The light outside of my shop was dimming by the time I finished work for the day. I locked up the building with the intention of going straight home, exhausted by the day spent hunched over dirty sailors and overweight prostitutes.

I had just locked the front door and turned to walk home when I saw a black shape detach itself from the darkness and spring at me. I yelped and fell backwards, throwing my arms up to protect my face and neck. I let out a string of profanities as the thing knocked out the wind from me. The huge creature that had bowled me to the ground snapped playfully at my hand and stuck its cold nose in my ear, snorting happily.

"Skree?!" I squeaked in disbelief, not attempting to move the massive dog perched contentedly on my chest just yet. The sound of barely controlled laughter reached my ears and I twisted my neck to see Sparrow standing over me. He lost it completely at my upside down expression and started roaring with mirth. I was still too shocked to feel annoyance at his evident amusement and just continued to gape at him. Skree chose that moment to climb off of my abdomen and return to his master, coming to lean against his leg with a seemingly self-satisfied expression. Sparrow recovered enough to ruffle the dog's thick fur, his laughter fading to a grin that showed off his sharp white teeth. He stepped over my prone form and leaned down to offer me a hand. I took it and he hoisted me up with such ease I wondered how far he could've thrown me if the urge took him.

"You shoulda seen yer face mate, ye looked like ye were about tae pass out. Are ye alright?" His earlier merriment still danced in his eyes and at the upturned corners of his lips, belying his concern. I made a show of brushing myself off and running my hand through the strip of gravity defying hair on my head to tame it back into place.

"Well it's no every day that ah get attacked by a psychotic hound that could crush me skull, but ahm fine." My own grin broke through my affronted guise.

"Good, 'cause yer comin' drinkin'. Ah have tae go on a mission and need tae get plastered since it's ma last night here, and yer good company." His tone left little room for argument, and soon enough I found myself sitting on a bar stool drinking Sandgoose Rum and laughing at Sparrow's jokes while the other inhabitants of the bar gave us wary glances.

After a few glasses I was feeling brave enough to ask Sparrow a few questions, he had drank more than me and still didn't look like he was feeling it. He sat where the bar met the wall, boots up on the counter and back against the wall, looking for all the world as if he owned the place.

"So ah know ya were here to see Reaver," My drink infused accent made it sound like 'Reavah', "Is he the one sending ya on this mission?" I stopped short at asking how dangerous it was, not wanting to seem like I was mocking him.

He chuckled at my stronger accent and took another swig from his glass; I noticed his fingernails were long and sharp, curving downwards at tip, the same shiny black as his horns.

"Aye, ah need tae deliver somethin' tae Wraithmarsh, that's all he told me, but ahm pretty confident there's more to it than that." He didn't seem bothered by this and just swallowed the rest of his drink.

I followed his example and drained my glass, feeling it burn the back of my throat and create a warm trail to my belly. I blinked slowly, feeling the alcohol's effects.

I noticed Sparrow's braids where they hung over his shoulder, my eyes travelled down the shining ropes of hair to the small colourful beads woven into the ends, where they hung to just above his belly button, drawing my attention to his stomach. It was sculpted and highly defined, abdominal muscles prominent even though he was sitting down.

I realised I was staring and yanked my eyes back up to his face, trying not to blush in case he noticed that I was ogling him. I didn't see any shame in looking, but if the most powerful and unpredictable man in Albion thought I was hitting on him...

To my utter mortification, he raised his glass and winked at me. I did blush then and quickly diverted my attention to my glass, taking a large gulp and nearly choking. He chuckled quietly at this and shifted on his stool, bringing his feet down off the bar and back onto the floor and resting his elbows on his knees, he caught one of the trailing braids and run it through his fingers, playing with the bead at the end.

"Ah take it ye like ma hair, eh Jamie?" His smirk implied at he knew it wasn't just his hair I was staring it, but he wasn't going to acknowledge the rest. I steeled myself then met his gaze, shoving aside my embarrassment and slight fear to show only my interest and slight desire. I gave him a cocky grin.

"Yeah, where'd ya get it done?" I privately wondered if his hair was as soft and heavy as it looked. I fought the urge to reach out and touch it. There was an errant braid that had slipped over a horn and hung by the side of his face, I was so busy thinking about what his horns would feel like if I touched them that his response nearly startled me.

"The women back at the Gypsy camp always knew ah would go out and become a fighter, so they never let me cut ma hair and when ah was old enough they braided it, it's one of their mental traditions." He flicked the errant hair back in its place and then absent-mindedly scratched the base of his horn, his nails clacking against the hard bone.

