Yes! Finally the chapter that justifies the "R" rating of this story! ^_~.  The love scene is my first one and was harder to write than I thought, but I hope you like it…please R/R.  Thanks! Chapter 4:  Moonflow Magic

Apricot and amethyst hues of dusk briefly bathed the horizon before the sky slowly deepened to indigo and the stars lit the firmament, one by one.  Rissa sat alone by the edge of the river, knees tucked up under her chin and her arms hugging her legs.  She loved watching the pyreflies dancing in ethereal circles across the water, their light caught between the glitter of the stars above and the reflection of the water below.  The magic of the balmy summer night ensnared her senses and she could not help but think wistfully of a certain ebony-haired warrior with cognac eyes and a soft smile. 

She sighed.  She knew better than to entertain ideas about Auron.  Especially now that he was engaged to Lady Tashira.  She had purposely avoided him all day, keeping herself busy with one thing and another.  But she wasn't really hiding from him, she admitted to herself…she was hiding from the possible exposure of her own feelings.  She was terrified of somehow letting it slip how much she wanted him, how much she needed him.  Surely it was better to keep her fantasies alive then subject them to harsh reality and the face pain of possible rejection. 

A sound to her left interrupted her train of thought.  Quick as lightning she was on her feet with one of her throwing daggers drawn as she whirled to face the intruder.  A tall ivory-clad figure stopped a few feet away.

"It's only me, Rissa."

At the sound of Auron's voice, Rissa's heart skipped a beat.  She slowly sheathed her dagger as she stared at him in the dim light, wondering what he was doing out here.  Had he been looking for her?

As if in answer to her unspoken question, Auron nodded.  "I thought I'd find you here," he said, walking over to where she stood by the bank of the river and lowering himself to the ground.  "It is so beautiful here at night."  As he sat, he turned his attention to the ghostly pyreflies as they dipped and danced among the moonlilies gilding the surface of the water.  Rissa gazed down at him with an unconscious yearning as a light breeze played across the water and ruffled the black strands of his hair that had escaped their confines at the back of his neck.  She longed to feel the silky softness of the strands beneath her fingertips and she barely stopped herself from reaching out to him.  Instead, Rissa slowly sank down next to him.  Managing to find her voice, she asked, "What are you doing here?"

Auron looked at her and raised an eyebrow.  "I just want to visit with an old friend.  I thought she would want to visit with me too, but she seems to be avoiding me."

Rissa winced at the hurt note in his voice.  "I…I do want to visit with you," she stammered.  "You're one of my best friends!" It was her turn to look out across the river as she continued, "I just felt I needed some time alone, that's all."

"Would you like me to leave?"

Her eyes snapped back to his face, "No!" she exclaimed.  "Please stay!"  Embarrassed at her rather emphatic outburst, she returned her gaze to the moonlilies floating gracefully on water's surface in front of her.  Casting about for a neutral topic of conversation to engage in, she finally said, "Tell me how the gang is doing."

Auron hesitated, then decided to accept her topic.  "Everyone is doing well, to the best of my knowledge.  Braska's keeping busy…Nadu decided to open a tavern, and he's doing very well." He smiled briefly.  "Visslo's wife had a baby girl about two months ago…it was touch and go as to whether she would survive the birth, but she pulled through..."  Auron's voice trailed off. 

Rissa grimaced, knowing he had unintentionally triggered memories of his own mother dying in childbirth when he was just six years old.  He had told her about it a few years ago, about how his mother had given birth to a stillborn child and then bled to death from massive hemorrhaging.  His father had been grief-stricken and killed himself only three weeks later.  To this day, Auron still carried anger that his father chose death with his wife over life with his son.

