He stood before her, towering over her with an odd smirk on his face. His shoulders were broad and his massive arms seemed too large for the delicate sword he held. The cigarette between his lips curled smoke across his face. His hair was unkempt, sticking out in all directions. He looked barbaric, uncivilized in his stained, sleeveless shirt and ragged cloak.
She had thanked him for his assistance, and she should have left. But she could not stop staring at him. She knew she shouldn't, but she could not pull her eyes away. He was so different from all of the other men she knew – in both physical prowess, appearance and in magical ability and technique. She knew he had a reputation for being crass, uncouth, and a touch destructive. She had heard rumors of his captain stepping in to help him avoid punishment for excessive damage done on missions.
Looking at his arms as he sheathed the long narrow blade, she wondered what it would feel like to be wrapped in their embrace. She wagered he could crush her if he wanted to. Her heart raced as she realized she wanted him to try, if only to feel his arms around her.
Her mother had asked her weeks ago what she had wanted for her birthday. She had not known what to say then. She was provided everything she could need in the squad. She had told her mother her only wish was to have the curse broken. But now, looking at him, she wished she had told her mother she wanted him to hold her, if only to see what it would feel like.
She blushed at the thought and knit her brow together with an angry sigh.
*Stupid,* she thought to herself. *When did you get to love struck?*
She sighed again as she recognized the words of disappointment and her father's voice echoing through her mind, only for a new situation.
"You're alright now, yeah?" He asked, his deep voice resonating with something buried within her. She could feel her whole body vibrate in response to him.
"Uh, yeah. Yes, I'm fine now. Thank you." She shuffled her feet, telling herself to leave. He looked at the ground and kicked a pebble with the toe of his boot.
"So, um, what happened?" He asked, his eyes never rising to meet hers. "It looked like your magic got out of control. After seeing you on the battlefield, it seems a little, I don't know, odd, I guess."
Her face reddened again.
"Um." She shifted between her feet and wrung her hands. Her eyes fell on the new stain on his dingy white shirt. "Didn't you say something about your soup being spilled?"
He looked up at her then. She could feel the intensity of his gaze, even as she avoided looking into his eyes. She kept her focus on the dark stain at his waist.
*Though, this view is probably not much better than his eyes,* she thought as the fabric hugged his body tightly.
"Yeah, all the commotion, and I ended up wearing my noodles. The only reason I came out to investigate, in fact. Well, that and the screaming."
She grimaced.
"The least I can do is replace your lunch." She stated as she finally looked into his eyes again.
*Mistake!* She yelled at herself, internally, as she gasped for air. He was not traditionally handsome-not in the typical ways, but he had a rugged beauty she found breathtaking. And his eyes.
His eyes. They were black at the distance she saw them from, but she could see a strange intelligence in them she had never noticed before. Not that she had many opportunities to look into his eyes, of course. Not directly, not until now. He wrinkled his brow as she looked at him, as if he were trying to figure out what to do next.
"Yeah, I guess that is the least you can do." He said. She had expected something boorish from him, given his reputation. He did not disappoint. He turned abruptly and began walking away from her. She stood rooted to the spot, confused.
"Well? Aren't you coming?" He said over his shoulder. His voice was like a command and she snapped out of the daydream she had felt herself slipping into. She took a couple of long strides to catch up to him, thankful for her own height for a change. Seeing her moving, he started walking again. She watched him move from a pace behind, thinking the view from the back was just as nice as the one from the front. She rubbed the backs of her hands with her cheeks as she felt them grow warm.
"Lead on, then." Her voice sounded shaky and unsteady in her ears. She glanced at him, wondering if he had heard it too, but his attention was on the path before them. She chewed on her lip as she walked with him.
"Yami?" She asked.
He grunted in response. She felt all thoughts all words flew her mind as he glanced at her.
"What were you doing way out here anyway?" She stumbled over a crack in the cobblestone. His hand shot out and grabbed her arm, keeping her from falling to the ground. She felt her breathing stop at the touch and her entire body warmed as she grew flushed.
"I was on a mission a few towns over. Julius recommended this place, so I though I would try it." He released her once she was steady.
She marveled at his speed, and wondered if he knew what he was doing to her.
