Author's Note:

Last smut of the year :D That's not saying much, since the year is almost over. In any case, if you wanna skip the lemony parts, it should be pretty self-explanatory where it starts. Other than that, enjoy :3

I hope you're all liking the story, now that we're past the relationship angst (at least past the most of it. There's always more opportunities for drama, but no more break-ups like that, I promise :D )

Enjoy the read and thank you all for your lovely comments, votes, kudos, etc.

Chapter XXX – My Home is in Your Arms

They spent the rest of the day resting and recuperating at the safehouse.

Bishop's health was still largely concerning, so when he finally regained some energy to, at the very least, stay up on his feet and walk, they headed off towards Darkwater Crossing. Aeyrin did lament for a second that she left her bedroll back at the clearing, but Bishop promptly reminded her that she wouldn't need her own anymore.

The journey was somewhat grueling with how many times Bishop needed a break due to either the pain or exhaustion, but eventually they made it to the mining village undisturbed.

Sondas was outright horrified at Bishop's state, but he reassured them that he would be able to heal him properly.

He chased Aeyrin out of his house to work on Bishop in peace and to check on Karnwyr, so she was forced to spend the entire rest of the day in the nearly empty mining village. She was only occasionally approached by Hrefna who would ask her about her adventures and enquire about dragons – the girl was still oddly fascinated by them. But she grew bored of talking soon enough and ran off to play somewhere, leaving Aeyrin alone.

When Aeyrin was idly watching the Eastmarch tundra in the distance, she noticed a mammoth walking rather close to the settlement, unaccompanied by a giant.

She did have enough money to compensate Sondas. She wasn't sure how much Bishop had left from their earnings from the bounty on Thorn, but in either case, it wasn't a bad idea to save as much as they could for a rainy day. And it wasn't as if she had anything better to do to kill time.

She equipped herself quickly and rushed off towards the tundra.

She pre-roasted the mammoth a little with her flame Shout and for the rest of the time that she had to herself, she worked on stripping it of its meat.

The villagers were certainly content with the haul, and hopefully it would be a sufficient payment for Sondas.

All the miners gradually went to sleep before their next day of work, but luckily, she was only left there alone for another hour before Bishop, Karnwyr and Sondas emerged from the wizard's house.

Bishop looked much better and even well rested.

Sondas agreed to the payment of meat and retreated back into his house to get some rest himself.

But Bishop certainly didn't have any inclinations to sleep, now that he was finally feeling well. He quickly scribbled down a letter to Karliah, notifying her about Thrynn's betrayal, and he stuffed it into the mailbox at the village before he approached Aeyrin eagerly.

"Come on, love, let's get out of here. No point in staying until morning. Not when there's a much better place to… 'rest'," he winked at her mischievously and inclined his head back towards the tundra. His suggestive tone did not leave her guessing to his intentions.

It was so late already, but… the suggestion was too tempting to refuse.

They made their way towards the closest hot spring in the tundra, losing only a little more than half of an hour traveling. Karnwyr was also more excited about this idea and he instantly ran off into the night, likely chasing after giants to pester them, as per his favorite game.

Aeyrin quickly set up their camp while Bishop busied himself with preparing some food for them. She did keep enough meat from the mammoth for one meal for the three of them and he quickly put it to use.

Gods, how she missed his cooking. She was so excited to be travelling with him again and she couldn't deny that this was a very tempting bonus.

As soon as the food was set up on their fire, slowly cooking on its own, they stripped their clothes off and moved into the nearby sulfurous pool eagerly.

Bishop let out a contented smile as he sat down in the pool, leaning his back on its wall and stretching his arms across the edges.

Aeyrin sank down into the warm water right after him, to escape completely from the cold night air. That pool felt divine after only being able to rinse off in the small lavatory at the safehouse. She waded towards the edge promptly to grab her soap and rag, but before she could do that, Bishop outstretched his hand and draped it over her stomach, only to pull her straight into his lap, her back flush against his chest.

"I need to wash," she giggled at him and tried to move away from him again, but he only pressed her tighter to himself, unwilling to let her go.

To be fair, the washing suddenly seemed rather boring in sight of the alternative.

With a defeated sigh, Aeyrin turned around in his lap to face him. She draped her hands behind his neck and pressed her forehead to his with a demure smile.

Bishop's hands tangled in her hair in turn and his fingers began running through it softly. They hitched occasionally in the numerous tangles there though, making her twitch with the slight pain of the sudden pull. She should probably cut it soon. Her hair had gotten so long, going all the way to her lower back when she didn't have it braided or tied up. She hadn't cut it in over a year now. The last time was actually a short while before she headed to Skyrim. She considered it on multiple occasions, but she always got a bit wistful about it. With proper braiding it was still manageable in battle and she always loved how Bishop raked his hands through it, tickling her across her spine in the process.