"Can ya feel them? The horns ah mean." I hadn't meant to blurt it out like that and froze, waiting for him to snap my neck for my insolence. He just raised an eyebrow at me however and lifted a hand to grasp one, considering.

"Aye, actually ah can, but just like yer teeth likes," He caught my expression of wonder and leaned towards me suddenly, his eyes sparking with mischief. "Dae ye want tae touch them?"

I did, I really wanted to touch them. I gulped, then nodded. He turned his head slightly and watched me out of the corner of his eye as I raised a hand, hesitating just before I made contact, then stroked one of the bones and testing the sharpness with the tip of my finger. He could disembowel a man with those if he really wanted to. I removed my hand and watched as his eyes opened from their half lidded position and he gave his head a slight shake. Perhaps he was feeling the drink after all.

He winked at me once more before sitting back up and thumping the bottom of his glass on the counter to order more bevy.

"Ah think yer drunk."

This fact obviously amused Sparrow, though he was fairly intoxicated himself. The bar had gradually emptied and we had migrated to a table upstairs. I had just returned from taking a piss and the stairs were more challenging than usual.

"Ah think you're right," I sat back down on my stool, swaying slightly but feeling accomplished that I had conquered the staircase. I turned my attention back to the smirking Sparrow. The only outward sign of his drunken state was the flirtatious remarks he sent my way.

"Dae ya want tae see something funny?" There was a twinkle of mischief in Sparrow's slitted eyes as he leaned towards me conspiratorially. I wondered briefly at what Sparrow's definition of funny was, then nodded. He stood up and walked over to the railing. He closed his eyes and put his hands together as if he was praying. As I watched, electricity began to build between his palms, making the air crackle and my skin tingle. He then pointed the small ball of static energy at the barman and made a flicking motion with his fingers.

The ball flew through the air and hit the barman square on the arse, making him jump about a foot in the air and fall over, twitching uncontrollably. When he had recovered enough to get up, he looked angrily around the nearly empty bar for the culprit, soon spotting Sparrow and I roaring with laughter on the balcony.

"You two, OUT!"

Still laughing maniacally, we stood up; I staggered my way to the top of the stairs and looked down, judging how much it would hurt just to dive down, but just as I had decided the bruises would be worth it I felt two large hands grab me round the waist, and the next thing I knew I was flung over Sparrow's shoulder as he bounded down the stairs and out the front door of the bar. Skree skipped after us, barking merrily.

Sparrow didn't put me down until we had reached the door of my locked up tattoo parlour, he then gently slid me off his shoulder and onto the ground, chuckling at my disgruntled expression.

"Well, that was fun, Pumpkin, but ah think we should call it a night. Where dae ye live? Ah'll walk ye hame so ye dinnae get molested." I nearly giggled at his choice of words, especially since he was still close enough for me to be able to smell his alluring scent and feel the unnatural heat from his chest.

"Actually, ah just live above ma shop, the door's round this way," I led him round to the other door of the building and fumbled with my key until the door swung open and I nearly fell inside. Sparrow caught my arm and kept a hold of it, steadying me until we were over the threshold. He caught sight of the two flights of stairs and grinned at me.

"We both know ye cannae make it up them stares in this state pet, so ah think ah'll carry you up to save maself the bother of helpin' ye stagger up them yerself." Before I cold protest he had swept me up bridal style and kicked the door closed. He walked up the stairs without even swaying and stopped on the top landing. He set me down but I kept my hands on his shoulders.

He looked down at me with a wry expression and I did something wildly impulsive. I stood on my toes and kissed him. It started off chaste but his lack of response frustrated me, I reached up and caught the side of his face, thumb grazing the base of a horn. I bit at his bottom lip and pressed the rest of my body against him. He made a sound that was a cross between a whine and a deep growl and grabbed me, one hand going round my waist, the other to the back of my neck, pressing our bodies together harder while he devoured my mouth.

He kissed me hard, forcing my mouth open and exploring it with his tongue, his sharp teeth grazing my lip as I tried to battle him for dominance. I broke away for breath and he moved onto my neck, sucking and biting at the place where neck meets shoulder and making me emit a small moan. His nails dug into my lower back and he moved back up to my mouth.

I slipped my hands in between us and started to unbuckle the belt that held his weapons onto his back, fumbling with the large clasp. He made a sound and stepped back, taking hold of my wrists firmly. I was left gasping for air and shocked at the lack of contact.