He turned into a small hole in the wall restaurant she had never noticed before. She hesitated a moment before following him through the curtained entrance. The smells hit her as soon as she pushed the fabric aside. Cardamom, anise and turmeric. Spicy smells mixed with a touch of something else she could not identity, but which her belly responded to by growling loudly. Her mouth watered at the scent almost as much as it did looking at him. He had taken a seat at the empty counter and was motioning to the cook behind it by the time she found her senses and joined him.
The old wrinkled greasy man behind the counter looked at her as she took the seat next to the massive man who had saved her, who had saved them all. He leaned closer to Yami and whispered something which she could not hear, but it made Yami knit his brows together and glance at her.
"No, this is fine right here." he told the old man who shrugged before turning his attention to taking their order. When the old man came to her to ask what she wanted, he stopped and gasped, having now gotten a good look at her face.
"My Lady, I am honored you have come to my establishment. Years ago, before you were born, your grandmother was kind enough to help me with a small loan to open the restaurant here. I will never forget her kindness."
She smiled, knowing the story was likely true as her grandmother had made a habit of helping those with big dreams and little resources. Charlotte had long ago learned how much it had vexed her father when the matriarch of the family would go help others without his consent.
"Well then, your food must be good, if my grandmother helped you out."
"I shall prepare her favorite dish for you, then." He turned to Yami sitting next to her. "Would you like to try as well?"
She felt his eyes on her for a long moment, and the smoke he exhaled in her general direction made her cough. Her heart raced as he looked at her, and she felt a warming of her core. Her tongue darted out between her lips, wetting them before she swallowed hard. Her cheeks flushed – she was certain of it-but he continued to look at her. She could not imagine what he was thinking, though a part of her wished she could read his mind.
"Nah, just a replacement soup is fine." He told the cook and owner without taking his eyes off of her. "Are you okay?" He asked her on another exhale of his cigarette. She coughed again.
"I'm fine. Just fine, except you keep blowing that in my face." She hardened her eyes as she looked at him in an effort to protect herself. He stuck the cigarette back between his lips and she found herself staring at them.
A new thought popped into her mind, of those lips on hers, on her skin, on… other places. She scratched at her neck and ear as her tongue darted between her lips once more. Her entire body tingled in anticipation and desire. She wanted him. She wanted him in a way she had never wanted another man ever. Even the noble suitors her father had tried to match her with – the men she should have wanted, the men who were socially acceptable for her to want-had never made her feel like she did when she looked at him.
*Is it just that?* she wondered. *Is it because my father would disapprove, because he's not who I should want?*
"Sorry." He said, as he turned his head to exhale away from her. Her heart skipped a beat and she gasped slightly. His words to her as he cut down her mass of thorns echoed in her mind. His impressions of her on the battlefield, his admonishment of her trying to do everything herself instead of trusting in others, his respect of her.
And she realized she wanted him for far more than just a rebellious fling – though it didn't hurt matters any that her father would hate him. He had done the one thing which should have been priority number one for her parents when looking for a suitor for her but had failed to account for. He respected her – as a person, as a mage, as a knight.
And, despite his crude, boorish behavior, Charlotte realized she respected him as all of those things, too.
She knew what it meant when he had broken the curse. She knew he had stolen her heart, that she had fallen for him. And since then, her mind had gone down many paths she had not planned on – not about any man, especially not regarding him.
She had not been prepared for how completely and desperately attracted to him she was, nor the deep respect she had for him. Yes she wanted him, she wanted to feel what it would be like to be with him, to have his arms around her, to kiss his lips. But she also wanted more.
She glanced at him again as the old man placed a bowl of soup before him. He started eating, oblivious to her soul searching and dilemma. The soup smelled amazing and was flush with noodles, bits of meat and vegetables in a clear broth. He slurped the noodles up in a way which made her cringe, but which made the old man smile as he placed a dish before her. Clear noodles lay on the plate, tossed with meat and vegetables and topped with a thick brown sauce. A delicate carved turnip sat on top of the pile of food – a white rose among the vines. Tiny seeds were scattered around the noodles, looking every bit like thorns. Charlotte smiled as she looked at the beautiful, simple dish.
Not only was did it look pretty, the smell emanating from the plate was heavenly. She could not quite describe it aside from being both spicy and sweet.
"Your grandmother's favorite dish." The old man grinned at her.
"It smells wonderful." She pierced a piece of carrot with her fork and carefully bit into it. Flavors burst on her tongue and her eyelids slid closed as she savored the bite.
"It's very good." She said, covering her mouth with her hand. The old man grinned even more and she felt Yami's eyes on her. She took another bite.
