I felt a warmth beside me as I woke, I didn't remember going to sleep, or for that matter where I was. I opened my eyes and saw a room with a closed door and a desk against the wall, but it seemed much lower than the bed, as if it were on a platform… I sat up quickly, but regretted the decision as my head swam.
"What the..?" A gravelly voice began, "Oh, it's just you."
I looked beside me and saw Ulfric, with his chest bare, starting to sit upright in the bed. "Why am I in your bed?" I began to panic.
"You fainted yesterday; I figured I would just put you to sleep in my room where you would be safe," He ran a hand through his unkempt hair and looked at me through sleepy eyes.
"But there was no…" I looked down at my hands as I began to twist the sheets nervously.
"Of course not," He reached over and put a hand on mine before I could snatch it away.
I looked up into his blue eyes, mesmerized by their color. Ulfric slowly began to lean near me, his face mere inches away before I jumped away from him and out of the bed. I lost my footing on the dais and nearly fell to the ground, but managed to catch my balance at the last moment. He looked at me confused for a moment before his eyes began to wander down my body. I then realized I had none of my clothes on, not even the smalls, and was swimming inside a rather large tunic that must have belonged to him.
"Where are my clothes?" I warily asked him.
"I had them cleaned, they should be sitting over there on the desk" He pointed with his chin.
I quickly snatched the clothes and gave him a hard stare until he turned around and I could dress, I faced the wall incase his prying eyes tried to peek. I wasn't sure how I had slept through the night actually next to somebody, but I must have been so exhausted and overwhelmed by body had no other choice than to shut down. But I was rather curious who had undressed me, although it was probably just a lowly maid.
I snuck a quick look over my shoulder as she dressed, but she was already half-way in her armor and facing the wall, so I could only glimpse the delicate skin of her back, but it was enough to arouse my member even more than it already was. Waking up with her beside me had caused the blood to start pumping as soon as I had woken up, if I kept having this reaction to her I might explode. I turned back to face the other side of the room so she wouldn't catch me watching. I heard multiple buckles and clasps being situated and as the room began to grow silent she finally spoke.
"I'm finished now…" her voice trailed off.
I slowly got out of the bed and stretched, she was watching me intently and it seemed to have taken her a moment to realize I was nearly naked. Her eyes traveled from my face downward and as soon as her eyes reached my loincloth she turned a magnificent shade of pink and spun around to face the wall again.
"Like what you see?" I chuckled at her.
"I- I'm sorry, I don't know what came over me…" she sounded embarrassed.
"Oh, you can look whenever you want," This was way too fun, and I could tell her blush deepened, the backs of her ears were a bright red.
Odette remained silent as I dressed and stayed turned towards the wall, when I was finished I walked around the bed and came over to her, trailing a hand down her arm. She jumped slightly, as if surprised I would touch her. When my hand reached hers she pulled away quickly, so I instead motioned for her to exit the room in front of me. Her steps were slow, and she seemed deep in thought. We really would have to get past this no-touching stage, because it was nearly killing me.
My steps were labored and my head was still fuzzy as we exited the hallway, went through the war room, and appeared in the main hall. Ulfric motioned for me to sit at the great tables and I picked a spot as far away from the other men as I could, but when Ulfric sat across from me and they all came to crowd around us.
"So was your night eventful?" Galmar was grinning at Ulfric, he began chuckling when there was a thump from under the table, like the Jarl had hit his friend.
I stared down at the plate of food in front of me, I wasn't in the mood to eat, but I was famished. I slowly picked apart the food and shoved small pieces into my mouth as the men rambled on about the war and other matters I wasn't interested in. Every time I would look up, Ulfric had his icy gaze pinned on me, but I couldn't hold it for longer than a second before looking back down. I was mulling over all his conditions from the night before, some of them were acceptable; I could stay for two days on my return, I had no intention of putting myself in danger after the World Eater issue was solved, I could suffer wearing dresses, and making friends in the city seemed manageable. I was worried about some of the other conditions he had, especially the sexual ones, I wasn't sure if I could keep up that end of the bargain. Ever since my capture I had avoided any kind of contact, it just made those awful memories resurface. Maybe if I could just explain to him… but I wasn't sure if that could really work.
My conversation with Galmar and Jorlief was utterly boring; I was trying to figure out what had the pretty little elf so distraught her brows were furrowed as if in deep thought. Every time she would look up we would make eye contact for barely a second before she would look back down at her plate and slowly tear herself pieces of food, bit by bit. I quickly downed my breakfast so we could get on with our negotiations and away from the insufferable small talk my court was making.
"We'll finish this conversation later," I told the men. "Odette, come."
She looked up, startled from her thoughts and looked at me for a moment before rising from the table and walking around to join me. I lead her back into the war room and up to my chambers once more. We had to finish discussing our marriage so we could attend the peace council and get on with other matters.
"Do you remember my conditions I laid out yesterday?" I questioned when the door was shut behind us.
"Yes… But, I…" she seemed at an utter loss for words. "I'm not so sure I can hold up some of them…" She shifted from foot to foot.
"What do you mean?" I demanded.
"I have an… issue with intimacy. It's not really something I'd like to get into detail about, it's rather… disturbing for me. I'm not saying I would never… take that step, but I need… time Ulfric." She looked on the verge of tears, like something traumatic was playing over and over in her head. I felt bad for her, and strangely enraged at the same time, but I pushed the feelings to the side, this relationship was for my gain, not to "fall in love" if there even was such a thing.
"You can have time, I won't push you. But at least sleep in my bed with me when you return from your journeys, you have my word I won't try anything you aren't ready for." She looked slightly relieved, but it was evident something was still on her mind.
I looked at her trying to figure out what could have happened to make her feel this way, but she was trying to shield her thoughts from me.
"We need to get going to High Hrothgar," She stated a few heartbeats later. And she was right, the council would be just on the verge of starting by the time we would get there.