Bishop distracted her from her pondering with a surprisingly gentle kiss. He kept one of his hands in her hair and cupped her cheek with the other one, stroking over her skin with his thumb. She was already completely flushed and red and he wasn't sure if it was from the heat of the water or from their closeness, but he couldn't care less. He loved seeing her like that. For some reason, it felt so different now then all those other times during their more casual dalliances.

"I missed this," he smiled at her affectionately.

"Me too," she kissed him once more slowly, but only for a brief moment. She withdrew after a few seconds and rested her forehead against his again with a content smile on her lips.

It felt like… home.

"So, princess," Bishop broke the brief contented silence with palpable uncertainty in his voice after a while. "At the risk of ruining the mood… I just wanted to… Are we… good, with everything?" He wasn't sure if he should start this talk, but that was probably all the more reason to, given past experiences. He just needed to make sure. To make sure that no past resentments, none of their stupid mistakes would get in the way of them again. His anger at Aeyrin's treatment of him during their casual meetings had waned all too quickly and he knew now that she was just scared and that she misjudged the effect it would have on him. He couldn't blame her for that. Not when he had done things that he knew would hurt her. But, still, he hoped they were finally in a place where they could move past all of it.

"I-I mean… you already know how sorry I am for starting all this, from keeping shit from you," he sighed. There was still guilt etched on his face, even after all this time.

"I know, Bish. And I'm sorry about everything too. Just… let's not do that again," she chuckled a little weakly at him.

"Yeah. I'm not planning on it," Bishop scoffed. "It's… it's not like I told you everything there is to tell about the shit from my past… that would take a lot of time, but…"

"I never meant it like that," Aeyrin stopped him promptly. "You know that I never wanted to force you into spilling every little detail about yourself. I'm the last person who wouldn't understand trying to avoid certain… subjects," she sighed. Now her face showed palpable guilt. "And you don't have to report to me everything you do. Just… maybe tell me if there's a bounty on my head and stuff like that."

"Fair enough," he chuckled at her heartily. There was a moment of silence between them before he spoke again. "I'm pretty sure you know about most of it, with the Guild and with Thorn, but… there's a lot. And… surprisingly enough, I don't really mind that much talking to you about it. So… if you want to ask me something," he shrugged. He wasn't sure what else she could possibly want to know about all that shit, but he was determined to finally clear the air between them. He was not going to go through something like that again, no matter what.

Aeyrin pondered for a while about what was still left secret between them, before her eyes lit up in realization. "Oh! Yes. When I… uh… went through your pack," she bit her lip apologetically before continuing. "I found those two bounties. On me and on Thorn. And then there was this other thing. This… note. It had a handprint on it and it said 'We know'."

Fuck. He kept forgetting about that creepy thing.

"Yeah… that shit," Bishop scoffed. "I have no idea what the fuck that is, sweetness. Honestly," he shook his head at her with a somewhat alarmed expression.

"What? Where did you even get it?" Aeyrin's eyes went wide at that. She had expected that it had something to do with Thorn or his past, but this she did not expect.

"I just found it in my pack," Bishop shrugged. "Remember that time in that one barrow, when we killed the necromancer along with that ungrateful little shit? When I was searching for the potion for him, I found it. I didn't bring it up in front of that guy. Besides, I got worried that it had something to do with Thorn, but… that's not really his style. Then I just… honestly forgot all about it."

"That's… strange," she scowled. How would that note just appear in his pack?

There was another moment of silence before she returned to the subject at hand.

"I… don't think there's anything else right now," she shrugged. She meant what she said, she didn't want him to tell her everything in detail, she didn't want to force him and to make him uncomfortable, to make him deal with his past when he wasn't ready to talk about it, all for her sake. That was the last thing she wanted. The bounty thing was different. It was different when he lied and went through such lengths to keep her in the dark. That hurt. But… he made a mistake. And she understood why he did that. She made mistakes too, along the way. And she wanted nothing more than to move on from all of this at last.

"Do you have something you want to ask me?" she said after a bit of silence. "In the spirit of cleaning the air."

Bishop pondered on that for a while. There were… some things. Mainly one question was still gnawing at him. He did want to know what Thorn actually did to her. Maybe mostly to just stop himself from wondering and imagining it.