"Young Miss, I'm surprised you were out in the town today, and not preparing for the party. It isn't right for the birthday girl to be late to her own celebration."
She took another bite and frowned – despite the exquisite taste in her mouth.
"Birthday?" Yami asked between slurps and glances at her. Her skin prickled with both.
"Indeed. The young miss here turns eighteen today."
Charlotte laid her fork down, sighing.
"Weird." Yami said, lifting the bowl to his lips and sipping the broth.
"What's weird about it?" She turned to face him.
"What? Nothing, I mean. Happy Birthday." He sipped again, his eyes, dark orbs above the bowl's rim, not leaving hers.
"That didn't sound like nothing." She picked up the fork once more.
"It's just…" He put the empty bowl down and rubbed the back of his head before pulling a cigarette from a pouch on his waist. "Yesterday was my birthday."
"I'm surprised you were way out here on a mission on your birthday." She scooped up a fork full of noodles and stuffed them into her mouth. She tried to avoid slurping them, but could not.
He shrugged as he lit the cigarette, inhaled deeply and exhaled, turning his head away from her to avoid blowing the smoke into her face or food. She could not help the small smile which crept over her face as she noticed the slight change in his behavior.
"I don't really do birthdays anyway."
"That's sad." She felt a twinge of pain and loneliness at the thought. He shrugged again before glancing at her.
"It's no big deal really. I don't have any family to celebrate with, or really any friends either, except for Julius. In the end, it's like any other day."
"Maybe." She took a bite of her noodles. As she threw propriety to the wind and slurped the end of the skinny string through her lips, she noticed him looking at the pile of food before her. "You want some? I don't think I can finish it all."
"Maybe a bite." He took the fork he had been given, but had not used and stabbed it into a vegetable he could not recognize through the sauce which smothered it. He held his cigarette between his fingers as he bit the morsel from the fork.
"It's good, right?" She asked before taking another bite herself. She watched as he closed his eyes a moment, savoring the flavor, before attacking another bite with the fork.
"Yeah. Julius was right about this place."
She pushed the plate between them, making it easier for them to share. Their forks diving again and again into the pile of noodles until the plate was empty. As she slurped the last of the noodles between her lips, the end of the starchy strand whipped upwards into her nose. He giggled as the tip of it was smeared with sauce before he used a napkin to wipe it away.
"Thanks." She blushed as she wiped the tip with her hand.
"No problem." He was smiling as he looked at her.
A clock tower chimed in the distance, and Charlotte's face fell.
"Ugh. I don't want to go to the stupid party." She sighed. She knew her parents would introduce her to several potential suitors during the event. And now she was eighteen, they would be putting the pressure on her even more to make a decision regarding the future of the family. As the sole heir, she had certain expectations to which she had to live up – including producing an heir herself.
But all she wanted now was to do her duty as a magic knight, to use her magic to guard and protect the people of the kingdom. Even if she had nearly failed to do so today, she still felt it was a worthy goal.
She hated all of the men her parents picked for her. They were all weak-willed and stupid. They all valued her beauty and her name more than her strength. They could never have broken the curse. She wanted nothing to do with them. She refused to give them anything of herself. She looked over at the man next to her, the man whose words had triggered something within her, the man who had stopped the curse from coming to fruition. She looked at him and made a decision. It was a selfish decision and one her parents would chastise her for later, but she didn't care.
"Yami, I know you said birthday's are like any other day in the end, but," She could feel the warmth in her cheeks betraying her as she bit her lip. "I wanted to give you something anyway. Part birthday present, part thank you."
"What are you talking about?" He turned to her then, his cigarette tightly gripped between his fingers.
She kissed him quickly, awkwardly. She had never kissed a man before, and wasn't quite sure what she was doing, but she had hit her mark, albeit stiffly. He froze for only a second before he kissed her back, gently moving his lips against hers. His hand cupped her cheek and pulled her toward him as the kiss moved from gentle to desperate. She felt a numbness pass through her body, a tingling, like pins and needles, as she gave herself over to the desire she had felt building since she had first seen him today. She brushed her fingers over his chest as he pulled at her waist, drawing her into him. His tongue pressed against her lips demanding entry as his hand slipped through her hair and around the back of her neck. She felt a throbbing through her nethers as she opened her mouth to the further demands of the kiss. Her hands slipped over the soft fuzzy fabric which made up the mantle of his squad before they wrapped around his thick neck and shoulders. Her fingers twisted into his hair as she pushed her tongue between his lips, demanding the same opportunities he had been given.
