Disclaimers:

Characters from Xena: Warrior Princess are property of MCA/Universal/Renaissance. No copyright infringement is intended.

This is a work of alternative fan fiction. No profit will be gained from its production. This piece of fiction is copyright of the author.

There are depictions of love/sex between consenting adult persons of the same gender. If this is illegal where you live, you are underage, or this bugs you in a major way, then stop reading here and find something more appropriate to your tastes and/or laws.

One little bad word, nothing major.

Thank you for taking the time to read the stuff above, and hopefully, the stuff below.

Author's Note: All I have to say is...

"Sweet Hestia, I'm in a den of filth!"

(Priestess Leah - Warrior...Priestess...Tramp)

Comments can be sent to ztami@hotmail.com.

The Golden Chalice

by TZ

Copyright March 27, 1998

"What's a sweet little piece like you doing in a place like this?"

Gabrielle stilled at the voice behind her. She mentally groaned and rolled her eyes. She was not going to admit that this was a mistake. Okay...yeah...Xena had told her to stay put. But as she had been waiting in the tavern for the warrior to return, she had overheard that the Princess Cyralla was at a place called The Golden Chalice. Excited that she could finish their mission and return the abducted princess to her father, she had immediately left the tavern to find the place.

The odd looks that she received when she asked for directions from the townspeople should have given her a clue. She had been too busy with the thought of impressing Xena to notice what kind of establishment it was until she was standing in the doorway. Her speechlessness had lasted only a moment until the proprietor approached her.

"Play or work, honey," she had asked.

Her mind had stumbled over the options. "Uh, work," she had stuttered.

The matronly woman had smiled and had led her to a back room where she had sifted through several costumes. "Ah, here were are," she proclaimed, holding a collection of thin cloth strips before her. "Here, honey, this should do nicely. You can charge whatever you want, but the house gets forty percent," she had explained as she had handed the garment to her. Then she had left the room to give the bard privacy to change.

Gabrielle silently laughed at the irony of it. She was in a bordello, pretending to be a working girl, looking for a kidnapped princess, and she had been given privacy to change into a costume that revealed more than it concealed.

Hot breath against her ear brought Gabrielle back to her present predicament. She turned to the customer whose eyes rounded at the sight of her body in the diaphanous veils. "Sorry, mister, but I'm on break right now," she answered from behind the veil that covered most of her face. The same excuse had worked on the six men and two women who had approached her since she had shyly left the costume room. She crossed her fingers behind her back.

"Well, then," he replied, leaning into the young woman, "you will let me know when you come back."

"Definitely," she answered, hoping that she sounded convincing. The bard heaved a sigh of relief when the man rewarded her with a gap-toothed smile and continued down the hall and steps to the common room.

After he was out of sight, she quietly opened the next door and quickly closed it after getting a good peek. Leaning her head against the rough wood, she took a ragged breath and reminded herself that she was putting herself through Tartarus for a good reason.

Unwillingly, her mind flashed back to her wedding night when Perdicas had given her a taste of the pleasure her body was desperately in need of at the present. She stepped softly down the long hall to the next door, repeating the same procedure she had done with the last fifteen, with the same results.

She had yet to find the princess, but her body was discovering new levels of discomfort. At the rate that her libido was raging, she would need a full-course meal to satisfy it, and what she had been craving for so long was not on the menu.

The next door revealed an empty room. Deciding to take a break, Gabrielle entered and closed the door. Her biggest mistake was looking at the bed. She put a hand to her head and tried to will the vision away, but when she raised her eyes again, her breath caught in her throat.

Like a desert mirage, an oasis to quench a thirst, there she was. A shimmering image of the Warrior Princess seductively invited her to fulfill her most secret of fantasies. Gabrielle closed her eyes and then opened them again, blinking in frustrated provocation. There was no way that she was going to rest on that bed, she thought, as the memory of the image refused to fade.

Adjusting the gauzy veils over her breasts, she steeled her reserve. "Back to work," she muttered, praying that she would find Princess Cyralla soon so that she could leave the place.

