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Byleth shifted awkwardly on the uncomfortable stone surface of the throne. Rhea’s gaze continued boring into her, frustratingly silent as she stared at her. Byleth was sitting here just like Rhea had asked, she didn’t know what she was doing wrong.
“Rhea?” Byleth spoke softly, trying to gently prompt her into giving her some direction.
Rhea was too lost in her own thoughts, unconsciously looking past Byleth and at the throne.
“I was so sure it would work…” Rhea’s words were so quiet, Byleth barely caught them. Byleth didn’t know what she was talking about, but she was clearly distraught. It pained her to see her so upset. Even if she didn’t know the cause, she could at least offer her some comfort.
Byleth got up from the throne, moving in slow strides towards the Archbishop as if she was afraid of waking her from her thoughts too abruptly. Byleth gently placed a hand over one of her arms, and Rhea finally took notice of her. She looked surprised for a moment, as if she didn’t expect Byleth to be capable of moving on her own.
Rhea looked into her eyes, so filled with concern for her. How long had it been since there was such concern so completely dedicated to her alone.
She hadn’t succeeded in restoring her mother’s consciousness, but…
Maybe she had been going about this the wrong way. The professor hadn’t had emotions before, wasn’t that proof? The same way it was her mother’s hair and her mother’s power in Byleth, surely it was also her mother’s emotions. Byleth had just been a vessel after all, and now the vessel had been filled, who had filled it if not her mother?
Her mother had come back to her, just in a different form. With a bit of manual shaping and polish… Really in many ways the professor was already similar to her own mother. Maybe the ritual wasn’t a failure after all.
Byleth was still looking at her with that expression of confused concern. Rhea brought her other hand up to cup her face. She could see it now, she just had to look deeper inside her, learn to love her mother in a new form. She drew her into a tight embrace, Byleth paused a moment, struggling to understand Rhea’s emotional rollercoaster. Tentatively she returned the embrace. Whatever Rhea was going through, it was probably best to just be comforting and supportive.
—
Byleth knocked at Rhea’s door. She’d been acting strange since their visit to the holy tomb. At their weekly teatime it seemed like Byleth’s words just rolled off of her. It wasn’t that Rhea was distant, it was actually the opposite. Rhea was intently focused on her the whole time. Just not her words. It was like she was evaluating her or studying her. Rhea kept letting the conversation die; lost in a world of her own, leaving Byleth awkwardly shifting in her chair during the ensuing bouts of silence. Concerned for her, Byleth had asked her if something was wrong, and that seemed to break through to her. She seemed touched by Byleth’s concern, but assured her nothing was the matter.
There must be something else going on with the Holy Tomb, something that had been worrying Rhea so much, but that she was shielding everyone else from. Rhea was too selfless for her own good sometimes, Byleth just wanted to help her, but she didn’t know how to help if Rhea wouldn’t tell her.
Rhea opened the door, breaking into her usual kind smile when she saw Byleth. “Ah Professor, glad you’re here”
Unexpectedly Rhea pulled her into another hug. They never used to do this, neither of them were usually the warm or touchy types. It had been strange enough as a one-off incident in the tomb, but twice seemed like the start of a pattern. Awkwardly Byleth wrapped her arms stiffly around her, keeping her touch light. Even if Rhea had had a sudden fondness for physical touch, Byleth was still unfamiliar with it.
It was an odd thing, Byleth didn’t know when she should let go, how long it was appropriate for her to stand there pressed together. Byleth wasn’t sure she liked the sensation, it could be a bit overwhelming. She couldn’t help blushing in spite of herself, which only made her feel more overwhelmed. The feeling of their bodies pressed together, the smell of Rhea’s perfume, and compounded by the confusion at why Rhea was acting this way recently.
Rhea finally loosened her grip, and Byleth hurried to copy the motion, quickly withdrawing her arms and stepping back a bit.
“Please, come in!” But Rhea invaded Byleth’s personal space again just as soon as she had regained it, guiding her into the room with a hand on her back.