After a long moment, he forced his lips from hers. He was breathing heavy as he looked at her. His eyes – already dark in color, were nearly black as he gazed at her. A fire burned behind them, dark, brooding, but full of desire held at bay, like a hunting dog ready to take to the field.
"What was that for?" His voice was rough, breathless. His eyes kept darting between her eyes and her lips. She slipped her hands from his neck to the tops of his shoulders. His grip on her waist had not slacked, however.
"I told you. It was your birthday present."
He gasped slightly before licking his lips.
"You didn't have…"
She kissed him again, but this time he did not hesitate to kiss back. His hands slid up her back and pulled her tight to his chest. His arms squeezed her, holding her in a perfect sense of balance. She felt she could stay in his arms forever and be happy. She smiled against his lips at the feeling. She could feel his desire too, as he pressed his hips against hers. She knew, on an intellectual level at least, what happened when a man was aroused, but she had never felt it before. Her curiosity grew with his erection as she moved her hands from his shoulders around his back to his waist and beyond. She wanted to explore him further, but his grimoire pouch blocked her hands from their target.
"What are you trying to do?" He breathed in her ear, his voice barely audible over the beating of her heart as he pushed her back against the counter where they had eaten.
"I thought it was obvious." Her voice was as breathless as his.
"Oh, geez. Get a room." The old man behind the counter laid a key on a long woven rope on the counter-top behind them. Charlotte smiled a challenge to him as she bit on her lower lip and quirked her eyebrows upward. Yami looked at her for a moment – her flushed cheeks, her sparkling eyes turned obsidian with desire. Her hands had moved again and now wrapped around his neck once more, where her fingers stroked his face, neck and back of his head. She touched him wherever she could get to his skin. She slipped one hand beneath the squad mantle and over his shoulder, which would have been bare but for it. He sucked in a quick breath at the electric nature of her touch. He had never felt a spark quite like he did when she touched him-and he had fought lightning mages. Charlotte, however, was something different.
He swiped the key from behind her and turned to the stairs on the far side of the narrow restaurant. He pulled her behind him, giggling as she followed.
Charlotte held tight to his hand, giddy with anticipation. She had never planned for this to happen – for another to break the curse, much less for that person to be him, or for her to have made such a decision so rashly. But she had. She would give him everything he wanted, for both of their desires.
The door closed loudly behind her and he pushed her back against it. The weight of him crushed her against the door and his lips dove to her skin. She gasped as he grazed her ear, her neck. She had felt desire before, but now she was flooded with it. She wanted him, and she would not leave until she got what she wanted. She pushed him back, holding him at arms length, but lifting his weight from against her as she guided him toward the narrow rickety bed in the tiny room.
"You sure you want this?" His voice was unsteady as he landed heavily on the thin mattress. She straddled his lap and kissed him as she pushed him against the narrow bed. Some part of her mind wondered how this was all going to work on such a small bed. The rest of her would have fucked him on the floor if she had to. She fumbled with the belt holding on his grimoire satchel, sword, and pants as she pressed her chest against the thin, dingy white shirt he wore. His large hand gripped her rear and lifted her up somewhat as she struggled. His hands slipped underneath the skirt of her tunic and then over the waist of her pants. His fingertips barely brushed her flesh, but the touch – minute as it was, made her gasp.
"Absolutely." She smirked at him as the belts finally came free in her hands. She pushed him roughly backward and held him down with her weight as she kissed him once more. He forced himself up to his elbows and wiggled himself out from underneath her a tiny bit, just enough to get leverage. He pawed at her own trappings, trying to free her flesh, but between the lacing and layers, he grunted in frustration. Charlotte sat up and shed her clothing as quickly as she could. Almost instantaneously, she felt his lips on her breasts as the cool air in the room, or perhaps it is the nearness of him, gave her goose-prickles. She stood up once more and stripped off the rest of her outfit until she stood bare before him. She watched as his eyes traveled down her naked body and back up again. She took in a shaky breath as his coarse fingertips brushed over the skin of her belly, hip and around to her back as he stood with her. Once he had met her eyes, she held them in her gaze as he finished stripping his own gear until he stood facing her.
