Author's Note:

Yay new longer plotline :) I hope you'll all enjoy.

But first, smut! :D The first part of the chapter is all smut before we get to the rest ;)

Have fun and thank you for reading :3

Chapter XLV – Reliable Safety Measures

"You know, I weirdly really love this place."

Aeyrin sighed contentedly as she nestled herself into Bishop's lap while they relaxed in the bathing tub of the basement room at The Frozen Hearth. The bath was always so pleasantly warm after the arduous journey through all that snow. She felt like she could never properly thaw out before she got into the hot water. And the noise from the home brewery from the other room was an added bonus. Nobody could hear what they were doing in there together.

"Of course you do. So many memories here," Bishop snickered at her as he squeezed her tighter into his embrace. No matter what, they have never skipped their visit to that small room whenever they were in Winterhold. Not that it was that often, but it was still a place they could always look forward to.

Bishop started to slowly nip at her bare shoulder, making her let out a contented sigh. It was such a pleasant distraction before they had to return back to their quests against the world's end. As comforting as their current clear plans were, the thoughts of their predicament still weighed heavily on the both of them, especially after what they've seen in their battle against Alduin. There was no doubt anymore that if they failed, the world was truly doomed.

His teasing nips moved steadily towards her neck and Aeyrin instinctively grabbed the mass of her wet hair to move it over her other shoulder to give him better access. The motion was rather more brisk than she had originally intended though and she ended up smacking Bishop in the face with her soaked hair.

Bishop only laughed at that, but Aeyrin let out a frustrated groan before she threw him an apologetic look over her shoulder.

"I need to cut it already."

"What?" Bishop's merry expression turned surprisingly serious in an instant. "No! Don't do that. Why?"

"It's too long. It's getting impractical," she giggled slightly at his indignation. Why did he care if she shortened it a little? It only got in the way of everything.

"Come on, it can't be that bad. I like it," he almost pouted at her and he pointedly raised one of his hands from her stomach to play with the flowing strands of her hair that reached under the water.

"Well, you're not the one who has to brush it and braid it… and take out all the leaves and dirt from it," she sighed in frustration. He was certainly not concerned about any of it whenever he rolled with her all over the ground during their escapades in the wilderness, usually right after she had just washed it.

Bishop only let out a disgruntled noise at that. He was clearly still not happy about that suggestion.

"It's not like I'm gonna cut it all off," she snorted at him with amusement. Who knew that he would be so pouty over this?

"Still…" he grumbled while his hands kept brushing through the locks that floated in the water around Aeyrin's stomach. He liked the longer hair, especially how it cascaded down her back when she dipped her head back. And he really liked raking his fingers through it or grabbing it whenever they were entangled in each other. Besides, it was kind of… nicely symbolic. They've been together for so long… well… mostly. He could never stand anyone else's company for that long, aside from Jules, let alone crave it.

"You know… it's the first thing that I've noticed about you," Bishop mused, after a while as he still continued to play with the flowing locks underwater.

"Really?" she raised her brow at his. She would have definitely expected him to be noticing something other than her hair on the first glance. He made it pretty clear what he had been interested in right from the start.

"Well… yeah. You were pretty far in the distance, so that was pretty much the only thing to notice," he chuckled at her.

She still wasn't sure why he had approached her back then. She didn't really show any interest in their first interaction. At times, she still wondered if it was some kind of challenge to him, or if he approached her at the inn again because he had already noticed her equipment and hoped to cajole help from her.

"You know… sometimes I wonder what you were thinking that day," she smirked as she idly started to run his fingers over his hand underwater.

Bishop squeezed her closer to his chest with the arm that was still draped around her stomach. He continued his previous treatment for a while, nipping and kissing at the skin of her shoulder and her already exposed neck. She was still waiting whether he would answer, but he didn't seem to be planning to as he fully concentrated on nibbling at her flesh.

Well… she didn't really mind. They could talk any time after all.

He ran his tongue languidly over the side of her neck and jaw before he reached her ear and teasingly nibbled on her earlobe. Warmth spread from everywhere he touched her to her entire body and she couldn't help but shiver slightly when it passed after his teeth left her lobe. There was a hot puff of breath against her ear a second later as Bishop murmured to her in a low voice: "You really wanna know, princess?"

"I asked, didn't I?" she chuckled at him. The fact that she hadn't actually asked anything seemed rather irrelevant at that point.

Bishop kept teasing her with light touches and kisses and the hand that wasn't currently preoccupied with her hair started to snake down to her thigh to stroke over her skin. He continued to let his hot breath tickle her ear as he continued to murmur quietly to her.