But… that didn't seem like something he should ask just then. He saw enough from her wounds and this was not exactly a conversation that he was eager to have either. Besides, he really didn't want to get her down with that. They've been through enough shit lately and there was no need to drag this on to whole other levels.

"No," Bishop shook his head resolutely. Shit like that couldn't be forced; he knew that all too well. He hadn't exactly told her the gruesome details of living under Thorn's thumb either and he wasn't exactly eager to. He probably wouldn't mind telling her at this point, but it was still unpleasant to relive and there was not really any need to drag this shit out by force. And the same applied to what she must have gone through. If she ever wanted to tell him, she would. This was supposed to be about clearing the air anyway, not about them wallowing in painful memories. "I don't, sweetness. You know you can talk to me if you need to," he gave her a reassuring smile. "And I really doubt that there's anything you could tell me that would make me even consider giving you up," he chuckled at her before he nuzzled his head to her neck. Then he gave her a languid kiss and slowly ran his hands over her back.

She was silent again after his words and she tried to concentrate on the feeling of his touch on her skin, but something popped into her mind instantly, distracting her.

They really did need to clear the air. And there was a big chance that this could come up at some point. She took a deep breath, and resolved herself to tell him. It needed to be done.

"I kissed Raven," she blurted it out much faster than she had intended and she quickly buried her face in the crook of Bishop's neck to hide herself.

"What?!" Bishop instantly pulled away from her and grabbed her by the shoulders. He moved her from his shoulder and propped her up to face him, staring at her with narrowed eyes.

"I-I… it was…" she stammered nervously. She knew that he would hate to hear this, especially when it involved Raven. But she needed to tell him before Raven himself did. Which he definitely would, just to spite Bishop. "I didn't really mean to. I just… it was a strange day and I was in a weird place and… it just… happened. Nothing more happened… and I left. We talked about it later and we made it clear that there is nothing between us… but… I know how you two get. He would have taunted you with it sooner or later," she scoffed derisively. Raven was so sweet and caring, but when an opportunity came to taunt Bishop, he didn't seem that concerned about her feelings or about any consequences.

Bishop's grip on her shoulders tensed and he growled angrily. She was pretty sure though that it wasn't her that he was angry with though.

"When was this?" he asked through gritted teeth.

"It was… that night when we first saw each other after… after Falkreath. At the meadery," she lowered her head. It was the night she had spent with Bishop at the hunter's rest in the end.

Bishop still looked somewhat angry and he let out a rumbling sigh.

"Fucking Raven. I'll wring that little shit's neck when I see him," he growled.

"Bishop! I… I started it," she shook her head regretfully. Not that she felt guilty because of Bishop. Maybe a little, but they still weren't together back then. But she did feel guilty about putting Raven through that. At the very least, she needed to deter Bishop from doing anything stupid. She owed Raven that much.

"Yeah, I got that," he nodded with another rumble forming in his throat. "Still… Raven. I fucking hate that guy."

Before Aeyrin could try to calm him down a bit more, Bishop suddenly wrapped his arms around her again and pressed her closer to himself. His head dipped towards her neck and he started to kiss her and nip at her there, now with much wilder passion.

She gasped at his treatment and gripped his shoulders as if to steady herself.

"Bishop?"

"I'm gonna make you forget that anything like that ever happened," he groaned against her sensitive skin. "Now that you're all mine again."

She felt his lips turn into a smile against her neck when he uttered those words. And she couldn't really deny that they had an effect on her too.

She giggled at him as blush rose to her cheeks again and heat spread through her body. She gripped his shoulders tighter when he moved to his favorite spot on her neck and started to suck on her hard, pinching her skin with his teeth.

Aeyrin couldn't help but groan as he continued his ministrations, and she promptly wrapped her arms around his head and pressed it towards her collar. She arched her back, supported by one of his arm around her waist, and Bishop instantly moved his other hand to stroke over her breast while his lips moved down her collar bone in hungry kisses. He continued lower until he started to nip at the soft flesh of her free breast, wrapping his mouth around her hard nipple and rolling his tongue around it.

She groaned at the pleasant jolts that shot through her with each soft nip of his teeth around her nipple or squeeze of his hand on her breast. Instinctively, she pressed her hips down firmly onto his lap, although the water didn't make the action as swift as she had intended. She started to slowly grind her hips against him until the water started to slosh around, helping her movements along. His hard cock rubbed and teased along her slit with every motion.

Bishop still concentrated on playing with her breasts, but after a while, her ministrations spurred him to move things along and he slid his hands down under the water to squeeze her buttocks. He groped her firm cheeks for a while before he slid his hands a bit lower, grabbing her by her upper thighs to support her weight properly. When he adjusted his firm grip on her properly, he rose up on his feet with her nestled in his arms snugly. She wrapped her legs around his waist instinctively and Bishop didn't hesitate before he moved back to sit at the edge of the pool.