Charlotte's heart raced as she looked him over, returning the favor. She trailed her hand down his chest and the light smattering of hair that covered it until she reached the top of his thigh. She could feel the muscles tense and quiver as her fingers brushed over them. She chewed on her lip as her fingers hesitated at his thigh. She wanted to touch him, to stroke him, to engulf his manhood, firm and erect. It begged for her attention.
"I won't hurt you, Charlotte." His voice was a soft whisper, as soft as the light stoking of his fingertips along her shoulders and arms.
Encouraged, she ran the tips of her fingers over the thick shaft to the end which was wet and oozing fluids. Her tongue darted out between her lips as she ran her fingers over the tip. He made a sound that was part groan and part purr as she touched him before his lips found a tender spot where her neck met her shoulder and his hands pulled her closer to him. She gasped at the feeling of his erection pushing between her legs as he pulled her hips closer. He hadn't entered her yet, but the nearness of him ignited a fire within her sex. She wanted more. She wanted to feel what it was like to have him inside her. She wanted to claim that from him, to take it, not so much by force, but in a sense of mutual domination. She pushed him back to the bed and straddled him once more. Only this time, she gripped his member and rubbed its tip against herself. With each stroke of the tip of him against her, she felt herself gasp until she could bear it no longer. She positioned herself over him and settled back onto his hips, allowing him to push deep inside of her, stretching and filling her slowly as she sank onto him. Her breathing shallowed at the sensation, so similar to how she pleasured herself, and yet so very different. She sat there, allowing herself to grow comfortable with the feel of him within her before she opened her eyes.
His eyes were slits and his chest rose and fell rapidly. He groaned as she rocked her hips back and forth. He licked his lips and his fingers scratched at her thighs. He gasped or groaned with ever movement, slowly rocking his own hips into hers as she rose and fell. She gasped at the sudden change in motion as he pushed himself deeper. She whimpered at the sudden thrust.
"Sorry." he muttered before going still once more and letting her take her pleasure in him. The evening sun filtered into the room in golden orange rays which set her blond hair aflame and turned her skin golden. With every movement her breasts bounced until he cupped them with his hands, pressing them to her chest until they stilled. He rubbed her nipples with the tips of his calloused fingers making her gasp loudly until her felt her go still. Her eyes closed and her brow knit together. Her lips pursed and her entire body seemed to shudder as he felt her tighten around his erection, once, twice, three times and more. He watched as her body relaxed, as every clenched muscle smoothed except for the satisfied smile dancing on her lips. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly before she leaned forward and nuzzled her face into the crook of his neck. She kissed his jaw lazily, sleepily and then nibbled on his ear a bit. He stroked her back before turning her over and kissing her deeply once more. He kissed her over and over as he slowly thrust into her. He wanted to keep doing both, but he couldn't quite get purchase to find his own release while kissing her. He drew one of her legs – long and lean, up until her ankle rested on his shoulder. Kissing the thin joint and sliding his hand down to her thigh and hip, he pushed himself deep into her, finding his rhythm with every moan and gasp that escaped her throat. He found release far more quickly than he expected as she whispered his name and her hands slipped over his chest and belly. Her eyes danced as he hovered over her, hunting for a kiss before he withdrew from her and let sleep claim him. He shifted to his back and pulled her onto his chest, wrapping her in his arms.
"Happy Birthday, Charlotte." he mumbled as she nestled herself next to him, tucking her leg over his.
"Happy Birthday, Yami." she sighed as she drifted off to sleep.
He stirred a while later, not certain of how much time had passed since they had collapsed in an exhausted heap from their active explorations of each other. She lay curled next to him, partially on top of him and partially wedged into the narrow space between him and the bar which marked the edge of the cot. His arm was pinned beneath her and he could feel the prickles of numbness in his fingertips. Still he stroked her skin along her back as best he could. Slowly he shimmied himself from beneath her and stood. He stretched and yawned before scratching his neatly trimmed nails over his bare belly. He sighed as a feeling of contentment washed over him. He felt sated in a way he had not felt in a long time. Not since that fateful dinner with Julius, where the older man had taken him under his wing, had Yami ever felt so satisfied. The reason was different, of course. The dinner satisfied his growling belly with food far richer and more abundant than he had ever had since he washed ashore.
Tonight, he found a different kind of satisfaction. He couldn't quite put a finger on it, but something about being with her, tonight, was different from all the other times he had been with someone. He could already feel his desire nibbling at his mind, whispering how easy it would be to simply lay with her some more, to breath her in, to kiss her, to fuck her more. He ran his hand through his hair before he began his search for his clothes.
