This story gets steamy, rather racey and somewhat explicit... not for the prudish at heart. Be warned!
The Hours After by PloobyWoo
All was silent, save for the twang of the magically imbued arrows striking their target... over and over again."Amothian?" the tall red-haired tiefling softly questioned. Hardly breaking the rhythm of her barrage and without either looking his way or speaking, the elfin woman deftly tossed a thin bottle of green glowing liquid his way. Valen Shadowbreath caught the powerful healing potion and stared down at it as if he had never seen one before. Looking up again, his lapis blue eyes took on a startled, concerned, grey cast; his tail, a sign of his demonic heritage, stilled. Was she not aware that the battle had ended; that they had emerged triumphant? How could that be so? Yet, she fought on, protecting him with the healing potions just as she had during the long battle. Dropping the bottle, he strode quickly to where Amothian E'lyn continued her assault on the now dead Arch-Devil, Mephistopheles.
"'Thia?" he all but whispered again as he gently reached out to touch her shoulder. To his credit he hardly flinched, but took a step back, as she, reacting instinctively to his touch, swung her longbow his way... the bow- string pulled taught... the arrow's head inches from his heart. Time seemed to stand still as her pale green eyes met his. The instant of recognition was apparent on her face, as her eyes widened and then dipped to take in the sight of her arrow aimed at his chest.
"It is over, my love," Valen said, bringing his hand up to cover her lead hand.
"Valen?" she choked out, letting the tension out slowly from her bow and stepping to him. As her hands began to drop, she handed the concerned teifling her bow, fell heavily to her knees and then pitched forward... her face hitting the cobbled square of Waterdeep with a resounding thud.
All hell broke loose.
The people of Waterdeep let out the collective breath that they had seemed to be holding and began to cheer, racing forward from all sides of the square. Durnan, the proprietor of the Yawning Portal Inn, was at Valen's side in an instant, his concern for Amothian evident on his face. Handing Durnan the bow, Valen knelt quickly to gather Amothian's now still body into his arms.
"Bring her into the inn, tiefling. I will send my daughter for a cleric," Duran ordered as he efficiently cleared a path for Valen and his burden.
Rousing slightly, Amothian brought her arms up to encircle Valen's neck and pressed her face to his heavily armored chest. Something seemed to startle her. "Longarm?" she asked, turning her face slightly up to look at his face.
Valen's slight laughter seemed to rumble low in his chest. The two of them had single-handedly vanquished an Arch-Devil and had come to the brink of death themselves several times during the long conflict and her first concern was for the whereabouts of her beloved longbow. Shaking his head and pressing her more closely to his chest, he answered, "I have given it to Durnan, my silly little one. He will bring it along safely to the inn. Hush, now."
"Valen," she spoke again. "Are you...?"
"And I am fine as well, my love. It is kind of you to be concerned... even if I do seem to rank behind your bow," he teased with a tender smile.
With a slight smile, she once again leaned heavily into his chest as they entered the inn and let the darkness take her.
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"Valen?"
As he started up the last flight of stairs back to their room, Valen thought he heard his name being called. Juggling the tray containing bread, cheese and fruit that he had procured from the kitchens, a full wine skin and Amothian's longbow – the gods forgive him, if she awoke and the weapon were not at hand; for she certainly never would – Valen took the steps two at a time. He had left Amothian in their room, after the cleric had come, done what he could to heal them both and then left with strict instructions to let her sleep. Wanting to be there when she awoke, Valen had taken that opportunity to nip downstairs, speak to Durnan and get anything that she might need after her healing sleep.
"Valen?!"
As he reached the top step, he again heard his name, but this time much louder and with a frantic tinge. Slinging the bow and the wine skin over his arm, he strode quickly toward their room at the end of the hall.
"VALEN!"
This time his name seemed to have been wrenched out of the depths of her being. Not a question, but a lament. Clutching the tray to his chest, he wrenched the door open, slamming it against the wall with a sharp crack. He looked about the room frantically, but saw no enemy... and no Amothian. The bed was empty.
