Chapter 11

"Come." Ignis said, taking Lyne's hand in his own and starting for the sea shore. They found a quiet place between rocks, with a beautiful view on the waves, and sat down, Lyne settling herself between Ignis' legs, and leaning on him, at peace. He kissed the top of her head, never letting go of her hand. They stayed like that a long time, neither wanting to disturb their sweet little bubble.

After a while though, Ignis remembered something.

"Darling?"

"Mmh?" Lyne's voice sounded like she'd been lost in a daydream.

"May I ask you a question?"

"You can ask me anything."

"Where did you go that night in Lestallum when you disappeared?"

He felt her tense in his arms. She kept silent for a few seconds, before turning to meet his gaze.

"Do you trust me?"

"Given the way we are currently cuddling, I'd say I do", he replied with a smile.

"Okay, this may sound crazy but... I can travel to the astral plane. In a way it works like Noctis' warping, the only difference is that I can travel over longer distances. I didn't know I could do it, until that day when I got so angry, and it just happened."

"I see. But pray tell, why would I find that notion crazy, seeing the world we live in? There are so many things that seem unlikely in the first place... Your liking me for instance."

She smiled at him in just the way he had wished her to smile for him the day they had met. He felt like the happiest man on Eos just then.

"On the contrary, my dear Mr Scientia. It is your liking me that was highly unlikely. I'm nothing special, while you... To me, you are perfect."

His heart melted.

Taking her head in his hands, he pressed the softest kiss on her lips, in an attempt to convey just what she meant to him, for in that instant words were not enough. She responded eagerly, turning completely to lean on him, their chests touching and their legs intertwined. Her lips parted as she moaned softly, and he took that opportunity to start exploring her sweet mouth again. He could feel his pants tighten as he slipped his hands under Lyne's shirt to stroke her soft skin. She buried her hands in his hair, and the feeling of her fingers against his skin made him groan under his breath. The way she was rubbing herself on his growing erection was soon going to be too much to bear.

"Stop." Panting, he took her by the shoulders, pushing gently.

"What...?"

"As much as I want this, I wish for our first time to be perfect, with a nice room, a soft bed, and probably a real date before that. You deserve so much more than a rushed first time in the sand, half-hidden behind rocks."

Ignis could see the disappointment on Lyne's face, but her expression soon changed and she gave him a chaste kiss on the cheek.

"See? Perfect, like I said."

Back at the cottage, Ignis and Lyne cooked dinner together for the rest of the team, and they were both visibly happy to have all these moments back. Ignis hadn't realised how much he loved having her around until after he'd decided to distance himself from her, and now that they were back to normal it was as if air had been given back to him. Although he was not into any kind of public display of affection, they enjoyed a proximity that had not been there before, and he could tell that the change in their attitude toward each other hadn't escaped the others. Several times while cooking and during dinner, Lyne's hand or elbow brushed against Ignis' as if by accident, but when he looked at her after the third time, the smirk she wore told him that she was doing it on purpose. If he was honest with himself though, Ignis was quite enjoying her teasing. When he felt her calf rubbing against his under the table though, things started to get out of control. He stood up quickly and started to clear the table. He was sure that Gladio had noticed the red creeping on his cheeks, but the big guy said nothing, turning instead to Talcott to listen to the child's harmless ramble about his newest cactuar figure.

A few minutes later, he saw Lyne look at him under her lashes, and still wearing the same smirk on her face, as she exited the cottage. Waiting a bit so as to make things a little less obvious, he followed her at last. Outside, the night's fresh air helped him regain his senses. He spotted the young woman as she walked up to the lighthouse, and fell into step behind her. When he joined her behind the building, she looked at him, suddenly shy.

"Hey", she said with a smile.

He didn't even take the time to answer her. His heart racing in his chest, his blood boiling in his veins, and the tightness in his pants got the better of his control. He took her by the shoulders, and pinned her against the wall of the lighthouse, as he pressed his lips against hers. All trace of softness was gone from that kiss. It was only pure desire talking through him. Her first reaction was to gasp at his sudden harshness, but she quickly responded to his kiss. When he started to trail soft kisses against her throat and shoulder, she moaned and buried her hands in his hair. He was on the brink of losing what remained of his self-control right here and right now.

He got to his senses in the blink of an eye when he felt her hands starting to unbutton his dress shirt. This was not what he wanted deep down, no matter how hard he wanted her right now. He stopped kissing her, his swollen lips hovering just above hers, one finger trailing slowly over the fabric covering her pussy. She tried to resume the kiss, but Ignis moved away, depriving her of what she craved for.

"Darling, you are such a tease... Here was I this afternoon, talking about taking you on a proper date for our first time, and then you do this to me? I had no idea you could be such a naughty girl..."

"Shut up and do me", she replied, breathless.

He tutted, and removed her hands from the buttons of his shirt.