***

The tall warrior scratched at his beard as he opened the door. His sharp eyes scanned the room for the woman for whom he was searching. His scrutiny was interrupted by a woman who uncomfortably reminded him of his mother in a revealing gown.

"Here to play, handsome?"

The man silently nodded.

"Ah...a quiet one. I like that in a man," she said as she sidled closer. "So, what would be your preference this evening," she asked, her bountiful cleavage raised in an invitation. When the man's intense blue eyes refused to leave her face, she sighed in disappointment. "A slave girl? A milk maid? A temple virgin? A princess?"

At the last suggestion, she was rewarded with a toothy grin. "Ah, so you want a princess. What kind?"

The man's stoic face didn't reveal what he was thinking. There HAD to be choices, he thought with derision.

When the quiet man refused to answer, the matron began listing on her fingers. "Let's see, we have Egyptian, Persian, Babylonian, Amazon...." The matron chuckled when the man's eyes brightened. "You wish to have an Amazon Princess, then?"

The man shook his head 'no.' I only wish, he thought, as a flame of desire began tickling his at his loins.

The matron pouted her painted lips, sure that she had read him right. "Okay...what else do we have? Uh...." She silently counted on her fingers those she already offered. "Of course. We also have Trojan, Ionian, and the house favorite, the Warrior Princess. But she isn't really a princess, is she? But the leather and the whip, now some really like that," she finished with a glow on her face.

The man quirked his brow at that information, but showed no indication of what type of girl he wanted.

The matron shook her head in defeat. "Well, I'm sure if you look around, you'll find what you need."

The man scratched his beard again, grateful that it hid his blush. What he wanted...chances were that she wasn't here. Then, his eyes lit with hope. Knowing her, he thought, she just might show up. She always had a habit of ending up in the worst possible places. He nodded his head at the owner and casually walked into the common room.

***

Gabrielle leaned against the wall and clenched her fists. With a frustrated whimper, she looked down the hall of which she had just reached the end. All twenty rooms on the left were accounted for, but with another desperate cry, she looked to her right where there were twenty more identical ones. Oh, please let her be in the next one, she thought with a suffering groan.

***

The man, not finding what he wanted in the common room, cautiously ascended the wooden steps to the floor above. When he reached the top, his eyes uncharacteristically betrayed his emotions. He was shocked, stunned, surprised (and yet, not surprised), angered, and aroused.

He watched a moment as the young woman opened a door and looked into the room. He almost laughed aloud when he saw the furious blush that seemed to bathe her entire body in hues of pink and red. Her body...he knew it so well. He had studied it, memorized it when she hadn't been looking. His brows rose in surprise when he realized that the veils she wore were more revealing than Aphrodite's gown.

His breath quickened when he saw her arousal, her erect nipples teasing their flimsy trap. When the woman stopped to bang her head on the wall, the man strode forward with purpose.

Gabrielle gasped in surprise and fear when she was grabbed from behind. She stilled her struggles when strong arms squeezed the breath from her.

"We need an empty room," a deep growl whispered into her ear.

"But...I'm on break," she stuttered in a weak voice. She silently pleaded to any god that it would work one more time.

"Now," the man urged, crushing the bard in his embrace.

Gabrielle mutely nodded her head and pointed to the room where she had seen the vision of Xena. She yelped in surprise when her abductor lifted her from her bare feet and carried her to the room. She wildly glanced around, looking for an escape as the man blocked the door with a chair.

Seeing only one way in or out, she hoped that she could use her bard's gifts and talk her way out of this one. "Look, mister, I'm not really good at this," she nervously began. "You'd probably have a better time with someone else."

The man stood in the shadows by the door, struggling with his emotions. Part of him was really pissed off. She shouldn't be here, he thought with anger. Then his gaze narrowed on her breasts, heaving with apprehension. She had told him to find someone else. There was no one else, he thought with a derisive snort. She haunted his dreams. Oh, how he would love to teach her about lovemaking. The things that they could share, he thought. "What's your name," he rasped in a throaty voice.