"The hair was kinda hard to miss, so shiny in the setting sun," he smirked. "You wanna know what I was thinking? I was thinking about raking my fingers through it, and dipping your head back, like this." The hand that had been playing with the locks underwater moved swiftly towards her head. He raked his hand through her wet hair, scratching her scalp pleasantly, before he reached the nape of her neck. She let out a soft pleased sigh at that as he made a fist in her hair and somewhat firmly urged her head back to lean on his shoulder fully. "And then this." She could feel his breath on her stretched neck before he flicked his tongue over her skin there. His lips pressed against her neck in a matter of a second and his teeth grazed her gently before he started to suckle on her there.

She was pretty sure that he was lying. He hadn't even seen her properly yet back then. But… she wasn't going to complain about that demonstration. She let out a light moan at that, and the pleasant heat in her body got even more intense when his hand on her thigh started to stroke closer to her crotch.

"Then you came closer…" he continued his recounting in a rather lustful voice while his head still nuzzled to her neck with the occasional kiss accompanying his words. His fingers began to paint slow circles underwater on the soft skin of her upper thigh, sending small tingling jolts through her. He left her in the state of anticipation for what seemed like an insufferably long time before both his hands slowly moved back to her stomach. "And I noticed your tits." With a palpable smirk in his voice, his hands darted towards her chest and he started to knead her breasts eagerly.

Aeyrin let out a brief laugh. That was the kind of answer that she had expected from him in the first place.

He continued to palm her breasts and pinch her skin while his heavy breaths still tickled the side of her neck. The atmosphere was getting rather heated again, and not just because of the constant steam coming from the hot water.

"I just wanted to rip that baggy shirt off you so that I could look at them properly," he growled into her ear as his ministrations got more frantic. One of his hands remained on her breast, squeezing her and pinching her with an increased frequency, while the other dipped down below the water again and his fingers rubbed over her slit instantly. Aeyrin gasped loudly and another shiver went through her spine, despite the heat. "I wanted to suck on your skin and bury my face between those soft tits," he groaned in barely contained hunger while his fingers rubbed against her clit eagerly.

Soon enough, the faint noise outside of the bathing room got drowned out by both their panting and groans. Aeyrin could barely sit idle while he teased her and she kept writhing on his lap, pressing herself firmly into his hands on her breasts and between her legs. The water felt like it was scalding now.

"Then… I noticed… your eyes," Bishop breathed heavily against the skin of her neck while she continued to writhe and wriggle on his lap, constantly rubbing against his hard cock. He was determined to continue talking, no matter how much he wanted to bury himself inside her. He loved getting her all riled up like this until she was as desperate for it as he was. And he knew how much she enjoyed the teasing, despite the frustrations that came along with it. "So… fucking… gorgeous." He squeezed her breast firmly. "I wanted to… to see them looking up," he continued to talk in between the hungry kisses that he kept planting on her neck, "while you're on your knees in front of me."

His fingers pressed into her clit, eliciting a loud moan from her lips as another strong jolt of pleasure shot through her body. One of her hands quickly snuck down to rest on his and to guide his rubbing with faster motions, but he didn't let her set the pace. He kept teasing her and frustrating her, constantly drawing out moans and gasps out of her. She wasn't sure if it was the tone of his deep voice or the words that he was whispering against her skin, but it certainly made her even more excited every time he puffed another hot breath of air on her ear.

"I noticed… that blush… on your face." The tip of his tongue ran over the edge of her ear languidly, sending another electric jolt through her, while his hands continued to rub her body. "I wanted…" he kept gasping whenever she pressed into his lap more firmly. "I wanted to see… how deep red it would get… when I buried my face between your thighs."

Aeyrin let out a high-pitched gasp when her whole body quivered briefly. She wasn't sure if it was from his voice or from what his hands were still doing, but she didn't particularly care at that point. She felt a pleasant pressure in her belly and she was more than ready to finally end the teasing. Suddenly she twisted with an abrupt movement which Bishop didn't anticipate. His teeth barely grazed her neck and his hands fell idly into the water again as she let the water lift her up and turned herself to face him.

She threw herself on him and captured his lips in an insistent kiss. Her tongue eagerly twined with his and she slowly tried to lower herself down onto his lap. But Bishop's hands moved down to her buttocks and, right when she positioned herself to his cock, he held her up, preventing her from sinking down further.