Rhea left behind most of her ceremonial attire today, dressed in more simple church vestiges. A simple white dress, highlighted with a couple accents of dark blue, and raised in a high collar. Her hair fell freely over it, unencumbered by the usual elaborate jewelry that decorated it.
Rhea steered her through a small front room, lavishly decorated with ornate paintings and expensive furniture, probably made to receive guests in. She was walking a little quicker than normal, she must be excited about something. Rhea opened the door connecting it to the next room.
Rhea’s hand left her back, so Byleth assumed they were staying here.
“Is this your bedroom?” Byleth asked, surveying the room. Belatedly, she noted the distinct lack of bed. There was a dresser, and several clothes hung up in an open closet, with space set aside for the elaborate jewelry that went with the archbishop’s position. as well as a full length mirror, and a plush chair with a small hassock in front of it, but otherwise was completely austere compared to the front room.
Rhea chuckled. “No, this is a dressing room, professor. I need attendants to help dress me in most of my clothes.”
Byleth hadn’t heard of such a thing before.
“Oh.”
She stumbled past her mistake. “Well uh- you called for me Lady Rhea?”
“Yes, Yes. Of course, it’s time I told you,” The Archbishop gave her a smile, full of warmth, and the slightest hint of excitement. She continued: “I’ve told you before that I see great potential in you, and I want to help you realize that potential.”
She grabbed hold of Byleth’s hands. “I’d like to make you a bishop in the church. My apprentice in essence. You’ve been a wonderful professor so far, but there’s something truly special about you, something that the church needs. I think you could go so much farther if you joined the church directly. And not just for the church’s sake, but for all Fódlan.”
Byleth raised her eyebrows, she was glad Rhea thought of her so highly, but she was hesitant to abandon her students, they were all so promising, and to leave suddenly in the middle of their education would surely disrupt their learning. Byleth hesitated.
“If I can be perfectly truthful with you Byleth, the role I have planned for you is much more important than even a bishop. Actually… I hope that one day you will succeed me in the role of Archbishop itself,” Byleth’s eyes opened wide, if her eyebrows could raise any higher, they would.
Rhea carried on speaking, holding her hands tighter: “When I say there’s something special in you I don’t simply mean that you’re talented. I mean special in a singular way, completely unique. Byleth, there’s more in you than you yourself probably know. Something that makes you the only one who can possibly take this role.”
“Lady Rhea I–” Byleth sputtered and halted. She really didn’t know what to say. Hadn’t Lady Rhea always been the archbishop? Why would she need a successor now? And why her? Supposedly she had inherited some of the powers of the progenitor goddess, but that didn’t mean she had inherited the things that would make her a capable Archbishop. As far as Byleth was concerned, what she had gotten from the goddess was purely superficial.
Then again, how many times had Rhea confided in her the weight of being the Archbishop. The loneliness, the responsibility of it. How could anyone stand living that way for centuries? Even if Byleth wasn’t sure she could take up Rhea’s mantle, maybe it was what Rhea needed. It had bothered her at night sometimes after they had tea together; That bitterly lonely look on her face as she complained to Byleth about how distant being the Archbishop made her feel. And the unrelentingly stoic responsibility with which she approached the job. Whether she was exhausted or ill or perfectly healthy, she’d always put on that same weary resolved expression, and go take up the burden of the Archbishop for another day. Hadn’t Byleth laid awake at night, wishing there was something she could do to help?
Besides, it wasn’t as if Rhea was just dropping her into it; she would show her how to be the Archbishop. Rhea would tell her what she lacked, what she needed to whittle away, how she would need to change. She could trust Rhea, if she thought that Byleth should be the next archbishop, she had her reasons.
Byleth met her eyes again, it was her turn to take up that resolved expression. “I trust your judgement Lady Rhea, if you think this is what’s best I’ll follow your guidance… But what about my students?”
Lady Rhea smiled resumed, eagerness shining through her his usual practiced politeness. “You can finish the year if it’s that important to you. We can begin your training here, but once the year is done we’ll go into seclusion at another monastery.”