She almost sank herself down on his cock right away as she straddled his lap, but he still held her up, stilling her motions. He slowly laid himself down, dragging her along with him and forcing her to shuffle her knees over the ground to move herself astride his body.

There was a brief confusing moment of tangled limbs as Bishop positioned her to kneel above him while he still had his back on the ground. She ended up with her legs bent at the sides of his head and her hips spread right above his lips.

He didn't waste any time before he pulled her down towards him. His tongue started to run through her folds, teasing her through her slit, licking and suckling around her nub. Her hands tangled in his hair and she let out soft whimpers at his treatment, gradually turning them into louder gasps and moans as the pleasure took over every inch of her being. Her body was heated and quivering while he continued relentlessly, plunging his tongue inside her wetness and squeezing her buttcheeks hungrily.

Aeyrin's grip on his hair tightened and her whole body tensed when a strong jolt of electricity shot through her. She let out a series of sharp gasps, pressing her hips down onto him, while he continued to tease her clit and around her entrance through her climax as her walls clenched desperately around nothing.

He stopped only when she eased her grip on his hair and started to gather her breath again. She slowly shuffled to move down along his body once more until she hovered above his crotch and moved her hand to position his cock against her entrance. She was barely able to keep herself from falling down on him right then, but Bishop still gripped her legs tightly to signal that he still had other ideas. He sat up and straightened his back before he pressed his lips to hers firmly and let his tongue probe her mouth in deep strokes, teasing along hers. One of his hands snuck down between her legs and he started to rub her and tease her again.

Gods, she could barely stand this already. She needed him inside her. She let out a muffled moan against his lips. She was still gently holding his cock positioned towards her entrance and the tip of him pressed into her teasingly, but the pressure of one of his hands on her buttocks still made her feel like he didn't want her to sink onto him just yet. He was enjoying teasing her too much. He kept rubbing her clit, making her squirm and write against him, making her feel the faint pressure of his cock against her all too keenly.

Just as she thought she couldn't take any more of the teasing, so close to what she wanted, Bishop deepened the kiss even more and suddenly her hand left her buttocks. She took that as a hint and, while his other hands still played with her nub, she slid down on his cock in one fast motion, taking him almost all the way inside. They both broke the kiss at that and let out a loud moan of pleasure, huffing hot air against each other's lips in the movement. She pressed her hips down to his fully within a second and Bishop quickly draped one of his arms under her knee and raised it up – her thigh was pressing against her torso, opening her up to him even more when her hips started to move up and down his length.

Bishop's hands moved to grip her buttocks firmly again while his arm still pressed her leg to her body. He started to help the motions of her hips with his tight grasp on her and they both started to move against each other faster and harder. She felt oddly squeezed and cramped in that position, but it only seemed to heighten the feelings coursing through her. The feeling of his cock buried deep inside her like this. Gods, how she loved that.

Bishop kissed her hungrily again for a while, muffling her moans, before he moved his lips and tongue down over her jaw, her neck, then to her collarbones and shoulders. His grip on the firm flesh of her asscheeks tightened again and he started to move her onto himself in faster and shallower thrusts.

She was starting to have a hard time keeping up with his pace, especially in her position with her leg held up and thigh pressed to her chest like that, but he more than made up for it on his own. It seemed like he plunged her deeper and deeper onto his cock with every push on her hips, hitting a sweet spot deep inside her. Her breathing was hard to manage in between her moans of pleasure. She could feel herself tighten on him, desperate for another release. And Bishop seemed equally close as his cock throbbed within her.

With a few more thrusts, she felt him twitch and spend himself inside her, she felt the warmth of his release spread through her core as she reveled in the loud groan of pleasure that he let out just next to her ear. He kept moving her swiftly, up and down, never wavering and making her ride out his climax. The feel of it made her follow soon and she wrapped her arms around his neck to press his head to hers firmly when her back arched in another surge of pleasure and her walls began pulsing around him.

They gradually slowed their movements until he disentangled his arm from under her leg and let it fall back on the ground limply. She raised her hips a bit weakly and let him slip out of her before they finally collected themselves enough to move back to the pool and into the water.

It felt oddly cold now in contrast to their heated bodies.

Bishop resumed his previous position of sitting in the pool and he urged Aeyrin to sit back on his lap again with her chest pressed against his. She let her head fall onto his shoulder and sighed contentedly while he began to gently rake his fingers through her hair once more.