"Then…" he breathed against her lips as he withdrew his mouth from hers a little. "You got all… flustered… and turned away," he chuckled affectionately. "Letting me see… that perfect ass of yours." His hands squeezed her buttocks firmly before he started to knead her flesh with eager motions as the water kept sloshing around them with their constant writhing and grinding. Aeyrin wrapped her hands tightly around his neck and lowered her head to rest on his shoulder. She wiped the drops from her face on his skin. She wasn't sure if it was sweat, water or perspiration at that point. The entire room felt stuffy and overwhelmingly hot.

"The things I wanted to do to you, sweetness…" Bishop groaned against her as he buried his face into her hair.

His hands moved down to her thighs quickly and he raised himself up from the tub. The sloshing water helped him gain momentum as he picked her up and turned towards the edge of the bath. She clung to him tightly until she felt the cold wood under her buttocks. She let him lower her back down onto the ground and finally eased her grip around his neck.

He straightened up a second later, leaving her panting and pressed against the floorboards as he remained in the water with her legs still wrapped around his waist. The grip on her thighs got even firmer and he spread her legs, forcing her to let go of him. She could barely register what was happening anymore as her legs dangled in the air, only supported by his hands, until she could feel his hot breath on her wet slit. She looked down her body to catch the sly smirk that was etched on his lips before he buried his face between her thighs and began running his tongue through her sensitive folds.

She didn't get a moment of respite as he began licking her eagerly. Her breathing got even heavier while his tongue teased her clit before it moved down with a languid motion to run around her wet entrance. He slid his tongue inside her slowly, making her let out a loud moan and arch her back sharply at the jolt that ran through her.

He continued to slide his tongue in and out of her, twisting it occasionally or pulling it out to tease her clit briefly. Her whole body quivered and she kept pressing her head back into the floorboards as her back arched more and more.

A knot in her stomach threatened to unravel and her hands clenched into tight fists. Her thighs squeezed around his head when she almost felt the rush of release.

But, much to her frustration, he stopped before she could reach her peak. She let out a disgruntled groan and Bishop had to practically pry her legs from his neck. She could just barely hear that mean pleased chuckle that escaped his lips at her frustration, but she couldn't really concentrate on anything much. Her hand darted between her legs, but she already anticipated what would happen. Bishop grabbed both her wrist in his hands and pinned them back down to the ground.

At least he didn't prolong the torment. She didn't even manage to open her eyes and throw him an accusing look before she felt the tip of his cock press against her entrance. He let go of her hands and he moved his own below her buttocks again, raising her hips a little. Her hand instantly returned to her slit as he moved inside her in a languid thrust, making them moan out lustfully at the contact.

Aeyrin rubbed herself eagerly as he began to thrust with a steady rhythm, letting out strained grunts continuously. It didn't take long before she got into her previous state of euphoria and the satisfying wave of release finally washed over her. Her walls clenched around his cock firmly, pulsating with pleasure while he paused in his movements.

Her hand fell limply back onto the floor and her back released from the tense arch to slump down limply. Bishop began to thrust in and out of her again within a second, driving himself closer to his own climax steadily. His cock rubbed deep inside her with every motion and, soon enough, her back arched again in anticipation. She barely felt the last vestiges of her peak dissipate before another intense buildup started to form in her core.

She clenched herself around him purposefully, eliciting a loud groan from his lips. His pace quickened and his hands squeezed her ass hungrily as he drove himself into her again and again with a harsh and quick pace.

It didn't take long before he dug his fingers into her flesh firmly and a shudder went through his body. His cock twitched against her tight walls as he finally reached his own climax. He didn't slow down yet and with the last vestiges of his energy, he drove himself in and out of her a few more times before she let out another loud moan when she came around him.

Bishop slumped forward to rest on her heaving body. He was still standing in the bath tub while her legs dangled limply over the edge. He wasn't sure how much longer he could keep standing, but laying his upper body onto her helped a bit.

She gently wove her hands into his hair when her breathing began to ease. He was still huffing hot breaths against her breasts with his face buried in her cleavage.

She couldn't even remember her original intentions of cutting her hair, nor her curiosity about their first meeting. Maybe it was his intention to distract her from all of it.

But then again, she really couldn't care less at that moment.

…

"Alright, just remember, love. If you see Brelyna, don't acknowledge her. Don't even look at her. And definitely don't listen to any of her fucking theories," Bishop grumbled with his eyes narrowed at the College towering in front of them.

Aeyrin couldn't help but giggle at him. He was right about the fact that it probably wasn't a good idea to become a test subject to another one of Brelyna's experiments. They've both suffered enough for indulging her already.