Byleth wasn’t certain about the decision, but Rhea seemed relieved that she was willing to do this. Rhea knew what was best for the church, Byleth could have faith in that, if not in herself. Rhea had been so preoccupied with something since their visit to the holy tomb, it was probably best that she listened to her.
The Archbishop’s smile widened, allowing her eagerness to fully shine through, the last vestiges of her polite veneer falling away. “Actually, I hoped that today would serve as your first lesson.”
“Oh– very well,” Byleth was taken aback again by how quickly this process was moving.
“Before we begin professor, I want to be sure that you understand that I expect you to be completely dedicated to the goddess. To take the goddesses' own light into you means that nothing can remain in the dark. Every part of you will be examined, do you understand?”
“Yes”
No. She didn’t really understand what Rhea meant, but surely she’d come to understand it. Byleth had learned to be a professor on the job after all, she could handle the unexpected, so long as it was for a good cause.
“Good. Then let’s begin.” Lady Rhea moved closer to Byleth, laying her hands gently on her shoulders. The way Rhea kept touching her without her permission was beginning to grate on her. The way her face would redden with heat was overwhelming, she couldn’t decide if she liked it or not. She liked being close to Rhea. Maybe. When she touched her so suddenly it burned, a fire flaring out from wherever they touched. She didn’t like how uncontrollable it felt, she wasn’t used to such powerful feelings, and she couldn’t stand being at their mercy. She just wished Rhea would back away just a little, allow her to have the control she needed.
Before she could articulate any of this to Rhea, she realized that Rhea had hooked her fingers beneath her coat, lifting it off her shoulders. Byleth’s already overwhelmed state was further compounded by the confusion of whatever Rhea was doing. Dumbstruck, she allowed Rhea to slip the coat off her arms. Rhea crumpled the coat, tossing it on the couch without a second glance. With that her hands were back on Byleth, settling on her stomach this time, fingers moving beneath her shirt and—
“Lady Rhea! Wait– wha- what are you doing?” Byleth, now bright red in the face, grabbed Rhea’s hands by the wrists, halting whatever it was she was doing.
Lady Rhea looked down at Byleth’s hands grasping her wrists, then back up at Byleth, raising her eyebrows.
The way the Archbishop was looking at her somehow made her feel like the one doing something wrong. Instinctually, she released Rhea’s wrists. And hurried to spit out an apology.
“Oh–Um, sorry, I didn’t mean to–”
Rhea gave a contented hum, moving her hands back against the muscle of Byleth’s stomach, slipping her hands beneath the tight fabric and pulling it up.
“Lady Rhea– Please! Just wait a moment–” Byleth stumbled backwards from the touch, once again stopping whatever Rhea was doing, and putting some much needed distance between herself and the Archbishop.
Rhea’s brows knit together, once again fixing her eyes on her. “Is there a problem Byleth?”
Once again Byleth felt an instinctual twinge of shame. “No– Uh, well– Could you just tell me what you’re doing?”
“Byleth, if you’re acting this way already, then I’ll have a very difficult time teaching you to be the Archbishop. We must get rid of the shame you’re feeling.” Rhea’s tone was patient, each word spoke slowly and clearly.
Byleth maintained her guarded posture, she still didn’t understand what the Archbishop was doing.
Rhea sighed. “I know how to explain this to you. Come with me.” Rhea moved around to Byleth’s side, approaching her slowly so as to not scare her away. She lightly placed her hand over the small of her back, more of a reminder of her presence than a firm touch, steering her across the room to a full-length mirror.
Rhea made eye contact with Byleth in the mirror, placing both her hands on her shoulders. “Byleth, what do you see?”
“You and me?” Byleth wasn’t sure what the Archbishop wanted to hear.
“I’ll give you a hint,” Rhea said, running her hands through Byleth’s hair, gently combing any knots out of the otherworldly green.
Byleth still wasn’t sure what Rhea was getting at. “Our hair is the same color?”