Gabrielle's mind fumbled over a thousand possibilities. "Honey," she choked on a fearful breath.

The man grinned, his quirked eyebrows hidden by the darkness in which he was still standing. "Honey...sweet honey...sticky sweet," he mumbled. When the bard looked like she was about to bolt out the second story window, the man raised a stilling hand. "What do you think you are doing here?"

The bard slowly faced the man. That...voice. Oh, no, she thought. Busted. Funny, how fear and lust can dull the senses, she momentarily pondered. She took a candle from a small table and took a few steps towards him. When the flickering light caught his features, he stepped from the corner.

Gabrielle blinked. She would know those blue eyes under any disguise, she thought, trying not to faint on sight. "Xena," she asked, seeking confirmation, as her mind was occupied by many things, and only one of them involved the warrior's rancor.

When Xena stepped forward and gripped the bard's arm, the young woman startled. "What are you doing here, dressed like that," Gabrielle asked, coming to and seeing Xena clearly for the first time.

"I asked you first," the tall warrior retorted.

Gabrielle blushed and moved away from her friend. Sparing the woman a glance, she smiled. The Warrior Princess looked pretty convincing as a man. She wore a dark beard to conceal her fine cheekbones and expressive lips. Fake eyebrows hid her own sculpted ones. She had greased her hair and combed it back off her face. Its silky length was pulled back into a tail. Her feminine curves were disguised by a shapeless leather tunic and pants. Gone was her chakram, but she still had her sword, which she was wearing at her hip through a wide belt.

Xena began to squirm under Gabrielle's scrutiny; her mood darkened. First the itchy beard, and now Gabrielle in that costume, studying every detail of her own disguise. And to top it all, the small woman's nipples were still enticing her for some attention. "Gabrielle?"

The bard snapped out of her fantasy into which she had let herself be drawn. "Oh, yeah," she answered, clearing her throat. She stepped to the other side of the room to put some distance between her raging hormones and Xena. This room, that bed, and the woman after whom I lust, she thought, not a good thing considering the circumstances. Shaking her head to clear her wandering thoughts, she began her explanation.

***

When the bard finished her story, Xena let her annoyance show. "Can't you, just once, listen to me when I tell you to stay put?"

Gabrielle fought her tears to not fall. She had disappointed her friend...again. "I'm sorry, Xena. I just wanted to prove to you that I'm not...a useless little girl any more," she whispered in a small voice.

The warrior's anger melted as a tear fell down the young woman's cheek. "I know...you aren't...a little girl, Gabrielle." Far from it, her mind and body screamed as her eyes soaked up a vision of skin and gossamer. "You could have gotten hurt...or worse," the warrior explained, taking a step towards the bard. When Gabrielle shuddered and retreated to a corner, Xena became alarmed. "You weren't hurt or...anything...were you?"

Oh, no, not yet, the bard thought. She felt like she was on fire. Every time she closed her eyes to blink, all she could see was Xena lying on the bed, beckoning to her with open arms. "No," she gulped. "Nothing like that."

Xena was perplexed. If Gabrielle hadn't been forced to play the role she had assumed, then what was wrong with her? The warrior grew jealous at the image of her companion in the arms of some strange man. But then...obviously the bard hadn't been with anyone, for her sharp senses could smell her need. Her own body screamed its desires as her sex began to quiver in erotic empathy. "Gabrielle...."

The bard sharply raised her head. The dancing light of the candles threw the warrior's tortured visage into relief. She had never, from anyone, heard her name said in that tone of voice. From Xena she had heard it in anger, annoyance, humor, and affection, but never with such passion and unfulfilled desire. Unconsciously she wiped a sweaty hand down an exposed thigh.