"No, yer drunk and as much as ah want tae, ahm no gantae take advantage of ye like this, ahll help ye intae bed petal, but that's it." His tone was gentle but I still gaped at him in disbelief for a second. I saw his logic, but I wasn't drunk enough not to know what I was doing. I was so hard it hurt, and so was he if the bulge in his trousers was anything to go by. His tone was firm though, and I felt the self-control it took for him to deny himself.

"Ah don't think ahm drunk enough to be taken advantage of, love, and ahm pretty confident ah would get a lot out of it too, but if you're sure..." I stepped back and then turned around, walking over to my bed where I sat down and pulled off my boots. An idea struck me, and I stood up, meeting Sparrow's eyes the whole time, I unbuckled my belt, turning around and allowing my trousers to fall to the floor, letting him see just how far down my tattoos went.

The sound of something heavy and made of metal hitting the floor, and a predatory growl, were all the warning I got before I was spun around and slammed against the wall. Glowing slit pupils bore down into me and Sparrow claimed my willing mouth once more. He stopped briefly to tug off his gloves with his teeth then both his mouth and hands were on me, the surprising warmth of his tongue against my neck and the roughness of his hands as they explored my back. I reached between us once more and unbuckled his trousers, pushing them down enough to free him.

He guided us backwards until the back of his legs hit the bed and we fell. I ended up straddling his legs with my hands either side of his head. I attacked the side of his neck, biting and sucking to leave my mark on his scarred skin. He muttered a low profanity and grabbed onto my ass, pressing us together and trapping our members between our bodies. I gasped and lifted my head to kiss him again, then began working my way down his chest, feeling his taut muscles twitch beneath my lips. I licked along his prominent hip bones, eliciting a low moan that urged me on lower until I was presented with his impressive cock.

I licked him from base to tip then began to work him with my free hand, lapping at the head and enjoying the rumbling moan that emitted from Sparrow. In a flash he had grabbed me and pulled me into his lap, I slipped my arms around his neck as he returned to his earlier task of leaving love bites on my throat while rummaging around in his trousers for something.

I felt his fingers press against my entrance, now slick with some mysterious substance, I tensed up slightly and he removed himself from my neck to see my face. Before he could say anything however, I dove down to latch onto his throat while pushing back onto his fingers. The pleasure of hearing him gasp outweighed the initial sting and he began to move his digits inside of me, when he added a third I sank my teeth into the skin of his neck, his breathing became ragged and another moan escaped him, his back arching slightly.

When he judged me prepared enough I felt his fingers leave and something larger come to take their place, pushing the head in slowly. He suddenly bit into my skin at the same time as he thrust himself all the way in, hitting that spot deep inside of me and making me cry out in both pain and pleasure. He stayed still, licking the blood from his earlier bite lovingly, until I rocked against him, giving him the go ahead to move. He started slow, keeping his thrusts long and even, until he hit my the spot again and I threw my head back, gasping and moaning. He went faster, pounding into me hard, hitting that spot with every thrust. His low moans and growls joining my voice. He removed one of his hands from my hip and slid it between us, taking me by surprise as he started to pump me in time with his thrusts.

I didn't last long after that. I grabbed onto his hair and pulled his head back, which seemed to excite him all the more, he quickened his pace to the point where I knew I was bruising but didn't care. I felt myself getting close and let go of his hair to fling my arms around his neck, my back arching as a climax ripped through me that was so intense the edges of my vision turned white. Sparrow's now offbeat thrusts prolonging it until he came deep inside me with a rumbling moan and bit into the side of my neck again.

He lay back slowly on the bed, pulling out of me as my head came to rest on his shoulder. We lay there recovering for a few minutes, spent and satisfied. I felt him move under me as he kicked off his boots and wriggled the rest of the way out of his trousers. He sighed in contentment and I mentally echoed the sentiment.

"Well, ahm glad a didnae make ye gan tae bed." His wry remark made me chuckle tiredly. I leaned up on one elbow and started playing with his braids, marvelling at the softness of his hair. I felt blood begin to ooze slowly down my shoulder, it didn't bother me as much as it should have and I was surprised when Sparrow's head came up to clean the wound lazily. He then pulled back the covers from the top corner of the bed, and dragged us both up until our heads were on the pillows. He covered us with the blanket and turned me around so I was pressed against his chest, his braids splayed out on the pillows and my hair touching his sternum.

"So ah take it you're staying the night?"

He gave a sound that was extremely close to a purr and tightened his grip around my torso, his warmth and scent lulling me into a deep, exhausted sleep.