Rhea smiled a little, bemused. “Yes, but your hair wasn’t always this color…”
Rhea paused, hands stilling, staring at Byleth intently in the mirror. “It suits you. It’s a manifestation of your connection with the goddess.”
Rhea resumed her ministrations. “But your beautiful hair isn’t where your connection ends. Your hair is most obvious, but I can see the goddess throughout all of you—See the divinity in all of you. You shouldn’t be ashamed of what is divine.”
“When we’re created in this world, we have nothing but our bare bodies. A tabula rasa, a blank slate… Byleth, to become something new, and you can’t take the old with you. It’s a metaphorical rebirth, and you should enter this new life like you entered the last one.”
Byleth at least understood what Rhea wanted now, if not really the reasoning for it.
“. . . Is something so metaphorical really necessary?” Byleth wasn’t exactly eager.
Rhea’s patient smile finally faltered, hands coming to rest heavily on Byleth’s shoulders. “Yes Byleth, it is. The church is built on ritual, it’s good for you to get acquainted with it.”
Rhea’s gaze pinned Byleth in place as her hands descended; wrapping her hands around to Byleth’s stomach for a third time. Byleth was sufficiently cowed, allowing Rhea to lift the shirt over her head without resistance. Their eye contact was briefly broken by the shirt covering Byleth’s eyes.
Rhea moved her hands back down Byleth’s body, skimming down her stomach more than could possibly be accidental. Rhea’s intentions were seeming less and less pure by the second. Byleth decided to keep her complaints to herself. Even if Rhea had ulterior motives, it was probably still at least in part for a good cause. She didn’t think Rhea would lie to her so outrightly.
Rhea briefly moved away from her to retrieve the hassock, setting it beside Byleth. Then her hands were back on Byleth. Her eyes followed Rhea’s hands as they descended her body again, hooking under her shorts and tights. Rhea tugged them down below her hips, lowering herself to her knees on the hassock to allow her to pull them all the way down to Byleth’s feet.
Byleth followed Rhea’s guidance, stepping out of one leg, then the other, leaving her staring back at her own reflection in only her underwear. With Rhea kneeling beside her head only came up to just above Byleth’s hips. She didn’t stop staring at Byleth through the mirror, looking at her face at first, but soon her eyes began drifting downwards. It wasn’t subtle, the analytical way her eyes traveled over her body. They came to a halt at her breasts. The way she was looking at Byleth didn’t seem much like a pure appreciation for the divine. Byleth could feel heat blooming across her chest. She tried to suppress it, keeping her body still despite her internal protests. Overcome the shame; just like Rhea instructed her.
Rhea’s eyes lingered, the weight of her eyes heavy on her. Byleth could see something buried beneath Rhea’s expression, frustratingly eluding Byleth’s ability to decipher. She stared a bit longer, before her eyes finally began moving even lower, over her stomach, down to her core.
If Byleth had thought the heat on her chest was bad, the heat she felt now was unbearable. The heat spread all over, in her face in uncomfortable prickles, and all the way down to her thighs, and worst of all she began feeling a heat building directly where Rhea was looking. The thin black fabric felt entirely insufficient to protect her, she felt like her entire body was betraying herself to Rhea, telling her every secret Byleth was trying to hide. It took all her resolve not to fold in on herself, to protect herself from Rhea’s penetrating gaze.
Slowly, slowly, Rhea began to lean in closer to her body. She’d be able to feel the heat that must be radiating from her body now. As she got closer and closer to Byleth’s bare skin, her eyelids drifted shut, a small mercy considering the impending danger of skin contact. Rhea pressed her face against Byleth’s hips. Byleth’s embarrassment was mixed with bewilderment at her strange behavior, staring at Rhea as she made a content hum rubbing the soft skin of her face against her leg.
Byleth wasn’t sure what to do in the situation, she was almost naked and the Archbishop herself was burying her face against the softness of her skin. Rhea moved her hands up her leg, coming to rest wrapped around her thigh, contentedly tracing circles on her legs. Byleth was trapped, immobilized both by her own confusion and by the woman currently wrapped around her leg.