They had woken up rather early that morning and, after a hearty breakfast, they headed straight toward the College. They walked towards the bridge gate together until they noticed the familiar head of fiery hair behind it.

The gate swung open at their approach and Faralda gave them an acknowledging nod.

"Hey there, 'Master of destruction'," Bishop smirked at her mockingly. "Are you seriously still making those bets? I thought you were supposed to be smart. You clearly suck at it."

"Very funny," Faralda scoffed. "I'm not here because of a bet… this time. Enthir mentioned last night that you two were back in town so I came here to greet you personally today."

"What did we do to earn that 'honor'?" Bishop laughed. They all started to walk across the bridge together as the gate closed behind them again and Faralda only let out another derisive snort.

"What? I can't come and greet you two? Who would you rather have here instead?" She gave him a challenging look.

It was not as if they minded, but it was a little strange for a haughty mage like her to waste her time waiting on the bridge. Who knew when they would come? Or whether they were there for the College at all?

Bishop and Aeyrin only threw her a doubtful look.

"It's… peaceful here. I just wanted some quiet," Faralda sighed, but there was clearly more to it than that. "By the way…" And there it was. "You told me before that last time you were here that Ancano asked about the Eye," she turned towards Bishop again.

"The Thalmor guy? Yeah. It was a long time ago though," Bishop shrugged. "And I told you, we didn't tell him shit."

"What's going on?" Aeyrin looked at her curiously. Why was she concerned about the Thalmor's questioning? Wasn't he privy to the Eye's existence? He was staying at the College too, wasn't he? That thing was kind of hard to miss.

"I don't know," Faralda sighed. "He's been getting increasingly… nosy about that thing."

"I thought that you were all curious about it," Aeyrin pondered. This was Stormcloak territory. Aeyrin had assumed that the Thalmor was allowed to be there because of the Arch-Mage, or someone else, said so. If they didn't want him there, couldn't they just… run him out with some Stormcloaks at their backs? They would surely help even mages if it meant chasing out a Thalmor agent.

"Yes… well… he's too curious," Faralda grumbled.

What did that even mean? This was all rather confusing. The politics of the Thalmor's presence still eluded them.

"So I guess that the thing hasn't blown up on you yet?" Bishop smirked at Faralda. They were already in front of the gate leading to the courtyard and, just as Faralda took another step towards it, it swung open again.

"Please," Faralda scoffed at Bishop. "We have taken precautions. There are a myriad of reliable safety measures employed in its containment."

"How fucking reassuring," he scoffed, but the mage didn't address his concerns further.

They stepped into the courtyard and Bishop and Aeyrin stopped in their tracks. Faralda gave them an expectant look as she gestured towards the main building, but Aeyrin only shook her head at her.

"We need to see Sergius," she pointed towards the Hall of Countenance where the mage instructors resided and where Sergius provided his enchanting services.

"Oh. Alright. Just… please, don't talk about the Eye with anyone. I know that you don't know much, but… still. Leave all the concerns about it to me and the other Masters," Faralda gave them a stern look.

That wasn't really an issue. The mages surely knew significantly more about the Eye than them by now, including the Thalmor, probably.

With a curt nod they turned towards the mages' chambers and headed straight towards the enchanter.

…

After they purchased some supplies of soul gems from Enthir's legal shop, Bishop had discovered a rather useful item in the elf's stock. It was a small box made out of Dwemer metal and filled with wooden darts. It was all some sort of mechanism connected to a tripwire. A trap. A very useful one.

Ever since the ambushes by the Brotherhood, feeling safe in the wilderness was a thing of the past. They could never know when an assassin would appear again for whatever reason. Karnwyr was often good at alerting them to danger, but it wasn't enough. Not anymore.

Bishop purchased three of these boxes with thin tripwires attached to them before they headed towards Sergius's station for some enchanting services. Aside from the soul trapping enchantment, he was now adamant about enchanting these darts with a paralyzing effect. How much more secure could one be? It was perfect.

However, Sergius had quickly demolished those dreams. Enchanting each dart would have cost a fortune. So, begrudgingly, Bishop ran to the Argonian alchemist's station instead to purchase some poison. A very familiar poison, along with plenty of bottles of the antidote. It was a precaution, in case he, Aeyrin or Karnwyr ever triggered the trap by accident after he would coat the wooden darts in the poison. It wasn't that fast-acting, but if anyone planned on kidnapping any of them again, they wouldn't get very far at least. And buying an instantly lethal poison would have been too big of a risk, considering the fact that any accident was more likely to happen to them in their trapped camps instead of an intruder.