His panic rising, he strode into the room and almost tripped over her. For there she was, on the floor, a step from the door, curled in about herself and rocking slowly back and forth. Somehow the sight of her there on the floor frightened him more than the sight of the empty bed.
Shaking slightly himself, he set the now crushed tray of food on the desk just inside the door, placed the wine skin next to it and leaned the bow against the desk. He slowly shut the door to the room and turned to Amothian.
Not at all sure of what he should do, Valen knelt down and placed his hand on Amothian's back. Her body shook with such force that it took him a few moments to realize that she was a sobbing... sobbing with such a force that her body seemed in danger of ripping itself apart. Sobbing. Amothian E'lyn... the Elfin Arcane Archer... the Hero of Neverwinter... the Hero of Undertide... the Defender of Troi... his love... his savior... was sobbing. With everything they had been through together, the pains and the joys, she never once shed a single tear. Her tears were more frightening to him now than anything he had ever faced in the Blood Wars.
"My love? It is I, Valen. Please do not cry. I am here," he pleaded, his voice sounding rough.
At the sound of his voice, her face suddenly lifted. Her tears still streaking her cheeks, she launched her lithe frame into his arms with such force that he fell backwards onto his back.
"Valen," she gasped in between kisses, which she peppered across his face and neck. "I need you. Don't leave me. Please, stay with me. Hold me. Please!"
Blinking rapidly, Valen tried to sit up, but she had climbed fully atop him and was running her hands frantically over his body, still raining kisses upon his face. She pushed his tunic up and over his head, tearing it when it became hung up on one of his goat-like horns, allowing her greedy hands to touch and stroke his naked chest. Pulling back slightly, Amothian pleaded, "Touch me, my love. I need you. I need to feel you with me... in me."
Wrenching himself into a sitting position, Amothian in his lap, Valen stroked her face, returning her frantic kisses. "'Thia, my love. Slow down, love. Look at me."
Breathing heavily, she allowed Valen to pull her face back away from his. He rested his forehead against hers for a moment, trying in vane to slow his own breathing. "'Thia, you should rest now. The cleric..."
"To the ninth circle of hell with the cleric!" she huffed. "And do not give me that goblin-goo about 'doing it right', either. No more waiting!" Taking his face in her hands and kissing him deeply, stroking his tongue languidly with her own, she breathed, "This is right." Now that she had his attention, she pulled the borrowed sleeping gown over her head and ran her hands up his chest and over his broad shoulders, leaning into him, her breasts pressing up against the wall of his chest, "And this is right." Grinding her hips against the all too evident length of is arousal, "But most of all, this is right."
On a groan, Valen scooped her tiny elfin body into his powerful arms and stood. Striding to and laying her reverently upon the bed, he looked deeply into her eyes... darkening blue caressing stormy green... "Do you mind if we make use of the bed, my love? Or were you intent on the floor?"
With a low chuckle and unsuccessfully stifling a grin, she slowly shook her head from side to side and held her arms out to him.
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He came awake much later to the feel of a warm and oh-so wonderful backside rubbing almost imperceptivity against his groin, which had surely noticed the slight movement and was quickly rising to the occasion. Stifling a groan, he shifted himself slightly away from Amothian's warm back which had been pressed so seductively against his front. Apparently disturbed by his movement, she turned onto her other side and was now attempting to burrow into his chest. He groaned again, as his body continued to respond to her movements. If she was going to get the sleep her body needed to heal, he was going to have to find a more uncomfortable position. Turning with her in his arms, he flopped onto his back ... her cheek pillowed on his chest.