Tentatively, Byleth lifted her own hand, lowering it down to Rhea’s head. She hesitated for a moment, hand hovering. It seemed like the right thing to do somehow. She finally closed the air between her head and hand. She ran her hand through Rhea’s hair, mimicking what she had been doing to Byleth just moments before.
Rhea’s contented hum caught for a moment, modulating in surprise before sinking, falling deeper into a dulcet moan. She pushing her head encouragingly up into Byleth’s hand, begging for more contact. Byleth didn’t know what she was expecting, but certainly not such an intense reaction, her hand stilling as quickly as it started.
The sudden cessation broke Rhea’s reverie, as she opened her eyes, blinking a couple times as she looked at Byleth’s reflection in the mirror. Her dreamlike contentedness muddled into confusion as she focused back on Byleth’s face, studying her features as if she had forgotten who she was.
Whatever it was, the moment had passed. Byleth awkwardly pulled her hand away, worried that maybe she overstepped.
Rhea took a moment to return to reality as she looked at Byleth’s face. She rose from the hassock, steadying herself against Byleth, her expression returning to the professional impassiveness Byleth was so used to seeing, obscuring whatever she was thinking.
Rhea returned to her previous task, circling around to Byleth’s front, blocking her view of the mirror, filling her vision. Rhea looked down at her imposingly. She wrapped her arms around her, Byleth thought it was another hug, hurrying to wrap her arms around her in turn. Rhea chuckled, she didn’t squeeze Byleth in a tight embrace like before, instead Byleth felt her fingers fiddling with the hooks of her bra strap behind her back, before tracing the straps up her shoulders, allowing the two loops to fall loosely around her arms. The pressure between them was the only thing holding her bra on her. Rhea’s hands traced down Byleth’s now-naked back. Down her back, back to her hips. Rhea traced her hands over them, pressing tightly in, tracing over the curve of her hips, outlining them, before hooking under Byleth’s underwear, her last scrap of protection. Rhea stepped back from her, allowing the last vestiges of Byleth’s clothing to fall away.
The way Rhea looked at her uncovered breasts made her earlier staring seem downright saintly. Her eyes looked downright hungry as she circled Byleth.
Now there were no clothes to hide behind, Rhea stood behind Byleth in the mirror again. Byleth did all she could not to let embarrassment overcome her, resisting the urge to cover herself with her arms, or angle her body away from the mirror. No matter what she did, she couldn’t hide how the embarrassment would bloom in red patches over her pale skin.
Rhea looked at her in the mirror, expression unreadably neutral. "Do you feel ashamed?”
A rhetorical question, she could read it plain as day written all over her body. "To eliminate shame requires love, you have to come to love what you're ashamed of. That will be the focus of our lesson today.”
“Your body is made from the essence of the goddess, pure divine light.” Rhea brushed her hands through her hair.
“To feel shame about it,” her hands kept descending, over her shoulders, her toned biceps, then onto her stomach.
“ —to fear the divine—” They were getting dangerously low now, tracing her hip bones inwards–
“is nothing short of blasphemy, Byleth.” Byleth let out a high pitched gasp, suddenly losing the breath she had unconsciously been holding in this whole time as Rhea’s hand reached its destination, making a single purposeful stroke across Byleth’s pussy.
“Lady Rhea, wh–”
Rhea used her other hand to direct Byleth’s face back towards the mirror. “Look at yourself”
She began teasingly circling her labia, lazily dragging her fingers around either side, watching her reactions intently.
“Once all your shame is washed away you’ll see the truth of your body.” Byleth shuddered as Rhea’s fingers made another delicate circle, her nails dragging slightly against her skin.
“Such a beautiful thing should be venerated, it’s the goddess incarnate after all.” Rhea’s fingers stopped their teasing strokes, as she brought her middle two fingers together this time, dragging them through her slit instead of around, pressing a kiss into Byleth’s hair. Byleth did her best to stifle the involuntary noise that Rhea dragged out of her. “R– Rhea, I–”
“My goddess returned to me.” Rhea withdrew the finger, focusing her attention higher, finding a slow rhythm circling over her clit. She began to increase her pace, focusing on hitting one spot over and over.. Byleth tried—and failed—to stifle another moan.