By the time Bishop returned to Sergius and Aeyrin, the enchanter was already done with his work and they were free to leave his workspace.

Aeyrin observed the Dwemer metal dagger in her hand as it swirled with an eerie purple magic coating.

Soul trapping was such a disturbing concept, but they did make use of already filled soulgems quite regularly to recharge their weapons. Maybe it was just her upbringing in Cyrodiil talking, but capturing black souls still felt so strange and uncomfortable to her.

"So… we done?" Bishop turned towards her as they stopped in the middle of the courtyard again.

If she wanted to ease her mind about the soul trapping, perhaps learning how exactly it works wouldn't be a bad idea. They were already at the College and they had no immediate plans pulling them away. It was a good idea to look into it.

"Actually, I'd like to go to the library again. I think… maybe we could learn a little more about… what happens to the souls?" she gave him a wry smile.

"I guess it can't hurt," Bishop shrugged. Another day spent with their noses deep in books wasn't exactly an exciting prospect, but he could see how uncomfortable the whole soul trapping business was making her. If it would help her ease her mind, there was no harm in spending some time researching it. How harmful could it really be anyway? Mages did that all the time. The souls were surely just trapped for a while before they were released to go wherever they were meant to.

They headed towards the main hall and entered through the large doors.

There was a group of people inside – they recognized Faralda, Tolfdir, the Dunmer Master of Illusion and several other familiar faces with no names coming to mind, along with the Altmer Ancano and, surprisingly enough, Darren. They all seemed to be in the middle of a heated argument, standing right behind the gate of the circular room that currently housed the Eye. The strange orb was humming and throbbing menacingly, but none of the mages paid any attention to it. It was likely a normal occurrence, judging from that.

Their argument wasn't exactly easy to hear over the hum of the Eye, so Bishop and Aeyrin merely shrugged at each other as they turned towards the stairs leading to the library. Faralda told them to let the mages handle things, so they did. What good would getting in the middle of their argument do anyway? They were all likely vehemently discussing some strange magical theories again anyway.

They walked up the library stairs until they reached the hall itself. They were instantly greeted by the Orc who was carrying a tall stack of books towards the back of the room where they'd entered. There was already a large pile there on the floor – it looked like he was reorganizing something, or getting rid of some books.

"You again?" the Orc scoffed. "First dragons and Talos, then the Elder Scrolls. What are you here for now? Want to learn how to enter Aetherius?"

"Is there a way to enter Aetherius?" Bishop smirked at him in return.

"Well… I know of one sure way," a mean grin spread on the Orc's face instantly. He was likely kidding, but his eager face made it somewhat disturbing.

"I think we'll pass on that," Aeyrin chuckled nervously. "We'd actually like some books on…"

She got interrupted by a strange deep rumble. It sounded like it came from down below from the ground floor, but it echoed around the hall so strangely that it was hard to tell.

"What was that?" Bishop scowled. He wasn't sure where the noise came from himself, but he had an uncomfortable nagging suspicion.

There were a number of mages further in the library and they were all looking around in confusion. None of them seemed to know what that noise was. It wouldn't have been so troubling if the mages were at ease.

There was a long moment of silence when nothing happened and nobody moved. But the noise didn't come again.

The Orc seemed to be deep in thought as he still stood by the door with the stack of books in his hands. He didn't even move to deposit them onto the ground. But Aeyrin interrupted his pondering after a while. Nothing else seemed to be happening, so it was best to get back to the task at hand.

"So… as I was saying, we were looking for…"

Again.

The noise seemed louder this time and now it was utterly impossible to tell where it came from. The Orc quickly marched towards the corner of the room and carefully placed the books down. His face was permanently decorated by a deep frown of concern.

"Seriously. What the fuck was…"

Bishop didn't get to finish his question as another rumble interrupted him. Before they could even rile themselves up from the confusion, the ground shook beneath their feet violently. The Orc clenched his fist as if he was preparing for something, but there was no enemy to target and no visible source of the disturbance. Although… there was still that ominous glowing orb on the ground floor – what else could it be?

They didn't get a chance to find out. Another rumble echoed through the halls and the ground quaked again. The tremors threw countless books off the shelves and everyone present had a hard time keeping on their feet.

The tremor didn't dissipate this time and, suddenly, a bright light blinded them with an intense glare. There was nothing else but the eternal overwhelming whiteness in front of their eyes as every other sense dulled and every other thought got obliterated.

Then there was only darkness.