As her breathing settled down to the even, heavy breathing of deep sleep, he looked down at her beautiful face and his heart seized. How could he be here with this woman? How could this be truly his fate? These thoughts led him to last night... and he frowned. He had hurt her. Even though he had prepared her body, bringing her to climax twice with his hands and mouth, before entering her; he had hurt her. Her elfin body was just too small to accommodate his demonic 'proportions'; a gift, along with his horns and tail, from his half demon father. He remembered how it had been when the realization had hit him. He had stilled. His head falling forward as he had prepared to retreat from the heaven he had glimpsed in her beautiful body. Before he could bring himself to act, though, she had brought her hands up to run through his hair and stroke the length of his horns. Running her hands lovingly down his face and cupping his chin, she lifted his face so that he could look into her eyes. And she had said the one word that could unman him: "Please." She had understood and accepted him completely, and he had still hurt her. At the memory he was unable to stifle a growl of pain and frustration.
At the sound, she began to slowly come fully awake. She stretched slowly in a very well-sated, feline manner. Leveraging herself up further onto his chest, she rested her weight on her crossed forearms, her bare breasts resting against his naked chest. The sight seemed to enchant him, as she chuckled low in her throat.
"Where have you been hiding those?" he asked before he could stop himself. He looked up quickly, blushing furiously.
She shook with the laughter that she could not contain. Smiling brightly, she teasingly said, "Armor, silly. Very concealing! Let's not forget, though, that I was not the only one who was hiding a big surprise."
At her words, he froze, the sadness evident in his eyes before he painfully shut them tight. Realizing her mistake, she pushed up on to her hands.
"Don't," she warned. "Stop. Now."
"'Thia, I owe you an..."
"No! Don't do this," Amothian all but shouted, pushing back into a kneel, poking a long finger into his chest for emphasis. "Look at me, you hard- headed tiefling! I was only teasing and I will not allow you to add me to that sack of sins you carry about. Do not change the most... amazing," her voice cracking on the word, "... experience of my life into a burden!" He blinked rapidly at her growing anger, but wisely kept his mouth closed. Seeing his startled expression, she poked him one more time for good measure before leaning down to kiss his lips and lay back down upon his broad chest. "I'm sure that will sort itself out with... umm... practice. Besides, haven't you heard the old adage: The bigger the better?" she added while slowly drawing circles around his nipple.
"I thought that it went: Size doesn't matter?" he teased, trying to break the still swirling tension.
"Ha!" she huffed, her warm breath teasing his already taught nipple. "That's just what woman say to men of ... let's say 'small stature' to keep them from feeling... umm... inadequate."
Laughing softly, he wrapped his arm tightly around her.
"I do love you," he mused idly as he sifted her silky, dark hair through his finger, wrapping it around his callused warrior's fingers.
Glancing up quickly, she tenderly kissed his chin and then continued her slow assault on his chest and his senses.
After several calming moments, Valen cleared his throat and asked, "Are you hungry, my love?"
"Humm...," Amothian all but purred as she nipped his tortured nipple with her strong white teeth. "I could go eat."
Laughing, he placed his hand defensively over his chest. "I meant for bread, my lady."
"I'd rather have you," she pouted, their earlier tension all but forgotten. "But if bread is all that you are offering..."
Rolling out from underneath her body, he strode powerfully, comfortable in his nudity, to the desk where he had earlier deposited their meal
Sitting up in their bed, she wrapped the sheet modestly around herself. Modesty, she thought. How can I still possess any after the night they had spent. He really is a magnificent lover. The gentle sweep of his tail drew her eye. She watched it sway from side to side stroking he muscular backside. On a sigh, she thought that she would love to do the same. How many times during their adventures had she wondered how that tail fit it to the grand – and she did mean grand - scheme of things. She blushed slightly as memories of his tail begin to creep into her consciousness. Ahhhh! She mentally screamed. She was going to have to stop that train of thought right now or that food would go uneaten. Letting her eyes drift down to his muscular thighs, she realized that looking down was not going to help. As her gaze again traveled up his backside and over his well defined back, she decided that the only safe place for her eyes would be the ceiling. Resolutely keeping her eyes on the ceiling, she sensed, rather than saw, his approach to the bed.
Still holding the tray, be glanced at the ceiling with a slight frown. "What are you looking at?"
