something i must live with

Dalila had been too shy and bashful to look up at Siren while her face felt hot and her heart was beating harder against her chest, constantly grappling with the want and desire to pull Siren closer and go back to place those kisses on her paws that she had refrained from doing before. She tried to focus on her tasks, tried to think only about working the tangles from Siren's fur and nothing else, but it was difficult to ignore how the fragrant lavender oil played so nicely with her scent and how soft and silky her fur felt against her paw pads as she moved through different pieces of it. She loved Siren. She loved her and that thought made her nervous and happy all at once. It was a secret she had held close to her heart for a while now, knowing she should never address it, she should never speak it out loud. She was too afraid of the fall out that might follow it.

But then Siren spoke her name so softly and it pulled her powder blue eyes up to the similarly bashful expression of her lady, catching her off guard, stealing her breath away as her gaze connected with the two toned eyes of her beautiful, flawless Siren. Those eyes that were so shockingly full of emotions, looking at her through pale, blonde lashes. She tried to hear the words that Siren spoke about what she had done to earn her kindness, but it still didn't really connect in her mind. Of course she cared, of course she was here. She loved her - not that Siren would know that. And she shouldn't. She was her servant, there should be a line, Chimera was all too quick to remind them of that any chance he got. Dalila had contented herself with just being able to be in Siren's life and was thrilled to belong fully to Siren, but that's where it needed to stay. Or at least that's what she had been telling herself.

But then Siren looked at her with tears in her eyes, reached forward, and placed the most gentle, tender kiss on her nose. Dalila's eyes widened with surprise, her heart taking off and racing against her chest with a quiet gasp. She froze in place, not knowing what to do. It was like living in a dream, thinking that Siren might love her in return. It seemed so absurd despite all the evidence that might say that was the truth to think that such a beautiful princess could ever care that much about someone like her - someone born to be a slave and nothing more. But here she was, laying in Siren's bed, watching tears fall down Siren's lovely cheeks, reeling from the most gentle affection she could have imagined. A cautionary voice in the back of her mind warned her to not give in to this. What if Chimera found out? What if Siren realized this was a mistake? What if this destroyed what they had when Siren realized that she could do so much better than a slave?

Dalila finally broke though her shock with a thought - Siren was worth dying for. She put the brush and comb off to the side and gently lifted both of Siren's delicate front paws to her lips, giving them both several gentle kisses with a quiet, relieved sigh, closing her eyes for a moment and smiling as she savored the feeling of being able to give into these desires that she had so carefully refrained from. She lowered her paws again and lifted her muzzle to Siren's cheeks instead, gently pressing her tongue to the pale fur there to carefully and tenderly clean away those tears, covering her cheeks in soft kisses while tears of her own formed in her eyes. It was a release, a desire finally realized, an outlet for the fathomless love she held for this tiny woman, but it also felt dangerous. Siren felt like the precious, hidden jewel that she shouldn't be allowed to have, that felt too perfect for her to touch. In the back of her mind she kept imagining Chimera walking into the room right now, seeing her like this, and ripping her away for touching his sister. But the longer she laid here giving Siren's cheeks gentle kisses, the more distant those thoughts became and the more worth it Siren felt.

Dalila slipped her forelegs around Siren, cradling her, pulling her close while her kisses trailed up to her delicate caramel ears, kissing across her ears and her crown, her heart skipping and pounding like crazy in her chest while tears fell down her cheeks. But she was happy. So unbelievably, indescribably happy. All she ever wanted was to care for her lady, to give her the love she deserved, to be allowed to shower her in the affections that she had pent up for so long. "Siren..." She spoke so softly against her ear that there wasn't a chance that anyone but Siren would be able to hear and even then she wondered if Siren would hear her if she wasn't listening closely. "I love you... You don't need to ever say it back and I apologize if I'm being too forward, but... I just... I needed to tell you. I needed you to know."

"Dalila Rocha"