He stumbled around in the darkness as he felt around on the floor for his gear. Except for a tiny window through which a stream of silvery moonlight passed, the room was completely dark. Fortunate for his search, the moon was full. Unfortunately for his need to report in within a reasonable time frame, the light struck her pale body, casting her in its silvery glow.
He had not intended to look at her before leaving – he made it a habit to not look when he left a woman sleeping – but the way the moonlight reflected off of her skin, her hair drew him like a moth to a flame. He had caught a glimpse of her as he was looking for his pants, and then again as he was pulling them on. He stopped and stared at her, his thin shirt in hand, but made no move to finish his task.
She had rolled onto her back, and her face was turned toward him. Her lips were plump and slightly parted, and he thought he could still see a slight flush on her cheeks. Her crystalline blue eyes were closed, of course, and her normally golden hair had paled to silver in the light.
In every way she was light, refinement, and beauty, while he was the coarse darkness. At least on the outside. He reached down and brushed the tips of his fingers against her cheek, dragging a few loose strands of hair away from her face. He smirked as the memory of her earlier aggressiveness rose to the surface. The thought drove away any saitey he had felt and in its place stood a hunger the likes of which he had never experienced from lack of food. He licked his lips as his gaze traveled down her naked body. His eyes lingered on her breasts and he felt an itching in his hands to squeeze them and a need for his lips to suckle at them, for his tongue to explore them. With great effort, he drew his attention further down her body. Her belly was flat and smooth and it glowed in the moonlight. Silvery hair curled above the spot where her legs met, but he could not see any further because of how she was angled in the narrow cot.
He groaned deep in the back of his throat and chastised himself for looking at her. He knew better than to look, he told himself silently. Part of his mind still yammered at him to get dressed and get out before she woke up. But he was frozen to the stop, torn between leaving and staying. He wanted to touch her again, to kiss her lips to feel her body surround him as she took her pleasure in him and he in her.
He sighed and tossed the shirt to the ground before squeezing back into the narrow cot with her. He tucked her into his arms and held her tightly against him. Closing his eyes, he tried to bring forth sleep instead of the desire tickling the back of his mind. But when she tilted her head upward and kissed his neck, he knew it would be a battle he would lose. Her hands on his chest, her leg slithering over his, pulling him closer, entwining them together like the briar vines she had entwined through the city streets earlier, every place her body touched his, he burned. He pushed her back against the narrow cot. His hands pressed against her shoulders, pinning her to the bed. She opened her eyes with a challenging grim, but he saw it for only a moment before his lips captured hers. She gasped when he entered her again, her inhalation sucking the air from around him. The sound made him light headed and her hands on his shoulders, her fingernails digging into his flesh like tiny thorns, stilled him for a moment. The feeling of her surrounding him, her legs tightening on his hips, drawing him more deeply within her, drove him wild. He wanted to fuck her with all the ferocity of desire her every touch brought to him, but her hands demanded stillness. Her sighs and tiny moans as she gyrated beneath him ordered his patience. He kissed her again, falling from his hands onto his elbows as he framed her body with his arms.
With each movement she brought herself closer and closer to release. He could hear it in her voice, feel it in the way her body tensed beneath him. He pushed himself back and pulled her hips against him until she cried out as he filled her. And still she twisted and wiggled against him. He brought her legs from around his waist to rest on his chest. He nibbled on her ankle as he slowly withdrew and thrust into her again and again.
"Yami..." she cried breathlessly as he slipped his thumb into the soft blond curls topping her sex. He kissed her ankle again as she cried out and bit her lip. He had found it, the right spot and as he stroked it, he could feel her tighten, pulsing around him. She came silently, with heavy breathing and closed eyes. He slipped her legs from his shoulders and dove in for another kiss as he continued his steady rhythm, once her body had calmed. He cupped her breast and brought it to his lips. He sucked and teased, his tongue flicking over her hardened nipples until she squealed and squirmed beneath him once more. First one, and then the next. Her fingers clawed at his back, simultaneously pulling him closer and trying to drive him away.
The cot creaked beneath them as he continued. He wanted to release himself, but he also wanted to watch her squirm so more – this little noblewoman who always looked down on others, on men especially, who acted like she never needed anyone and fought so hard to make that true, this beautiful woman who from the first time he saw her he wanted if only to teach a lesson to or so he thought at the time, this angel of a being, glorious and magnificent, who made him feel things he had never felt and could not describe. He wanted to fuck her forever.
