Moiraine added a blanket to a pile already placed on her lap.
Lan's tent made of strong waterproof leather was an excellent shield from the howling wind, but couldn't do much against the cruel reality of winter in the Borderlands.
I should have known, thought Moiraine bitterly, that if they called a hint of sunlight the New spring, the winter would be unbearable to say the least.
She couldn't remember the last time she felt this because she never did-her mind screamed at her, the annoyance the only thing, keeping it from freezing over.
That, and the fact they still had no idea, where the Dragon Reborn was.
She lacked the enthusiasm she felt five years ago, when alongside Siuan she started her desperate , how she missed were the worst, silent loneliness creeping into her bed, instead of Siuan's loving arms.
Last time they talked in Chacin, they barely had time to say goodbye.
With the chaos that the deaths of prince Bryce and the others caused, she and Lan were lucky to leave the town in the first managed to do so, only because of Cal, Siuan's beloved footman, who escorted them through a small, barely guarded gate behind the royal stables.
When she finished kissing Cal-thoroughly, Siuan caught Moiraine's look, and even blushing managed to put on that unbearably stubborn expression claiming that *She had no idea what she was missing*
Moiriane was pretty sure Cal laughed!Laughed! At her!?And Lan raised an eyebrow, burn him!
Hah, like she never kissed anyone before!She kissed Cormanes many times! She even kissed Ryne once!Not that she was proud of that, of course, but it still happened none the less.
And men often glanced at her, alright, some more then glanced...honestly most stared!Until they saw Lan, and his sword anyway.
Burn him, and his raised eyebrow both!
In times like this she wondered how she could stand him in the same room, let alone the same man was arrogant, stubborn, secretive, bossy and intolerably were complete opposites!
-she was reminiscing as she heard footsteps pacing through the snow.
She had known it was Lan, even before he entered the tent, completely wet and half-frozen.
She jumped out of the blankets instantly, and started wrapping him in them,channeling air and fire simultaneously to warm him, and dry him, as much as looked better, but in obvious need of Healing.
She placed him on her pillow, clasping her hands around his head hen he started trembling violently.
Grasping his head firmly she wondered, what, under the Light,happened to shaking subsided, but he seemed even worse after the Healing.
His dark heir only added to the contrast of his pale his stabbing blue eyes now looked blurred and touched his forehead...cold.
Impossible, it couldn't be right, not after Healing!
But it wasn't a wound that tortured him, it was this bloody cold, and after the energy the Healing has taken from him, no wonder his body couldn't recover.
The blankets weren't enough, that much she knew, and while thinking a way to help him, she remembered the way Siuan had first entered her bed...
The nights were long in the Tower, even more so due to the chill stalking it's wast empty corridors,and when she complained, to her roommate, Siuan told her a story about the way her father saved a small child they rescued from drowning.
The best way to heat someone, she said, is to share your warmth with worked for her, it will work for Lan.
Pity she also heard Siuan's foolish claims about not knowing what she was missing.
The trouble was, she did, and it hit her the moment she lowered herself next to Lan and started pulling back the blankets.
He seemed lost and unaware of his own , on the other hand, felt fully aware of it.
Every sound he made, breathing heavily, and mumbling silently, every slight move he made...He even felt much warmer now that she was this close to him.
Still, she cuddled in case.
She felt her own temperature rising, as he turned to face her.
His eyelids were barely open, but kept mumbling under his about a lake and a smart he was delirious,a smart trolock!
Yet,Lan was pretty smart, and he was a man.
Stop it!-she ordered was acting like an Accepted, and a future Green too!
It has been three years since she bedded her first was a lord of a big Andoran house.
Oh, all right, he was an actor who played an Andoran lord, but he was so charming! He had a perfect smile,and was not at all to tall, with amazing manners and a perfect stature.
Unfortunately there was nothing perfect or amazing about that night. It was quite troublesome really, and she had no desire in doing it again...for some time at least.
Alas, three years were indeed, long enough, and she felt urges, that, unlike Lan, she preferred not to satisfy in an average tavern.
The shier thought of Lan fulfilling his urges made her blush.
She knew it would be better with him, she remembered the claw-marks she saw on his back once.
They never talked about it, naturally, but she did remember the one time they had that kind of talk.
It was after a handsome Domani left their table, and he looked up at her, for permission, as it seemed. She told him then, that Gaidin, meant brother in battles, and not even the Damodreds slept with their brothers.