Swallowing the lump in her throat, Xena barely managed to suppress a groan. Gabrielle really has no idea how seductive she is, she thought. Trying to ignore her own feelings, the warrior closed her eyes and took a deep breath . "You know, if you need a man to take care of...your problem..., I'm sure that you could go downstairs and find one easy enough." Xena fought with the demon of jealousy that threatened her sanity. She jumped when gentle fingers raked through the false beard. When she opened her eyes again, she found that Gabrielle had closed the distance between them. She stared down at the smoky green eyes that studied her face.

"Xena," the bard began, sending a silent prayer to Aphrodite, "I don't want a man right now." She caught an edge of Xena's beard and carefully pulled it off her face. "I've searched half the rooms in this place," she whispered, "and in every one, I saw what I wanted, what I desired, what fuels the fire of my passion," she softly explained as she removed the bushy eyebrows.

"What did you see, Gabrielle?"

The bard's lips parted in surprise. Xena's question had been asked in a voice that was rough and primal, betraying her anguished need. The tone started a river between her legs. "In every room, no matter who was...in it...I saw myself with...my friend, my confidant, the woman I travel with, the woman I have been in love with ever since I first saw her," she finally admitted, putting voice to her most intimate of secrets.

Xena really wanted to push the bard away, to reclaim some sense of composure, but with every word that formed on her sweet lips, the warrior was drawn closer. She could feel the heat of the bard's body through the her leather shirt. Her thighs began to tingle and burn where Gabrielle pressed against her. She was lost to the love and the woman that inflamed her. She closed her eyes once more when she felt the first tentative touch against her lips.

Gabrielle mentally counted to three to allow Xena the opportunity to rebuff her advances. When no objections were forthcoming, the bard pressed her body closer, shuddering at the heat that emanated from the warrior. With movements made unsure by lingering doubt, she stood on her toes and placed another gentle kiss against lips that were surprisingly soft.

Sparks were arcing between her lips and groin. A burst of need that began in her gut, ended in a fresh wave of desire that she was sure had soaked through her breeches. Forcing herself to go slow and be gentle, Xena took Gabrielle into her arms and returned the pressure, molding their bodies against one another. When the bard's lips parted against hers, she followed suit and invited the young woman to explore as she wished.

Gabrielle sighed in victory at Xena's surrender. She accepted it with a gentle probing of her tongue, mapping the moist textures of the warrior's mouth. When Xena's tongue began trading thrusts, and in turn, delving into her mouth, the bard lost all notions of patience. Hers became a primitive need which she unleashed with a passionate fury. With eager hands she disrobed the warrior, satisfied when their bodies met once again, separated only by the sheer veils of her costume. She gasped in pleasure as her wanton hands roamed over Xena's back, discovering the muscles that shifted and bunched when the warrior lifted her off her feet.

Xena was lost in the moans that wrapped around her tongue as she greedily drank from her lover's lips. When Gabrielle began tearing at her clothes, she offered no resistance. The meeting of their bodies was electric. When the warrior lifted the small woman into her arms to carry her to the bed, she found herself wrapped around the waist by Gabrielle's legs. The shivered despite the heat that their bodies were generating.

She laid her lover on the bed and stretched her long body beside her. "This costume is beautiful on you," she said breathlessly as she traced a veil that had settled along a muscular thigh. "So beautiful," she reverently whispered as she lowered her head to taste from the bard's lips. She trailed her lips across her cheek and down the side of her neck, stopping to nibble at the pulse that was beating double-time. Her hand traced erotic patterns over Gabrielle's soft skin, her fingers tracing ribs that framed her firm stomach.

Gabrielle was mindless, lost in the sensations that Xena was causing with her mouth and hand. When the warrior began to caress the skin below her covered breasts, she arched her back, silently begging the warrior to venture higher. The moment that the warrior complied, brushing callused fingertips over her aching nipples, colors exploded behind the bard's closed eyes. Her breathing quickened and she felt the first stirrings of her climax. "Gods, Xena, how do you do that with just a touch," she asked in awe after the warrior had released her lips.

Chuckling against the bard's ear, the warrior wickedly replied, "We haven't even started yet, my love."