After a moment of the peaceful respite, Aeyrin finally reached out for her soap and rag by the side of the pool, but Bishop promptly took them away from her. He didn't waste any time before he lathered up the rag and started running it over her body in slow lazy motions.

She let out a pleased sigh and melted into his embrace as he continued to run the soft cloth over her skin. He accompanied his touches by the occasional squeezes of her flesh and, before he managed to clean her properly to her heart's content, he discarded the rag and replaced it with his fingers. He missed feeling her under his hands already.

He continued the lazy touches for a while and she couldn't help but return the gesture, running her hands over his back, then back to his chest and abdomen. The touches got gradually hungrier and more frantic as they explored each other. She moved her hand down to run it teasingly over his cock a few times and he retaliated instantly by running his fingers between her legs.

She pressed her lips firmly to his, enveloping him in a deep kiss while they continued to tease each other. Her breathing was already quickened, her body writhing in his embrace. She couldn't stand the teasing much longer with how sensitive she already was from their previous ministrations and she soon withdrew herself from his lap and stood up in the water. Bishop followed her instantly as she moved towards the side of the pool and bent over it slightly with her hips just barely above the water level.

Bishop didn't wait before he approached her and pressed himself to her, chest to back, while snaking one of his arms over her abdomen to grab her breast from behind. He let out a low groan as he felt up the soft flesh once more and he used the other hand to brush her hair from her back, moving it to the front and exposing the nape of her neck and her shoulders to his hungry nips and kisses. Then he placed that hand on her hip to position her only a second later.

She let out a strained sigh when he started to tease her wetness with the tip of his cock. She spread her legs a bit further apart instantly and gripped at the bramble under her hands on the side of the pool. The low shrubbery pricked her skin, but she couldn't care less at that very moment.

Bishop guided himself inside her with a frustratingly slow motion. They both let out a long moan in unison at that as he languidly buried himself inside her depths. The strained and frustratingly mild pace did not last long, however.

A second later, Aeyrin gripped the bramble in an even tighter grip as he started to thrust into her faster. She met his movements eagerly, working herself against him with sharp gasps escaping her lips with every motion. Bishop's hand kept kneading her breast, squeezing in tune to the pace while his other hand still gripped her hip tightly, helping along with their motions. Aside from the times when he occasionally moved it back to grope her asscheek hungrily.

The pace got even faster and rougher a while later and they both gasped and moaned constantly, moving against each other. Aeyrin's crotch was pressed against the hard smoothed out edge of the pool with every thrush, adding to the pressures all over her body. Even the prickling bramble under her hands was starting to feel good and spur her on.

She shuddered and moaned when Bishop squeezed her breast and buttocks harder, caught in his own euphoria. She cried out and arched into his touch, throwing her head back just far enough for him to instantly move his lips to her neck and bite into it playfully. Her inner walls clenched him and pulsed around him desperately in her climax and he set an even faster pace through the sensations.

It only took a couple more thrusts before he felt himself follow over the edge and came inside her once more. His arms moved instantly over her stomach and he clutched her tightly to himself, pressing her back into his chest as he buried as much of his length inside her as he could.

Aeyrin let out a soft cry and gasped under her breath. Her hands gripped his arms as if she tried to steady herself that way and they held each other in that intimate embrace for a long time.

After a few minutes, they finally eased back into their calm breathing and relaxed muscles. The pool felt so cold again, but the exhaustion of the day was mercilessly creeping in, so they didn't really consider warming themselves up once more with more exertions.

They hastily washed each other at last and crawled out of the pool straight into Bishop's bedroll. Their bedroll now.

Aeyrin curled up to him lovingly before they both closed their eyes and enjoyed the silence of the night lulling them to sleep.

After a brief moment of respite though, she interrupted the quiet with an idle question.

"So… what are we doing tomorrow?"

"This?" Bishop smirked suggestively, but he still kept his eyes closed in contentment.

Aeyrin giggled at his response promptly. Not that she would complain about that. But that was not all that she was looking forward to. Travelling with him, exploring old dungeons, it was all too tempting now that she had someone there again. She missed how they looked out for each other, how well they worked together.

Even battling dragons somehow didn't sound so daunting, despite her last ordeal.

"You know it doesn't matter to me, love," Bishop murmured tiredly and pressed her closer to himself. Her hand rested on his chest while her head was nestled on his shoulder and he bent down briefly to plant a kiss at the top of her head, but he was far too tired to do anything else anymore.

His voice carried a palpably hazy tone as it drifted through the quiet of the night one more time before he drifted off to sleep.

"We can go anywhere."