The handful of others he had been with, common women and nobles alike, had never made him feel quite the same. He wanted to crawl up inside of her and live there if he could. He wanted to hold her in his arms forever. He wanted to submit to her. As far as he could remember, the only other person he had ever submitted to in anyway was Julius, when he offered to take in a young boy washed ashore in a strange land and give him a life of meaning. He had turned himself over to the time mage then, vowing to give him everything he could.
Now, looking down at her face as he pushed her over the edge of pleasure once more, he wanted to give everything else to her. As she tightened on him once more, with the thought of surrender encompassing his mind, he let go. Her legs tightened once more against his hips, holding him deep inside as he pulsed, releasing his essence within her. She smiled up at him, not the challenging smirk from before, but a tender, gracious smile. He found himself smiling back. She brushed her fingers along his cheek and around his neck before pulling him down into her and kissing him. The kiss was slow and gentle and filled with promise. He had never been kissed like that before. The memory of it made him smile as he nestled himself next to her, his limbs wrapping around her protectively as he drifted off to sleep once more.
The sun was high in the sky, higher than she was used to waking in any case, as Charlotte blinked in the light of day. She felt crowded and cramped. Her body ached with exhaustion, but despite her weariness, she felt good. Pleased. Sated. Happy.
She tried to roll onto her back, but the combination of the narrow bed and large other occupant made moving difficult. She wasn't quite sure how, but she managed to push herself up to sitting and get herself out of the narrow bed without falling to the floor. She stretched in the mid-morning sunlight which filtered into the otherwise dark room through a narrow and dirty window. The rays of light made the dust particles dance in the air like tiny sparkles of magic leftover from the night before. She could not help the smile on her lips as she hunted around the room for her clothing.
The bells in the town chimed the hour and the sound startled her. They also startled Yami, who until the moment they had run had been sleeping deeply. He bolted up in the bed, his eyes frantically searching for something. He panted as if he had been running for a long distance and his hand wrung the thin blanket he had covered them with into scrunched fistfuls of fabric. As the sound ended and the last of the echoing rings faded, he seemed to grow calm once more. Charlotte quickly finished lacing her bodice as she watched him.
"Are you alright?" Her voice sounded more concerned than she thought it should and she wondered if something happened last night to change her. She felt different, at least a little bit. She also felt it would be hard to explain not only her actions, but how she felt different now because of them.
He took a deep breath and nodded. His eyes traveled the length of her now fully clothed body as he looked at her. Charlotte wasn't sure but she thought he frowned.
"Yeah, just... just a bad dream." He swung his legs over the side of the bed and pulled on his pants. Seeing his half-naked body once more gave Charlotte a rush of desire. She closed her eyes and bit her lip in an effort to hold it down.
"Oh."
Now that the rush of insanity which had driven her the night before had subsided, Charlotte could imagine her parent's anger with her for not coming home last night. She wondered if she should just go back to headquarters without stopping in to see them. She could claim she had been recalled suddenly. Neither had served as Magic Knights, they would have no idea about how things worked. The plan was plausible and would be easy to implement, but for one thing. Charlotte did want to see her grandmother, even if she could care less about what her parents told her.
"So, um..." Yami spoke nervously as he fastened his complex belt system around his waist. "What are you planning to do now?" Charlotte thought the words sounded hollow and stiff in his mouth. She wondered the same thing.
"I guess I should go home and face the music." Charlotte pulled her hair back in a severe bun. "I'm sure I'll never hear the end of it from my parents for not coming home last night."
"I should probably get back to headquarters, I guess." He fastened his cloak about his shoulders. "Julius is probably starting to wonder why I'm late." Charlotte nodded. She wondered how she was going to explain what happened to her own captain. She decided she would only tell people on a need-to-know basis.
"Probably." She turned to him and made the mistake of looking into his eyes. She could see the entire universe in his near black orbs. She felt her breath catch as they looked at each other.
So, Yami, what does all this mean?"
"What are you talking about?"
"For us? What does it mean?" She couldn't bring herself to describe what he had done to her, with her. She flicked her eyes away from him, looking down at the floor, at the window or door – anywhere but him. Looking at him made her blush from the memory of his body over hers, of his lips on her skin. He was quiet for a while, the only sound was the grunting he made as he pulled his boots on. She glanced back to him briefly, seeing his brow knit in thought as he took a cigarette out from a pouch at his belt.