Quickly looking down again, a big mistake as her gaze seemed to devour its way down his chest, past the tray and down to his... "Oh," she gasped jerking her eyes back to his face. "It's nothing. Nothing at all. Umm... what have we here?"
Having noticed the track of her eyes and guessing that of her mind, he laughed again, setting the tray down on the bed before her and crawling again unto the bed beside her.
Clearing her throat, she reached for and deposited the rumpled blanket in his lap. "I really am... umm... hungry."
Laughing heartily now, he arranged the blanket and picked up the flattened loaf of bread. A frown crossed his face as he remembered how the bread had been flattened between the tray and his chest after hearing her tortured cry last evening. Thoughtfully tearing a piece from the loaf, he looked up to find her reaching down beside the bed for her bag and pulling out a small eating knife. The sheet had slipped to a far from modest position. Smiling, he lifted his eyebrows in question. She looked down at the traitorous sheet and then meeting his smile, shrugged. He handed her the piece of bread and took the knife from her hand and began to cut bite sized wedges from the cheese. "We need to talk," he broke the silence.
"I was wondering how long it would be before you said that," she said on a sigh, picking up and inspecting a ripe pear. Deciding how to begin, she took a slow bite of the juicy pear and began to chew. "Do you remember once that I asked you if you had ever been in love before?"
With a small tinge of grief, he nodded once.
"You never asked me the same question."
"No, I didn't, but I will ask you now, if it will help with what you need to tell me."
Blinking her eyes slowly and sighing deeply, she began, "His name was Aarin... Aarin Gend and I was... so young. I met him after - right after - I graduated from the academy in Neverwinter, during the time of the plague. He was Lord Nasher's spymaster and my main contact after Lady Aribeth's betrayal. He was... larger than life and so beautiful. Half of my classmates, male and female, were in love with him, though few had ever actually seen him," she paused and seemed to consider how to continue, taking another bite of the pear and chewing slowly. "I was so... unprepared for what I would see, what I would do in those dark times and his hands were so steady, his eyes so sure and his voice... it seemed to resonate in my very soul. I drew strength from him and he seemed all too ready to give me whatever I needed. I think that I was as surprised as he when feelings began to grow between us. His declarations were so unsure and seemed almost to pain him. He didn't speak often of his feelings, but after we became lovers... Oh! I'm sorry, Valen," she seemed to suddenly remember to whom she was speaking. "I'm sure that's more information than you needed to know," she said sadly, tenderly stroking his cheek before continuing. "Suffice it to say, I couldn't help but fall in love with him or maybe, just like my classmates, it was more the idea of him," she stopped as if to ponder the idea. "I don't know," she finally said, shaking her head. "Anyway, after the defeat of Morag, I was all too happy to set the adventuring life behind me. I wanted only to be with Aarin and... Lord Nasher was only too happy to allow it. I was one more tie he could use to bind his pet spy to himself, while also keeping me close at had so that he could trot me out to show his people how easy it was to replace the Lady Aribeth, one elf being much the same as the next." She seemed to shudder at the memory and then continued, "Anyway, the closer Aarin and I became, the more distracted he became. At the time, I couldn't have understood how the intimacies of a true relationship would weigh on someone who was trained to hold himself apart from others. How it must have pained him to allow himself to love me and to accept my love in return! How afraid he must have been to depend on me!"
Sensing her tears, Valen breached the distance between them and held her lightly against his chest. Stroking her hair, he gave her the support she desperately needed to continue her story.
"It had to end badly, I can see that now, but as I said, I was so young," closing her eyes tightly, she pushed away from him. "One morning I awoke and Aarin was gone. He just disappeared... without a word... without a note. He left nothing behind to show that he had ever existed. Nothing that is except my broken heart. And then yesterday... after all that had happened... after all that we had been through... after I had started to... depend on you... I woke up and... I couldn't find you... you were gone and I was sure...," her voice broke on a sob.
