But tonight
I could fall too soon
Under this beautiful moonlight
Something about sleeping in bedrolls under the stars brought out her hidden romantic side. Maybe it was the Goddess's association with the moon that made her a bit silly – the Goddess had told her to learn to love, after all. Maybe it was because Faithful really was supernatural, or maybe it was just because the stars looked so beautiful, twinkling up there in the night sky. Maybe it was the mystery of it all, how the darkness made her feel small. Whatever it was, the night made her silly and romantic in a way she didn't appreciate.
The moon was full that night when Coram headed off to his bedroll, leaving Alanna and Liam by the fire. She poked at it with a stick, avoiding his disconcerting blue-green eyes. Part of her wondered if her eyes had this affect on people too. She glanced over at him, catching him watching her and grinning. "What are you grinning about?" she asked, turning her head to fully look at him, keeping her stick in the fire.
"Nothing," he answered, firelight dancing in his eyes. He looked up at the sky innocently. "Beautiful night." Alanna grunted a response. A moment passed before he slid nearer to her. She glanced back at him and shifted away ever so slightly. He slid closer, more determined this time.
Alanna sat up and looked at him, feigning innocence. "Are you afraid of the dark?" she asked sweetly. "Or are you just cold?"
Liam chuckled. "Would you believe me if I told you either?"
She considered this before grinning at him. "No." This time, she slid nearer to him. their knees barely brushed. Liam slid a little closer, so the length of his muscular leg pressed against hers. Alanna threw a glance over her shoulder to where Coram lay. If she listened closely, she could hear him snoring. A small smile played on her lips.
"Are we safe?" Liam murmured in her ear, the feeling of his breath making her jump. She nodded, regaining her composure. It didn't last, though, once Liam started kissing her neck. She bit her lip to keep from moaning with pleasure. He seemed to know all the right places to kiss her to make her melt.
She didn't want to melt. Part of her brain rebelled, shrieking this was a bad idea. Wasn't Faithful supposed to be her conscious in such matters? The rebellious part of her brain cursed the cat for letting her get in over her head again. He'd let her go too far with Jonathan, then with George, and now with the Shang Dragon. She had let him get too close, let him put her too off-balance. This had gone too far, that small, rebellious part of her brain. Stop it now, before it gets too far. Think of what happened the last time you let a man make you feel like this. Look how that ended.
But there was a large part of her brain, caught up in the moment, lost in the feeling of his lips against her neck, his leg pressed against her own. The larger part of her brain that told her Liam wasn't Jonathan, Liam wasn't George. The part of her brain that forgot Jonathan entirely, and said this was different than what she had with George. The part of her brain that told her to let go. The part she so longed to give in to entirely.
Alanna turned to kiss him full on the mouth. Her voice startled Liam, who hadn't been expecting her to relent so quickly. For all that they'd been sharing a bedroll for several days, they still played flirtatious games with each other. He liked getting under her skin, making those pretty violet eyes flash. He liked her fire. It was part of what made her beautiful – that passion in her stomach that took hold of her. He knew it from himself, and he admired it in others.
She's Gifted, he reminded himself. She's got more than just a philosophical fire. Magic made him shudder. He distrusted it, feared it, even. He knew that they would never amount to more than kisses and shared bedrolls with his fear between them. He also knew it was ridiculous to hope otherwise when she had counted the future king of Tortall among her lovers before. But all those sane, rational thoughts were pushed aside for another time, when the moon was less full and the stars less bright.
For now, all the reasons why not would be thrown away for passion and a clear, bright sky.
I will admit, I was sorely tempted to use this particular set of lyrics to write about Jonathan and Alanna's encounter in the garden that is the joy of AJ shippers. But that would have been too easy, and I've never written about Alanna and Liam before. So I hope you enjoyed it. Say the word and I'll write a second version about Alanna and Jon. I just figure y'all get bored of me doing Alanna and Jon all the time.