When the warrior abandoned that and continued up across her cheek to her ear, she heard herself moaning encouragement. Her body was rising to meet the heat just above her as her hands struggled to pull it closer.

Realizing that things were getting more frenzied by the second, Xena pulled the bard close and rolled until the smaller woman was on top.

Pushing up so that she could see her lover's face, Gabrielle's eyes widened in comprehension. She straightened her arms and kneeled between Xena's outstretched legs. With no shame nor apprehension, she allowed her gaze to fully explore the body that was waiting to be loved. *Remember what Ephiny said...just do what comes natural.*

Muscles twitched in anticipation as she began to squirm under Gabrielle's sensual scrutiny. *Yes!* She gasped when the bard returned to her and began to suckle her breasts with the wonder of a child with a new toy. Her patience was stretched to the limit as she allowed the bard to explore her aroused body. She was tingling, fire, molten. "Fuck me."

Gabrielle's breath caught at the urgent plea. She stopped and watched the warrior's face.

*Did I say that out loud?* Biting back a whimper, Xena opened her eyes and saw the confusion etched upon the bard's face. *Damn fool. She's never done this before...I think.* With a reassuring smile, Xena nudged Gabrielle to brace her weight on one arm as she guided the bard's freed hand to her center. "Just touch me, Gabrielle. Feel what you do to me."

The air rushed from the bard's lungs with a soft whistle. *So wet.* All at once, she knew that she had to possess the powerful woman beneath her. She had to hear, she had to smell, she had to taste....

Xena's hips arched when Gabrielle resettled between her legs. She was nearly undone by the young woman's curious study of her passion-slicked folds. As the bard traced first one, then two fingers through her wetness, she clutched the bed covers savagely. *Fuckmefuckmefuckme!* "Yes!"

Gabrielle grinned in satisfaction as she found what Xena's body needed. *So sweet. Leather and honey and my warrior's love.* She added a second finger to her quest to find the depths of Xena's desire as her tongue continued to trace the paths her fingers had found earlier. When Xena's cries became more urgent, she added another and found the spot that had caused the warrior's hips to lurch during her previous casual exploration.

Friction, pressure. *Fuckme!* The bard's rhythm was relentless as her tongue danced over her engorged clitoris. She was spiraling ever higher and knew the moment, when the bard began sucking, that the fire within would explode into a million sparks. "GAB-RI-ELLLLLE!"

The bard jumped at the exclamation of release and stilled her hand's movement. She could feel the warrior's inner walls contracting around her fingers in exquisite gratitude, gifting her with a flood of inner juices. She withdrew her hand and began to clean her lover's gift from the woman's nether lips, catching most of it before it trickled between her cheeks. Without word, she nudged the warrior to roll over, and she finished the job.

When she realized what the bard was doing, she raised herself to her knees so that Gabrielle would have easier access to that which she sought. The first pass of the bard's tongue over her anus caused her shudder violently. *What you do to me.* A last bite on her left cheek signaled that the young woman had finished. Xena rolled to her back once more and pulled the bard close. "I love you," she whispered as she buried her face into blond tresses.

"You do?"

The wonderment was too earnest to be ignored. Tilting the bard's face with a finger, the warrior quirked an amused brow. "Of course I do. Don't you know that by now?"

"Well, I guess," Gabrielle replied with half a shrug, not believing that her fortune could be so incredibly close to her fantasy.

"Gabrielle, look at me." When the bard complied, Xena let all of her love shine through her eyes. "When I told you...tell you that I love you, I mean in every way. In all ways." Her heart broke free of its restraints and swelled at the brilliant smile her words produced. "Can I show you, Gabrielle? Can I show you how much I love you?"

The bard's only answer was to draw the warrior into a tender kiss and pull her over as she rolled to her back. *Love me, Xena. I've always been yours.* At the first touch, she could no longer think, yet alone speak. Her breath was stolen by hands and lips that found her most erotic spots and stimulated them until the bard was delirious with need. Her breasts, which were not all that sensitive under her own hands, were brought to a thrumming awareness at Xena's touch.

*Oh gods, those fingers!* When the warrior finally entered her, she was so close to orgasm that she climaxed upon the first thrust.

The last thing she heard before dark oblivion claimed her was a hoarse cry of Xena's name that echoed through the room. She fainted with a smirk on her face, for she realized it had come from her own mouth.

She was awakened by a shifting on the bed. As her eyes fluttered open, she saw that Xena was just settling beside her. "Where'd you go?"

"Out."

"Out where?" Gabrielle rolled to her side and raised herself to her elbow.

"To take care of some business."

Recognizing the dry tone of her lover's response, Gabrielle scowled. "I thought you weren't leaving me behind anymore."

"I told you, Gabrielle, Sarinos was just a nuisance. You would have been bored."

The bard snorted her disbelief and narrowed her eyes.

Seeing the battle about to erupt, Xena sought to launch an offensive strike to counteract. "Besides, you know how fighting gets my juices flowing," she purred seductively. "And I wanted you exactly where you are when I returned."

Memories of the warrior's hands upon her body and the deep timbre of Xena's explanation started the slow burn once again. "Oh, really, warrior?"

"Uh, huh," Xena replied as a predatory grin shaped her moistened lips.

Gabrielle fell to her back and threw her arms wide in an exaggerated pose of submission. "Well, I suppose you'll just have to use me to work off all that excess energy," she sighed as she rolled her eyes.

*Oh, you are sooo much fun.* With a growl, the warrior proceeded to show the willing bard the more desirous results of battle.

The End