Rissa glanced up at Auron and found herself caught by the haunted look she saw in the depths of his eyes.  She wanted so badly to erase that look, to ease the sorrow of his memories and the bleakness of his future.  Before she even understood what she was doing, she leaned over and softly touched his lips with her own.  She felt him stiffen in surprise, but an instant later her butterfly-light kiss was consumed by the heat of his mouth crushed against hers.  Amazement at his response quickly turned to passion.  Vaguely she felt his fingers entangle themselves in her hair at the back of her neck as he sought to deepen the kiss.  His tongue slid into her mouth and she eagerly met it with her own.  She savored the taste of him, her senses whirling under the impact of desire he stirred in her. 

Auron broke the kiss and just looked at her for a moment, his breathing ragged.  "No," he gasped.  "We cannot do this."  His hand slid away from her hair and he looked blankly out across the water, trying to regain his senses. 

Rissa grabbed his arm.  "Why not?" she pleaded.  "Don't we deserve this?  This one chance to be together?" 

"I am to wed Tashira," he protested, refusing to look at her, knowing if he did he'd pull her right back into his arms.

She closed her eyes against the tears that welled up and threatened to spill down her cheeks.  Something deep inside her knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that they both needed this night; she just didn't know the words to convince him to continue.  She tentatively reached out and took his hand in hers.

At her touch, Auron fought for control.  He had never imagined that it would be so sweet to taste Rissa's lips, to feel her soft and eager in his embrace.  But he had nothing to give her except carnal pleasure for one lonely night.  She deserved so much more than that.  And he deserved more than to be branded by something he could touch only once, but never keep.

"Don't," he said harshly, pulling his hand from her grasp.  "It is hard enough for me to reconcile this marriage with Tashira.  If I bring memories of a shared night with you to my wedding, it will just make things that much worse."

"I understand what you are saying," Rissa told him earnestly, "But isn't it too late already?  You know you will have a hard time now, regardless."  Pausing to marshal her thoughts into a coherent argument, she continued, "And which would be worse?  To only have a taste of what could be, and imagine that on your wedding night?  Or know what we did, and cherish that for a lifetime?"  Her hand came up to cup his cheek gently and she turned his face to hers.  Looking deeply into his eyes she traced her thumb across his lips.  "Please give us this night, Auron" she whispered. "Please give me this memory to hold to my heart and light the dark places of my soul."

Auron knew he was lost.  How could he refuse her?  The desire shining deep in her eyes astonished him and the magic of the kiss they had already shared spurred him to capture her lips with his own once again.  It was a soft, sweet kiss, full of promise.  To Rissa, it was an answer to her prayers.

"We can go back to my tent," Rissa suggested hesitantly as they pulled apart. "I am not sharing with anyone…"

Auron made no reply, but stood up, holding out his hand and pulling her to her feet.  Together they made their way carefully back to camp.  Rissa was nervous, but incredibly happy as well.  She couldn't believe that he wanted her as much as she wanted him.  Anticipation rose within her and she kept sneaking sideways glances at the handsome young man who walked beside her.  Tashira may marry him, she thought, but tonight he is mine.

As they slipped into her tent, Rissa fumbled in the dark by the entrance and found the small lantern she kept there.  Lighting it, she turned to Auron and looked up at him shyly.  He, in turn, looked at her uncertainly.

"Is it safe?" he asked, hesitantly.  "I mean, you won't get – you know…"

Rissa smiled, "It's fine, Auron," she assured him, "I won't get pregnant."  Considering what he had gone through, she couldn't blame him for not wanting to take a chance with pregnancy.

He sighed in relief that she had understood his concern.  Placing his hands on her shoulders, he drew her into him.  "Are you sure you want to do this?" he asked gently, "It can only be this one time."

Rissa's eyes grew bright, "Yes, I'm sure," she whispered, "I've never been more sure of anything in my life."

They sank down on her cot and their mouths mated with a passionate fury born of desire and desperation.  Rissa's nimble fingers quickly undid the fastenings of the robe he wore and she slid it off, revealing the black leather chest plate and dark pants he wore underneath.  Her hands traveled up his bare arms, reveling in the strength and play of muscles as he enfolded her in his embrace.  She made short work of the buckles on his chest plate and it soon joined the robes on the ground.  She couldn't stop running her hands up and down the solid smoothness of his back and as he pressed her body down against the mattress, her nails dug into the muscles of his shoulders, eliciting a soft groan from him.