"Xena, please take me now. I've been ready for this for so long, and this place has gotten me so...."

"Horny?"

The bard wrinkled her forehead at the description. She was beyond that. She was liquid fire in the warrior's skilled hands. She was panting like a wolf bitch in heat; primal need instinctively drove her to find release.

She whimpered when Xena stopped to raise herself, but then moaned when the warrior settled on top of her. Eagerly she parted her legs to allow the tall woman room to situate herself. And when Xena rocked back and forth a few times to get comfortable, she gasped. That was all it took, just that tiny bit of friction, and she found herself in the throes of a powerful orgasm.

When her breathing returned to normal (at least under the circumstances), she heard the warrior moan in her ear. "I guess you were ready."

The bard chuckled and then growled, rolling them over to straddle the warrior with a strength that surprised them both. "That's what you get for teasing me for so long," she said before she captured Xena's lips in a searing kiss.

When Gabrielle's mouth released her, Xena's eyes were treated to the arousing display of her lover stripping off her costume, one veil at a time. When the last one was unwrapped from her full breasts, she released a ragged breath. "By the gods, Gabrielle, you are beautiful." Xena drank in the contours of the bard's femininity. Her gentle slopes and angles were built for loving. When she reached to cover a breast, Gabrielle stopped her with a forearm block.

"I want to please you, Xena. It's all I've been able to think about for so long," the small woman admitted.

Xena nodded her assent and allowed Gabrielle to push her arms over her head. When she felt the first caress, she gripped the underside of the headboard and thanked the gods that her friend had been true to form and ended up at the brothel. When the bard captured a dark nipple in her teeth, Xena arched off the bed and cried out her love.

***

"Gabrielle?"

The bard raised her head from its pillow on Xena's breast. "Yes, Xena?"

"I know that you were trying to help find Princess Cyralla here, but do you even know what she looks like?"

Gabrielle profusely blushed. How dumb can I get, she thought. "Uh...well, not exactly," she mumbled, ducking her head. "I kind of figured that she'd look, well...you know...royal, or something."

Xena couldn't stop the grin that lazily spread across her face. With the exception of the astounding revelations of love that the bard had shared with her earlier, the young woman was at the very least, predictable. The warrior eased her lover's plight with a swift and gentle kiss to the top of her head.

"Did you know, Xena?"

Twirling a strand of blond hair around her finger, the warrior smiled. "Uh, huh."

"How?"

"Did you see the portrait in King Agoron's throne room?"

"Yeah, but I thought...that woman was older...I figured that the princess would be...younger."

"No, that was her," Xena confirmed. "King Agoron fathered Cyralla when he was not much older than a boy. As young as he was, though, he took responsibility for her. And when she came of age and was able to marry, he was forged a beneficial alliance with Prince Demothon in the north."

Suddenly, the bard sat on the bed, startling the warrior who had been tracing patterns along her muscled bicep. "Xena...I did see the Princess...she is here. I saw her in room...uh...let's see," the bard tried to remember the different scenarios that she had seen played out behind the doors earlier that day. "Door number six," she finished, her face turning crimson at the memory.

Xena pressed a hand to her lover's face to cool the heat that was rushing over her skin. "Must have been pretty good," the warrior guessed.

Green eyes whipped down to study ocean blues. "You knew she was here," Gabrielle began, mostly thinking aloud to herself. "But you don't seem worried about it," she distractedly mumbled. "Xena?"

"Yes, Gabrielle?" The warrior watched as the bard began to put it all together. Just like her to figure it out *after* she's gotten herself in deep, Xena thought.

"Cyralla wasn't kidnapped, was she?"

"No."

Gabrielle gathered everything she knew into a big mental pile and began sifting through it, putting the pieces together. The matron's words from earlier began playing through her mind like a taunting sing-song. "Work or play," the owner had said to Gabrielle when the bard had first walked into The Golden Chalice.