"No!" Valen growled low in his throat, holding her tighter. "No, Amothian. I would never leave you! Not in that way... not unless you commanded me to go and even then, it would be a struggle to go." Taking her face in his hands and forcing her to look into his eyes, he ground out, "Look at me. Look in my eyes. I will never leave you. You have my heart and my soul. Can you possible understand what you mean to me? I'm not sure that I have the words to express it, but can you...?"
Framing his face with her long hands, she tried to reassure him with small kisses and then words. "I can, Valen. I can see it now."
After long moments of reassurances, she took a deep breath and continued, "Aarin may have loved me, I don't know. But it just wasn't enough. He had to have known what his leaving would be like... how Lord Nasher would react. Time and time again, as the days turned into weeks Lord Nasher would send his personal guards to 'request' my presence at court. He would rail and accuse. He was so sure that I had done something or not 'done' enough. He told me that if I had been a real woman...," she shook her head, running her hands through her hair. "He was crude and cruel, like a child whose favorite toy had been denied him. I suffered these tantrums for weeks, before I could finally face the fact that Aarin wasn't coming back. I felt that I had given everything and had been found wanting. That is when I went to Master Drogan and concentrated on honing my skills. At least at that I knew that I could excel.
"And then I met you. I had not allowed myself to think of another in that way since Aarin, but with you I was unable to stop myself. Oh, you were so superior and, well... tidy! Look at my armor," she mocked in a deep voice. "Is that rust? How dare rust grow anywhere near my superiority?!" At this she collapsed into a fit of giggles. "How I loved the look on your face when I teased you. The blush on your cheeks clashing not only with your hair, but also with your warriors' body. But, you frightened me so. I knew that I could love you completely... that I could give you everything that I am and you could crush me by just walking away. I don't think that I have it in me to start again," she finished, her voice diminishing to a faint whisper.
"You have my True Name, Amothian E'lyn. You could command me to stay. I would be unable to resist," he stated simply, coolly.
Amothian's head jerked up as if she'd been struck. "I would never... I don't want love that it is not freely given. Valen, you must believe me," she cried. "I want your love more than... I want my next breath, but not that way!"
Smiling softly, he gathered her safely into his arms once more. "I know that, 'Thia. But love does not come with a guarantee or at least not one that you or I are willing to bear the consequences for, for remember, that I also know your True Name. Just as I must trust you in the years to come, you will also have to trust me," he paused as if to consider if he should continue. "Know that trusting you will not always be easy for me either, my love. I have met many women of many different races who have desired me for nothing more than the bragging rights for having been with one such as me. I do not claim to understand it," he continued, shaking his head in true confusion, "but some woman collect sexual favors like others would collect hair ribbons. It has been a very long time since I have been with someone who wanted my love and not just my body." Stoking her hair gently and placing a kiss on the crown of her head, he added, "It feels so very good."
"It does," she wholeheartedly agreed, but couldn't resist adding, "But then again, so does your body!"
He laughed deeply and then kissed her just as deeply.
Pulling back and stoking her face, he whispered, "This isn't going to be easy... you and me. I fear our adventures are far from over."
"As long as we are together, my love."
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Durnan set the tray with fresh food at the base of the door of the room. He was going to knock, but thought better of it. They needed their rest, the strange couple occupying his second best room. Shaking his head he thought of the tiny elfin woman with her lovely green eyes and luxurious dark hair, all of this camouflaging the toughest adventurer he had ever met. His thoughts then turned to the red-haired, fierce, tiefling warrior who had accompanied her back from the depths of hell. How appropriate, since the demon-man looked every bit as tough and unstable as his heritage would imply. But just as with she, looks could be deceiving, for the way he looked at the elf, who was clearly his mate, brought to mind a man drowning in love. What a way to go, Durnan sighed. "Humm... I wonder where Mhaere is right now," he whispered almost to himself. I'm sure that Tamsil could look after things for a bit, he thought, chuckling to himself. But before he stepped away from the door, he ran his battle scared hand down the door and said a silent thank you to the elf and her tiefling... an unlikely pair... in battle and in love.