She could take him.
Yes, the position he's put her into was a bit uncomfortable, and that thing he was doing with his hands and his voice – oh, that wicked voice- was distracting and sent warmth to her face, but he would need more than mere heat to put her down…
"-plunder my virtue?"
Oh, by the Eight…
A lone whimper slipped pass her lips in a moment of carelessness.
Sneaking a look at his face to see if he's noticed; she caught his attention and was brutally hit with the intensity of his gaze. She was not going to bashfully look away from him, damn it, she was better than that- but after a few seconds of trying to keep the eye contact Malvina immediately regretted her action, and found herself forced to look at the ceiling to calm herself down. Her fellow Dragonborn chuckled and returned to his task, but not before mending his voice to be somewhat more distracting than usually, and with his voice, that was saying something…
The woman still had a hard time believing what he was doing… the cheek of the man!
He slowed down, and, carefully, Malvina released her bottom lip from the grip of her teeth- but only after she was sure she wasn't going to make any other embarrassing noises. Divines, how he was toying with her-
That look on his face-
The Dragon Priest was good, she'd give him that - he knew exactly what he was doing.
"Plunder be a harsh term to ply upon such a delicate flower as your virtue; would you not say?" The Breton was sure her ears were pink after hearing such words leave that sly, cunning mouth of his, and she was sure he would have them so until he'd had his full share of revenge- oh, he would make sure of that.
"-'I see thou hast made off with mine husbands precious coins.' Ravius said smoothly." He readjusted his position in his chair, changing voices between characters and narrator.
Oh, right…
Right, she remembered herself- he was only reading her a story, no need to respond so exaggeratedly- no matter how tingly hearing such things in his voice made her, she was still the Dragonborn, Defeater of Alduin, and she would not fall at the hands- voice, gods, it was his voice- and his childish tries to make her squirm.
Right, of course!
"Tell me, oh beauteous one-"That came out husky, a good kind of husky- a very bad kind of good husky. "-why doest thy husband set seven deadly traps around these tawdry coins, but only a simple lock upon the door of his virtuous wife?"
Damn him, since when did she find it hard to tune down voices? She'd always had a gift for not listening to people when they spoke to her, whatever had happened? Really now, Malvina, of all persons, fighting with herself to keep up an uninterested front?
Preposterous!
"I would give all the gold in my possession to spend but a moment basking in your radiance." She wanted to look up from her lap, where her quick fingers were busy with her favourite dagger, to check if the amusement she'd made out in his voice was present in his eyes, but she knew better than give away any uncharacteristic attentiveness.
"With that Ravius set down the coins he-" He kept reading and she kept ignoring him- or trying to- but something was different, something was wrong.
She was sure he was staring at her- she was sure! Alright, so he was reading her out of the book, and he wasn't supposed to be able to do both at the same time, but Malvina wouldn't have put it past Miraak to memorise the damn thing just to mess with her like that!
The fact that the man had had no way of knowing that this was the book she would have him read was of no relevance…
He cleared his throat, and she was snapped out of her paranoid mussing. "The Baroness swooned into his arms. Her thin lips parted in bliss as-" At least she knew he was still insensible to being actively ignored. A thought accrued to her, and, with it, something akin to hope bloomed in her chest- maybe he was just trying to finish the lecture as quickly as possible, and her worry was unfounded. After all, why else would he keep pushing on with the story like that? The embarrassing parts were over with- from what she could tell, and there was only a page or two of the book left, it wasn't like he was anxious to get to a good part, or-
"-the lady moaned loudly, caught unguarded by the hand that sneaked up her skirts, and, in a moment of boldness, she pushed herself against-"
Wait… she was sure that wasn't part of the story… She almost cut herself thanks to the sudden realisation catching her unprepared.
What was he- what was he doing? Warily, she put down the sharp object in her hands and strained her ears.
"- the man. Even if she was nothing much to look at, the heat of her body awakened an eager response from Raviu-"
She stopped whatever she was doing and turned to watch him with wide eyes, a feeling of alarm taking over her senses. This time, it was clear he'd been staring at her for some time. But it couldn't be- he wasn't actually adding heat to the story just to make her uncomfortable, was he?
It was absurd; surely, Miraak had too much pride to put himself in such a position.
"Veronique accepted him all-too-willingly, and they stumbled together into the fine silks of her bed sheets, entangled in each other. She watched him from between her half-lidded stare as he climbed over."
She listened to him, transfixed, horrified, and maybe a bit hot in the cheeks, and motionlessly watched the evil that shone in his eyes. All right, so he would not have normally put himself in this position, but he had no problem doing it if he could drag her down with him, was that it?
Sadistic bastard.
"The man sighed quietly b-" He stopped- one, two, three heartbeats. "Is something wrong, Dragonborn?" He asked, acting innocent- and that word and Miraak had nothing to do in the same sentence.
On another note…
Gods, did he have to throw around her title so, and was the rumble in his voice really necessary? The Breton bit down on her bottom lip hard, and her stare watched him accusatory.
"What-" Malvina chocked, she actually chocked! He was never going to let her live that down. "What exactly are you doing?" Her voice was, perhaps, just a bit too shrill, but she'd gut him if he dared bring it up.
"Why, I'm surprised at the question." He murmured, thoroughly enjoying himself. "You of all people should know." The Nord smiled mockingly, or at least she thought he did- he sounded far too smug not to.
"Really now?" It was hard, yes, but she thought she was still working that whole cool, unaffected attitude.
"It was you who asked for one last story, wasn't it? I thought I'll make it memorable." He looked at her sharply, and that smile was most definitely in place. "Why, am I making you uneasy?" He crooked his head like a bird- a crow trying to see if his meal was still kicking. The mental image was not welcome. "Should we call it a night"
If there was one thing that could be said about Malvina, it was that she could recognise a challenge when she saw one, and if that wasn't a challenge, than she hadn't desecrated an altar in her life!
"No, of course." She refused to cringe or to let her voice quiver; she refused! "Do carry on, it was just getting interesting."
Gods, she hated her own pride sometimes.
"As you wish."
He only spared a second to smirk forebodingly at her, and it was really a shame she had no way of seeing it, distracted as she was. Or maybe it was for the best.
Either way, it was going to be a long night.
...
...
...
The next morning, he had the gall to look amused.
"Good morning, Dragonborn, how was your sleep?"
"Don't-" She inhaled shakily. "Don't speak to me." She ordered sharply; a bit too sharply.
She absolutely loathed the way his lips jerked upwards slightly at her reply.
It went without saying, when she marched on deck in a forceful stride, that she refused to spend one day more in that cabin with him unless she had to.
If he thought he had any means of restraining her, he was more foolish than she'd originally thought.
Malvina scoffed, he was a big enough fool as it was anyway- fool enough to make an enemy out of the woman even the Brotherhood feared.
Sorry to disappoint with such a dull chapter, but I promise I'll try harder the next time, ok?
Also, I trust the rating is still appropriate, yes? I might need to change it in a few chapters anyway, but still…