"It doesn't have to mean anything." He flicked open a small box which blossomed into flame as his finger ran over it in a practiced motion. Touching the fire to the end of the small cylinder protruding from his lips, he inhaled deeply. She watched as he closed his eyes and exhaled as he tucked the small metal box back into the pouch near his belt. His face relaxed in a way that reminded her of how he looked the night before, similar, but not quite the same.
Charlotte nodded and wrinkled her eyebrows together. Her rash thinking from before had evaporated in the light of the new day. She took stock of what she was feeling, setting aside each individual emotion into their own little boxes as she acknowledged them.
"You don't regret it, do you?" His voice had taken on an edge of panic within the otherwise hollow flat sound. When she met his eyes again, however, they were as cool and inscrutable as they had been when he sliced away the briars and made a path into her heart.
Did she regret her actions, giving into her wanton desires?
She shook her head.
"No." She could feel her heart racing again at the memory of his arms around her. She wanted to feel them once more. She had never felt so safe, so protected in her life as she had in his arms – at least not that she could remember. He took a step forward.
"It can just be for fun, Charlotte."
She met his eyes again, nodding. The movement of the cigarette back and forth to his lips drew her attention from his eyes. She wanted to kiss him again, to replace his cigarette with her lips, but the thought spiraled out of control from kissing to more far too quickly. He shuffled forward once more.
"And it was fun." He licked his lips as the war she waged with herself was equally evident on his face. "At least, I thought it was." He broke eye contact as a light blush graced his cheeks, though through his darker skin it was less obvious.
"It was..." Amazing, incredible, glorious, all ran through her mind as ways to describe what she had felt with him. And all were words which would make it more difficult to leave. She took a deep breath, her eyes running over his jaw and neck where small purple bruises had formed. She hadn't realized it at the time, but she must have bitten him at some point in their communion. She tried to think back to when she might have done so and felt the wave of desire strike her once more. She crossed her arms over her chest, hugging herself. "It was good." She settled on at last.
A sad smile spread over his lips as if he had expected the answer but wasn't entirely happy with it.
"I guess we should go before people start to get really worried."
The small restaurant on the first floor of the building was nearly empty, save for the owner and an old woman sitting alone at a table drinking tea. The woman looked old enough to be either of their grandmother, but she also seemed familiar somehow to Yami. He watched her as he passed by, but the woman's attention was focused on the cup of steaming liquid in her hands. Yami wrinkled his brow as he turned his attention back to Charlotte as she spoke to the owner behind the counter.
"I'm sure you are hungry." The old man said with a wink and a twinkle in his eye which made Charlotte blush and look away embarrassed.
Yami grinned as his stomach growled on cue. He wanted to ask her to stay, to nuzzle her neck and lay kisses along her skin. He took a long drag on his cigarette.
It was a one time thing, he told himself as he watched her stiffen under his gaze. She's not yours. Though looking at her, he very much wished she was.
"No thank you. I, um, I have to go." She forced a smile at the old man before Yami was captured in her sparkling blue eyes. She looked at him, cool, collected, disdainful on the surface as she pulled her mask back in place, but he could see something more, a fire burning beneath the surface. He could practically feel her trembling the air in the space between them as she whetted her lips.
"I, um, I'll see you around sometime, I guess." Her voice had the slightest quiver to it.
"Yeah. See you around." He said around the cigarette nestled between his lips. They stared at each other for a moment, both feeling like something else needed to be said, but not knowing what. He wanted to kiss her and from the way her eyes kept darting to his lips, he wondered if she wanted the same. But for the cigarette between his lips, he probably would have. He wanted to take it out, to clear the cloud of smoke building in his lungs, but he did not know if he could control himself if the tiny fiery barrier did not stand between them. She was right; they both had to leave the little haven they had found in the noodle shop together.
She nodded as she looked to the ground and turned to the door. In an instant she was gone and Yami took the cigarette from between his lips and let out a long exhale as he watched the curtained flaps marking the doorway swing from her passing until they stilled.
"You should go after her." The old woman from the corner said over her cup of tea.
His body tensed as if he were preparing to run or fight. He wanted to chase her down, to pull her to him and kiss her until the world ended. Instead, he turned to the counter and the old man behind it. Yami placed an order as he sat on the stool he had occupied the night before. He could see the disappointment on the old man's face as he turned to the open kitchen and began to cook.