“So beautiful in your new form… even though it's different, I’ve learned to love it in its own right.” She stared at Byleth through the mirror, her other hand squeezing her breast for emphasis. Seeing herself in the mirror was having a powerful effect on Byleth. She was melting under her touch, she felt like clay in her hands, being squashed and reformed for her sculptor’s delight. How completely Rhea controlled her form. She shuddered under the onslaught of sensation, leaning more and more on Rhea to support her.
“A changed body was to be expected, but I didn’t expect how your mind would change too. I was too inflexible, I couldn’t see.” Byleth was barely cognizant of what Rhea was saying by this point. Rhea’s skilled fingers certainly weren’t helping Byleth think, every time she began chaining together coherent thoughts, Rhea would touch her in just the right spot, and Byleth’s thoughts were reduced to steam.
“I shouldn’t have expected you to be exactly the same as I remember, you need guidance to remember who you are,” Byleth didn’t have the energy to try to understand Rhea’s theological speeches right now. Even if she could, the only response she could give were the increasingly frequent moans that slipped past her weakening restraint.
Byleth looked at her reflection in the mirror. Already she looked like she was unraveling, coming apart. By contrast Rhea met her gaze in the mirror with a self-satisfied smile, clearly enjoying the effect she was having on Byleth. Rhea seemed determined to finish her work, to completely undo Byleth, pushing her even harder, viciously speeding up then suddenly torturously slow in a way that stole the last vestiges of Byleth’s control.
“Mmgh– Rhea– I’m– I’m getting close” it seemed Byleth was succeeding in getting rid of her shame at least.
Rhea began moving her hand faster. She could feel the pressure building, rising in an overwhelming tide. The wave crested and broke, sweeping her away completely, she shuddered and collapsed back against Rhea. Byleth had never felt as good as she did now, pressed back into Rhea, she no longer needed the safety of distance and control; she needed more of her, needed to be closer to her. Rhea’s hand found the perfect rhythm, carrying up and over each powerful wave as Byleth melted in her hands. Her mind was all fog and steam, nebulous pleasure incapable of thinking. She was barely capable of registering her image in the mirror in front of them.
Before her mind even had time to clear, Rhea pulled away from her, stepping back. Byleth stumbled to gain her balance without Rhea’s support. Byleth turned around to look at her in confusion. Rhea turned away from Byleth, looking back at her from over her shoulder she asked: “Would you help me with these buttons please?” brushing her long green hair over her shoulder to reveal the buttons on her dress trailing down her back.
Byleth was still wobbly from how Rhea had so abruptly left her, trying to remember how to form basic thoughts to complete her new task. Rhea looked back at her expectantly, Byleth hurriedly stumbled forward, finding the first button up near the base of Rhea’s neck. She couldn’t resist leaning in to smell her hair, a scent she didn’t know, but already knew she wanted to become familiar with. She worked her way down with an embarrassing lack of dexterity, fumbling button after button until she reached the final bottom of the dress, right above Rhea’s tailbone. She badly wanted to slip her hands under the fabric of the dress, to feel the now temptingly revealed skin. But touching the Archbishop in such a perverse way felt so instinctually wrong, even with how Rhea had been touching her just moments before.
Rhea just stood still in front of her for a couple moments, as if she was waiting for something to happen, before giving an inquisitive look over her shoulder. Byleth awkwardly clasped her hands in front of her, unsure what to do, hoping Rhea would take charge again.
“Dear, would you please help me take the dress off?” Byleth could hear a hint of exasperation in the tone, which compelled her to hurriedly pull the dress down from her shoulders and to the floor.
“That’s very good dear, now come with me” Rhea grabbed her hand, leading her through another doorway, this time to her actual bedroom. Byleth followed her, trying hard not to stare at Rhea’s perfect naked form. When she was around Rhea she truly understood the church. How could someone as beautiful as Rhea exist if not delicately shaped by the hand of the goddess?