The problem was, he wasn't her brother, and there were timed he certainly didn't look at her like a sister was pretty sure, that when she was in her bathrobe Lan looked like he was assuming ko'di, which she always found strangely amusing.
-Moiraine, she heard Lan whisper, and she gazed towards then she realized how close his face, his entire body was, and stopped smiling.
-Are you alright Gaidin?What happened? She muttered quickly hoping it sounded casual.
-I fought a Trollock, a leader of that Fist we saw camp was not far from here, by that small frozen he died, he lured me to the less-frozen part of thin ice cracked under my weight and I fell rest thought I died, but somehow I got out and crawled back.
-Light be thanked you did!Though it's hard to believe something out here is half-frozen, I, myself was rather close to...suddenly she felt his hands around her waist, so quickly she asked:
-How come I didn't feel you through the bond?- she demanded.
-I masked it,he answered, in that completely flat tone of his.
-You did WHAT?-she very nearly yelled, as she cough his shoulder in disbelief. Stubborn, impossible man!
-I couldn't risk you coming to my aid, and running into a fist of hungry Trollocks, he answered a bit more softly.
-I couldn't bare that, he added when she opened her mouth to protest.
-And what if you died?
-What if you drowned?, she tried to stop the words from rushing out, but the mere thought of his death was horrifying.
-What if they ATE you?, she raged!
-What would I do without you?, she added in...that couldn't have been panic, could it?
She felt his hands holding her tighter, as he moved even of his hands slid over her back, and continued sliding, to keep her warm, while the other moved a curl of her silky hair behind her ear, resting a moment on her cheek, and settling again, on her hip.
-Don't think about it, he whispered.
I will always be there for you, to protect you, and keep you smiled.
To keep her warm?If she got any warmer she would ignite!She was barely restraining from embracing the Source!
She wished he would stop smiling, he actually looked almost attractive when he needed to be was was her she knew, unlike this foolish girl, who was smiling back at him.
-...Or to cool you off, on a hot spring day, he added, with that arrogant smile.
The POND?!He DARED to mention the pond?!Now she WAS angry!
-You promised not to speak of it, she snapped, you have no manners, no politeness, no, no...!-as she was desperately seeking his flaws, his nose was almost touching hers.
Get angrier woman!,she pleaded herself.
-It's as if you want to annoy me, you want me to loose my nerve, you...!-she attacked again.
-It is not what I stopped her, his voice a whisper.
-Then what do you want?She whispered back, hoarsely.
-You.
She heard him clearly before his lips touched hers, before his entire body pressed hers as he laid her on her back, kissing her passionately and undoing her dress.
He is feeling better, Moiraine thought and almost laughed, as she kissed him was dizzy from the sensation of his hands on her bare flesh, but the blue in her somehow emerged.
This was wrong WRONG!, that tiny voice it felt so right, and the woman in her took control.
She needed this, needed him, and soon they were both naked kissing, and exploring, what was unseen for so long.
His rough skin felt wonderful to her, smooth, delicate fingers made magic between her legs and soon, his mouth replaced them, making her gasp for air.
He was good, not in a way Siuan was, but still amazing!
He watched a she convulsed around him, pulling the blankets and closing her he got back up, and slowly entered both moaned at the feeling and soon,his thrusts became deeper, then hastier, more bond felt like liquid fire, barely containing their mutual pleasure.
It felt like her first time, only better, if a bit time, Moiraine realized, she was actually making that thought she started meeting his thrusts rapidly and felt her body tightening a feeling of overwhelming intensity flowing through her body, as she climaxed violently letting out a cry even a Domani would be proud of!The feeling of her own pleasure, pushed Lan over the edge, as he groaned and nearly picked her of the ground in collapsed with a full-on grin on his face, as he hugged her again, her head on his lay there in silence, sharing a kiss from time to time, neither saying a word, until wishing each other good night.
She woke up to find herself still wrapped in his arms, his icy-blue eyes watching her beautiful face, with an almost materialized kissed her gently, and pulled away.
-The storm is over, we must go Moiraine, he said in his usual, if a little reluctant voice.
-Yes, we must.-she added, pulling up the blankets and rising slowly.
Right before she completely buttoned up her dress, she looked up at him, kneeling half-clothed across the pillow from her.
-I love you Moiraine, he said quietly.
-I love you to Lan.-she answered, surprised how easily the words left her lips.
He noded, smiled, and stood up to prepare the followed him out, opening her small notebook.
Today they ride to Shienar.
Tomorrow who knows?
The Wheel waited for no one.