"No no no, we are going to do this my way... And it will be a way to punish you as well..."

She arched her back so that Ignis' hand rubbed her sex. Gods, she was good at that. He closed his eyes for one second, before stepping back, leaving her panting and wanting.

"Let's see who can play the teasing game better", he said, a smirk on his lips as he left her there.

ooo

This was proving to be so much more difficult than she'd thought. On the morrow, they had seen Gladio off and then had departed for the place Talcott had indicated on the map and where they were supposed to look for some mithril ore. Prompto had insisted on Lyne taking the passenger seat, and so she was sitting next to Ignis. Several times during the trip he made a movement as if he was going to stroke Lyne's knee, only for his arm to change its course and take his can of Ebony from the car's cup holder. The man was good at teasing, she could grant him that. She tried to act as if it did nothing to her, but she wasn't sure her pressing her thighs together went unnoticed.

When they stopped for the night, midway to the Versperpool, Ignis chose a haven instead of the hotels and campers they'd just passed. She knew where this was going, and she soon proved to be right: Ignis chose to sleep as far from her as possible in the little tent the four of them shared. He was driving Lyne nuts, but fortunately Noctis and Prompto seemed oblivious to the battle of wills that was taking place between them.

They had to fight a few imperial squads to enter the area, but soon enough Ignis was parking the Regalia near their destination.

They were soon met by one of the people they wanted to see the least: the man Lyne had first encountered at the military base where they'd found the Regalia, Ardyn. Ignis had told her he was the chancellor of Niflheim, the country that had destroyed their home. Surprisingly, the man was friendly with them. In an odd way, but he said he wanted to help them, as he'd done when they'd met Ravus the other day. A few minutes later they found themselves being accompanied to the nearby dungeon with the woman who'd tried to stop them in Archeole, Aranea. Lyne didn't like her. She was over confident, arrogant, underdressed, and more importantly, she worked for the Empire.

Once they got inside the dungeon, she decided she could add another thing to her list: the dragoon knight had a tendency to stand too close to Ignis for Lyne's liking. This, added to Ignis' incredibly successful teasing, was infuriating her. That didn't go unnoticed by the group, as Lyne's fighting was distinctly affected by her state of mind: the daemons they encountered in the dungeon were falling like flies around her, whether killed by her daggers, or simply wiped out by her power.

Ignis was visibly worried by the young woman's growing rage, and after one fight on the second floor, he came to her while the others resumed their progress. A hand on her shoulder and a concerned look in his eyes, he held her there for a while.

"Are you alright darling?" he whispered.

"Perfectly fine!" she replied, loud enough for the others to hear. She could see Aranea turn back, a smirk on her pretty face. Closing her eyes for one second, she tried to calm down.

"Sorry Iggy. It's nothing. I guess I'm just a little bit... tense." She gave him a knowing look, and got an evil smirk from her boyfriend in return.

"Be patient, love. I'm sure we can find a way for you to... release your tension."

"You're not playing fair, you know that?"

"Perhaps. But may I refresh your memory as to who started this little game in the first place?"

He led her by the hand to follow after the others. As brief as it had been, his touch had indeed helped her relax a little. She even managed to admire their surroundings. Even though it was a bit nerve-racking, this water ceiling was extremely beautiful.

They soon managed to defeat the huge bird-thing that was looming in the heart of the dungeon, and were rewarded with what they had come for: a piece of mithril ore, the last thing they needed to repair the boat that would take them to Altissia. Once outside, the dragoon knight proposed to give them a lift to Lestallum with her airship, as they apparently needed to get there to have the mithril transformed so that Cid could use it to repair the boat.

The trip to Lestallum seemed endless. Lyne had never boarded an airship before, but with nothing to do but watch Ignis, whose gaze, full of promises, never left hers, the excitement she should have felt was completely directed at something else. Or rather someone…

Noctis had successfully dealt with the mess at the power plant, and they had been surprised to find that the mysterious hunter who'd accompanied him was none other than Gladio, who'd earned two more scars while on his solitary trip. The big guy gave Lyne a hug, and she couldn't help but look at Ignis with a smirk and a raised eyebrow. We're still playing, right? she thought. She didn't know if it was her imagination, but she was almost sure she'd seen Ignis' beautiful eyes darken, and his jaw tense at the view of Gladio touching Lyne.

Once the group of five had been reunited, they decided to spend the night in Lestallum. Lyne was sure Ignis was going to wait some more, he seemed to be enjoying himself very much while teasing her. But all of a sudden, she felt his hand grip hers, and he told the others that he wanted to have the night with you to show you a wonderful restaurant he'd just discovered in the city. The others left with lots of smirks and winks, but at last, they were alone. She didn't dare speak, but Ignis voiced her own thoughts: "What would you say if we skipped dinner tonight, darling?"