Rhea’s bed frame was luxuriously carved dark wood, raised in four tall posts, covered in a velvety green blanket that looked heavenly soft.
“Sit here.” Rhea indicated a spot in the middle of the bed. Byleth let go of her hand to clamber onto the bed, sitting with her legs folded under her, feeling nervous about dirtying the beautiful velvet of the blanket otherwise.
Rhea crawled onto the bed after her. Byleth tried her best not to stare at how Rhea’s breasts dangled tantalizingly in front of her. With herculean effort she raised her eyes, focusing on Rhea’s face, sporting a self-assured smirk as she crawled closer and closer to Byleth. Byleth could feel her body heating up again as she braced herself for whatever Rhea was preparing to do to her. A single touch would turn the embers that had only just begun to cool back into all-consuming flames.
But Rhea didn’t touch her, instead she turned over and laid down next to Byleth.
“Come here dear”
Rhea motioned for her lay down. She lowered herself slowly towards Rhea. She felt apprehensive being so close to her. Before she could fully lay down Rhea’s hand reached out, cupping the side of her face, gently guiding her even closer, stretching Byleth’s position until Byleth had to plant an arm on the opposite side of Rhea just to keep herself from falling over. Rhea’s hand shifted further, tracing around to the base of Byleth’s head, finding purchase in her hair, before firmly guiding her head down.
It wasn’t rough, Byleth followed Rhea’s hand without resistance. Oh goddess. Rhea arched her head up just a bit to meet her for a kiss. Somehow even after everything Rhea had just done to her this was the most powerful of all. Her lips were so soft, she tasted so good, and it ended far too soon. Rhea broke away from the kiss as abruptly as she had initiated it.
Rhea relaxed her head back against the bed, watching the devotion bloom in Byleth’s eyes as she desperately wished for more. She couldn’t help but affectionately tuck a loose strand of Byleth’s green hair behind her ear. How long had it been since someone had looked at her with such singular devoted love. In some ways this was even better, being an only child meant all the attention was for her.
Rhea drank in the vision at her leisure, Byleth was still making those helpless doe eyes, unsure of what to do without Rhea’s guidance. Rhea could fix that, she was willing to help her relearn, to know everything she was, every way to care for her in the way only her mother knew. She just felt so happy to finally have her back, her heart leapt in her chest, and she pulled her down for another kiss. When they broke away she could barely stand being apart, almost immediately pulling her back for another kiss, then another, and another. She’d been gone for so long. She couldn’t help being greedy, she pushed her tongue into her mouth, tightened her hand in her hair, held her tighter against her. Even pressed so tightly together it still didn’t feel like enough, what could possibly atone for a millenia of separation?
Byleth’s eyes were hazy by the time Rhea finally released her from the barrage of kisses. Byleth felt overwhelmed by Rhea’s affections in every sense of the word. She was barely able to keep her mind together as Rhea’s surprisingly strong grip held her in place for kiss after kiss. Still, it was a good sort of overwhelming, happiness filling and overflowing every part of her body. She had tried to keep her feelings for Rhea repressed for so long, and to see how much Rhea wanted her too felt like her heart might burst. Seeing Rhea panting happily beneath her seemed like an image straight out of a self-indulgent dream.
Rhea’s hand left her hair, tracing over her shoulder and down the toned muscles over her arm to find Byleth’s hand, taking it in her own. Byleth allowed herself to be guided again, watching as Rhea took her hand and placed her hand against her body.
Her skin was so soft against her calloused hands, it felt like heresy to be touching her. But if the archbishop was the one guiding her hand, how could it be wrong? She savoured the feeling of her velvet soft skin, and wished Rhea would guide her hand just a bit slower so she could have more time to appreciate the feeling, to commit the feeling completely to her memory.
Byleth felt like her fingers were generating static just from the touch. Her fingers jumped with electricity as they traced over Rhea’s stomach. Rhea was guiding her hand at what was objectively probably a slow, teasing pace, but to Byleth it still felt far too fast.