Xena knew the moment that the bard had figured it out. The young woman's green eyes widened and her breath was inhaled on a gasp of understanding. Lacing her hands behind her head, the warrior sternly reminded herself not to laugh when Gabrielle began to recap the situation.

"Okay...so...Princess Cyralla wasn't kidnapped. Nope, she's here on her own," Gabrielle clarified, shaking her head. "When I heard those men at the tavern, they said that she was here, but not that she was being held against her will. That was just me jumping to conclusions," she freely admitted while she mentally pounded herself in the head with her staff.

"So...that must mean that the princess is here willingly." Gabrielle studied her lover's eyes for a sign that she was on the right track. Unable to read Xena's usual stoic look, she continued. "When I came here, I got the option of working or playing...so that must mean that the princess is working?"

Xena allowed the smile to curve her lips. "Yes, but it really isn't work, Gabrielle. The proprietor just wanted to know whether or not you wanted to choose your own lover, or whether you wanted to be chosen yourself. This bordello is the type of place where women can earn extra money if she needs it, or where she can simply enjoy anonymous sexual freedom."

"But Princess Cyralla...."

"She comes here all the time, Gabrielle."

"So, if you knew, why did you come looking for her?"

Xena shrugged. "I wanted to make sure that she wasn't being blackmailed or anything like that," she explained.

Gabrielle smiled in relief. "I guess I'm glad you were here, then. If it hadn't been you...that found me...I'm not sure what I would have done."

Grasping the bard's hand to offer support, Xena shushed her fears. "Gabrielle, were you approached at all while you were looking for the princess?" When the bard hesitantly nodded, the warrior grinned. "Of course you were. A person would have to be either blind or insane not to choose you," she answered herself, tracing a delicate line along her lover's jaw.

"In all those instances, were you ever forced against your will to do anything?"

"No...in fact...it had been easy to turn them away."

"House rules, my love. No one has to go with anyone they don't want to. Forcing a person against their will is absolutely forbidden and punishable by expulsion and Bladorn."

"Bladorn?"

With exaggerated hand gestures, Xena explained how big the house bouncer was. "He keeps everyone in line."

Gabrielle nodded her head when realized that she really hadn't been in that much trouble...other than the lust that had nearly killed her, she thought with derision. But then, with a wicked grin, she remembered that Xena was there to take care of that sort of thing...from now until.... "Xena?"

"Yes, Gabrielle?"

"I'm glad that you chose me," the bard whispered as she snuggled down into the warrior's embrace.

"No, Gabrielle," Xena exclaimed, squeezing her lover closer, "we chose each other."

"Hmm...uh...Xena...."

"Yes?"

"How much should I charge you? I mean, the house gets forty percent."

When the bard began to giggle, the warrior allowed her chagrin to melt into mischievousness. "Well, forty percent of a freebie is nothing," she figured as she rolled the bard onto her back.

Gabrielle looked up into Xena's blue eyes and smiled, letting all of her love for the warrior to communicate itself. "Maybe I should pay you, warrior...hmm...or maybe I should force you to join my harem?"

"Me," the tall woman asked with mock indignation before she dipped her head to taste the supple skin at the bard's neck. "You're the one who's the Persian princess. Maybe I should play the Sultan and abduct you for my lascivious purposes."

Arching her body to better expose the body parts that were clamoring for attention, Gabrielle chuckled. "I'm glad that woman didn't give me the Amazon princess costume. I think it might have been something of a sacrilege for me."

"Well, my sweet little Queen, it wouldn't matter to me," Xena mumbled as she took a delicate lobe between her teeth. "Princess...no princess...you could be a simple village girl who likes to tell stories, and I'd still give my heart and soul into your care."

"Oh, Xena," Gabrielle gasped as the warrior's callused fingertips began caressing delicate skin, "remind me to do this again some time."

"As you wish, princess," Xena complied as her mouth began its journey south.

***

EPILOGUE

"Evening, Maerta," the young woman greeted as she stepped into the common room, nodding her head in familiar recognition to a few of the people who were lounging on plush furniture.