His kiss left her mouth to travel hungrily down the side of her neck.  As his lips made their way down the smooth ivory column of her throat, he deftly undid the lacing of the lavender vest and white shirt she wore.  She gasped in pleasure as his hand gently caressed her exposed breasts.  Then his hand was replaced by his tongue and she arched against him instinctively, her fingers tangling themselves in his hair.  He lavished his attention on first one breast, then the other, her nipples budding eagerly under his skillful ministrations.  Before she could catch her breath from the sensual onslaught, he settled the hard length of his body against hers while his mouth moved back up to her lips for another kiss that left them both breathless.

Auron lifted her against him and with a quick twist, turned over on his back with Rissa on top of him.  Sitting up and straddling his hips she took a moment to just drink in the sight of his broad chest and taut muscles.  She involuntarily licked her lips in appreciation for his physique.  Auron was definitely a splendid specimen of a man.  Glancing up to meet his gaze she was transfixed by the fire of lust she saw in his cognac eyes.  He reached out to place his hands on either side of her slender waist and held her against him as he slowly twisted his hips between her legs.  She closed her eyes and gasped at the unexpected jolt of fire that spread through her as she felt his hardness rub against her.  Opening her eyes, she grabbed his wrists and freed herself from his grip, sliding off his body to stand by the side of the bed.  Before he could ask what she was doing, Rissa quickly divested herself of all her clothes.  She then folded her arms across her chest and pointedly looked at his pants. 

Auron managed to tear his eyes away from the enchanting sight of Rissa's nude body long enough to remove the offending garment. When he looked back at her, his lips quirked up in amusement at her averted eyes and the blush that stained her cheeks.

"Isn't that what you wanted?" he teased.

Her blush intensified.  "Yes," she said, absently twisting a blond curl around her finger, "of course it is.  I'm just not used to seeing you this way."

His arm snaked out and caught her around the waist.  "Then come here where you don't have to see me…only feel me," he told her huskily, pulling her down on top of him.  She gave a little cry of surprise that quickly turned into a moan of pleasure as her body settled itself along the hard lines and planes of his body.  He captured her mouth in another searing kiss as his hands ran over her soft skin, caressing the smooth arch of her back and the gentle swell of her buttocks.  Now it was her hips that twisted against him, but this time there were no barriers between them.  A wave of pleasure washed over him and any coherent thoughts fled under its onslaught.  In a blink of an eye she lay pinned beneath him and with one swift move he sheathed himself deep within her. 

Rissa gasped as Auron entered her, her fingers gripping his shoulders.  He began rocking his hips and she eagerly met his thrusts, losing herself to the ancient rhythm.  Pleasure quickly mounted to an unbearable level and she wrapped her arms tightly around his neck as he brought her over the edge.  She cried out as shudders wracked her body and she dimly heard him groan as he thrust into her one last time.

After he caught his breath, Auron gently kissed Rissa and brushed away an errant sweat-drench curl from her face.  She smiled up at him.

"Thank you," she whispered. "Thank you for everything."

"My pleasure," he told her, kissing her one more time.  He then slowly disengaged from her and rolled over onto his back. Rissa got up briefly to extinguish the lantern and in the darkness slipped back into the bed. She snuggled her body up to his side and gave a soft sigh of contentment.

"Good night, Auron."

"Good night."

As Auron drifted off to sleep with Rissa nestled next to him, he couldn't bring himself to regret what they had done tonight.  She had been right…they now shared a memory that would shine brightly in his soul for the rest of his life.

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*fans herself*  Phew!  Is it hot in here, or is it just me? ;) 

Anyway, I hope to get Chapter 5 up soon…It's gonna be a difficult chapter to write, so please bear with me!  Thanks for reading!