Rhea maneuvered her hand even lower, over her soft stomach and down to her waiting pussy. Rhea’s eyes bored into her as her fingers laced over Byleth’s own, pressing against her core in the start of a slow rhythm. Rhea’s fingers guided her own, showing her exactly what Rhea wanted. Teaching her exactly what it was she needed to do. Rhea sharply exhaled beneath her as she moved Byleth’s hand quicker. Bylteth tried to memorize every detail of how Rhea liked it, the speed, where to move her hand, how to angle her fingers. She desperately hoped that it was information that she would need again soon.
Rhea arched beneath her fingers, moaning loudly. Rhea met Byleth’s gaze, her eyes blown wide with desire, using her free hand to drag Byleth down for another series of hungry kisses. Rhea moaned into the kiss, biting down hard on Byleth’s lip. Byleth yelped at the sudden pain, instinctively pulling back. She had barely pulled back before Rhea shoved her over completely, flipping their positions as Rhea climbed on top of her. Pressing her mouth back against Byleth’s for another kiss. When they broke apart the taller woman loomed above her. Rhea looked outright ravenous as she leered down at Byleth’s exposed body.
Part of Byleth twinged in intimidation, but another part of her felt strangely happy. Byleth often worried about the toll constantly keeping up appearances took on Rhea. She lived her entire life perfecting the role of archbishop, she had told Byleth about how it made her feel lonely sometimes. Now Rhea’s desires ruled, it was almost a relief to see her take what she needed. And selfishly, her heart twinged with the thought that Rhea’s desire was entirely for her.
Rhea’s hand worked alone now as she stared down at Byleth, shamelessly fixated on Byleth’s tits. “Your breasts are so pretty” Rhea descended in a trance, lowering herself to close her lips around one of Byleth’s pert nipples. Rhea Byleth arched her back into the stimulation, she felt the vibration of an approving hum from Rhea transmitted directly into her skin. Rhea sucked hard on her tit, circling her nipple with her tongue before briefly breaking free to lavish the rest of her breast with kisses and bites.
Byleth could feel Rhea moving more erratically above her. Rhea bit her particularly hard, and Byleth bit back a noise of pain. She buried her hand in Rhea’s hair, as if it would calm the taller woman’s sexual fervor. Instead it only succeeded in spurring Rhea onwards, as she kissed up Byleth’s neck, biting and sucking what would certainly become difficult-to-hide bruises tomorrow. She had fully settled herself on top of Byleth now, grinding herself against her thigh for extra stimulation.
“Mmmn~ mommy, I’m close–” Byleth paused for a moment at the title, but Rhea didn’t seem to notice as she ground herself harder against Byleth’s thigh.
Byleth put aside her reservations, she wanted Rhea to cum so badly. She used one hand to gently guide Rhea back to her other breast, carding through her hair as she sucked. A moan against her skin told her that was a step in the right direction.
Rhea’s hand was working desperately now, moving quickly as Rhea moaned into Byleth’s tit. She was so close, she just needed a little more to push her over the edge. Byleth felt strange about it but…
“Cum for mommy.”
Byleth’s cheeks burned red with the embarrassment of saying it, but she was rewarded as Rhea arched against her, drenching her thigh as she came. Byleth held her close as she rode out the orgasm, softly stroking her hands through her hair. The older woman collapsed on top of Byleth, exhausted. She closed her eyes as she laid her head on Byleth’s shoulder.
Rhea blinked her eyes half open, enough to give Byleth a tired smile before closing them again. Byleth’s heart swelled with affection. She wrapped her arms around her and held her close, cradling her against the cold. She stroked her hand through Rhea’s hair, unsticking sweaty strands from her forehead and brushing it gently behind her ears. She needed a bath to get rid of the sweat, but it could wait. For now she just wanted to let Rhea rest. She hummed the lullaby Rhea had taught her as she drifted off to sleep; safe in Byleth’s arms.