"Good to see you, Honey," the matron replied as she took the other woman's cloak. "I didn't expect to see you for another moon."

"Yeah, well, we were traveling through and thought we'd stop," the blond explained.

Maerta wrapped a perfumed arm around the young woman and led her to the bar. "So tell me, Honey...what is your preference for this evening?"

The young woman studied her reflection in the mirror behind the counter. Green eyes lost their focus as she focused on the fantasy that she had been working on in her overactive imagination. "I think that maybe...this time...I'd like to sample the Warrior Princess," she answered.

"I assumed as much," the older woman revealed. "She's up in your usual room," she said with a nod of her head up the stairs.

"Thank you, Maerta," the young woman said as she handed the owner a small pouch of dinars.

"You'll be wanting a costume of your own?"

The small woman turned and pursed her lips, tapping her foot in thought. "I think maybe I'll be an Amazon Princess this evening. How does that sound?"

"Sounds like a good time to me," Maerta answered, leading her customer to the side room that stored all the house props.

As the young woman began to undress, the matron turned and cleared her throat. "Ah...Gabrielle?"

The bard looked up from the laces on her top and tilted her head in question. "Yes?"

"Please...don't let her destroy the bed this time."

Gabrielle chuckled when she remembered their last trip to The Golden Chalice. They had pretended to be the barbarian and the virgin. Things had really gotten wild that night. And Xena had been such a willing virgin, she thought with a twinge of lust. "I'll certainly try, Maerta."

***

The Warrior Princess was waiting for her when she entered the room. Her face was a mask of rage, hate, and arrogance. In defiance to the air of superiority that the dark warlord exuded, the Amazon stiffened her spine and dared the tall woman to say something. When the warlord uncoiled her whip to trail along the floor, the Amazon stood her ground, fighting against her natural inclinations.

What she really wanted to do was strip off her clothes and jump on the oversized bed, to surrender her body so that Xena could tie her hands with the braided leather and ravish her unhindered. But, she mentally sighed, the rules of the game said that they had to keep up the pretense of their roles for at least half a candlemark. After that, they usually just stripped down and let their passion take its natural course.

Fighting against the urge to shiver in anticipation, the Amazon Princess watched as the warrior stalked across the room, caressing the handle of her whip. The small woman refused to close her eyes as desire burst into a flame in her loins. This is definitely going to be good, she thought, as the warlord ran a pointed tongue over bared teeth.

"Kneel to me," the dark warlord growled.

"Never," the Amazon replied, her voice already hoarse with need.

A feral grin crossed the warrior's features. "Never, huh? Well, then...Amazon...I guess I'll just have to convince you, won't I?"

"Give it your best shot," the small woman retorted as her hands began to tremble, belying her need to touch the warrior who loomed over her.

"I intend to," the warlord replied as she wrapped the whip around the Amazon's shoulders and pulled her close.

"I will never bow to you, warrior," the blond replied as she tried to step away from the leather embrace.

The Warrior Princess chuckled low in her throat. She loved a challenge. And at the moment, she was being sorely tested by the hormones that were raging through her body to converge in her loins. "Don't speak so quickly, little one," she whispered with a guttural moan. "I'll have you on your knees in no time."

Gabrielle's eyes deepened to the smoky green that announced to her lover that she was more than ready and willing to fall to her knees and pay tribute to the Warrior Princess in the most intimate of ways.

Xena closed her eyes against the visual onslaught. "Gabrielle," she softly cried with need, "every time you look at me like that...we never get to play for long," she nearly complained.

The small woman stepped closer and wrapped the warrior in her arms. "Love, we can play all you want," she suggestively moaned as she pulled her lover's lips to her own.

Grinning to herself, Xena let the bard break all the rules. After all, she thought, I never could resist her.

"Xena?"

"Yes, love?"

"Take me to bed...and bring the whip."

"Yes, my princess," the warrior replied, complying with the bard's request. Some day, she thought, she would have to thank Princess Cyralla for introducing them to The Golden Chalice.

THE END.