Hey all, sorry for the wait. This is definitely not one of my favorites, and I know it's somewhat fluffy and not very plot-oriented, but it's a necessary bit of filler, I suppose. Don't be angry! Hopefully, the next chappie will be a lemon, but I won't be able to post it under this rating. Therefore, if you want to read it (it will be rated 'M' most definitely... it's a lemon!) put me on author alert to get notified of its release. However, I hope to write it so that if you don't read it, you won't be missing anything necessary, plot-wise... though hopefully it'll be a lot of fun! ;)
WC
As always, Numair was surprised at the extent to which she could affect him so effortlessly. Although, he had to admit, the sight of his magelet with only a sheet for a tunic was enough to turn any man's head - but he was not any man. He was a man some fourteen years older than her, old enough to be her father, even. And he was a man who had broken her heart without just cause. For this he could never forgive himself, but at the same time, he could not stay away from her. She was too precious, too much a part of him, to lose again.
And so Numair would stay with her forever, but he would try not to take advantage of her again. He would try his best to remain the affectionate but stoic teacher she had first known, and he would not give rise to the desires which even now could make him shiver at the thought of her. Her olive skin, the perfect softness of her warm neck, the naturally sweet scent of her hair...
He called for a page, with instructions to deliver the amulets, one each to Jon, Thayet, Alanna, and some ten or so others who Thaquib might target in order to get to Numair. Then he steeled himself, and returned to Daine's room to find her fully clothed in a tunic, breeches, and riding boots. Which was perfectly appropriate, he reproved himself.
Daine couldn't exactly say how she felt after - well, what had happened between them before. But now she was willing to ignore the fact that she had come very close to pushing them both down a road they weren't yet ready to travel, and focus on the important question of why this man she had loved and trusted had broken her heart.
Some time later, Numair fumbled to the end of his story. He looked up only now, anxiously scanning her face for a reaction to his words. She had not interrupted, except to ask him to clarify a statement every now and then. Now she reached out a calloused hand, and placed it over his own. "Numair, thank you for telling me. I understand why you did what you did, even if I question the means. And - it'll take me a while to trust you again," these words made him open his mouth to protest, to agree, anything, but she held up a hand to silence him.
"No, let me finish. You know, you always used to do that when you got excited about a lesson. Cut me off? I'd ask a question, and you'd be so thrilled just to tell me more that I could have been asking about the rain in Tusaine, and I'd get a full history of ocean currents in the Great Inland Sea," they both smiled at this, and Numair's heart bloomed when he saw the light in her eyes. "But what I mean to say is, don't give up on me," now she looked deeply into his eyes, and he was held enthralled. "There may still be some days when I don't want to talk to you, when I can't even look at you. But believe me, Numair. Even in all those months, I don't think my heart really changed deep down. You're the person I think about when I close my eyes, and who I want by my side when I can't figure out a dratted math problem. Remember that, and don't give up on me. I still love you, I will always love you, Numair SalmalĂn."
At these words, Daine turned her face away to conceal the tears which were beginning to leak from her eyes, against all her efforts to stop them. And against his own best judgement, and the knowledge that a romantic relationship was both wrong and impossible, he took her in his arms and held her tightly until her last tear fell.
When Alanna arrived the next morning to check on Daine, she found her still in Numair's embrace, her face more peaceful than Alanna had seen it for some time. The lioness smiled, and left quietly.
The next month of summer Daine and Numair spent cloistered in her room together, or sometimes in his. Occasionally if Daine felt well enough, they might venture outside, but for the most part the healers advocated bed rest, a suggestion Numair ardently supported to Daine's profound chagrin. They pored studiously over records of magical illnesses in the study, while elsewhere they debated methods to entrap the mage Thaqib Ladhami. Though Daine was strongly against it, Numair knew that he must be confronted, preferably before the amulets were ever tested. By mid-June, a tentative plan had taken shape, and Daine spent her nights dreading how it might go wrong and her days making up excuses to avoid it.
Numair, on the other hand, was anxious to embark upon his mission, and only held back because of Daine. On a bright day in late June, he met her in the corridor between their rooms. She could tell immediately by the look on his face that he had come to tell her he was leaving. She threw her arms around his neck without a thought, and buried her nose in the collar of his tunic, inhaling the warmth that was the man she loved. Numair, in turn, wrapped his hands around her waist, content merely to hold her a little longer. At last, he spoke into her soft curls. "You know I have to go, sweet. I can't live while there's someone out there who wants to take you away from me forever," he felt her nod, but she didn't answer. Numair pulled back to lift her chin gently with a hand.
"Magelet, look at me," she gazed up at him through tear-glazed eyes, and he was struck as always with not only her beauty, but the beautiful person he saw behind those eyes. Softly, he leant down to cover her full lips with his own. Daine brought her hands up to his temples, inhaling the warmth of his kiss, then down to his cheeks, coarse with black bristles. Her eyes were closed as she allowed his hands to roam her body, first from her waist, then up to her shoulders and over her back, ever cautious of the wound on her shoulder blade. He held her close as his tongue cautiously traced her lips, and when she offered no resistance, he allowed it to part them. Now she relished the feeling of his tongue on her teeth, the taste of spices and mint leaves.
Surprising both of them, Daine used her hands on his neck to pull their bodies closer until they were forehead to forehead. Then she gently pulled away to catch her breath. Easing their lips back together, she whispered into his mouth. "Numair, I want you," her words caused him to pull away, unsure of her meaning. "I want you, I don't want you to leave me regretting anything," she took him by the hand and pulled him toward the nearest door.
And Numair did then something he had never meant to do. He looked deep into her eyes and saw the desire there, and felt the same desire reflected in his own, and he gave in to it. He grabbed his magelet roughly by the shoulders, and pushed her against the wall of the corridor. His mouth descended over hers, and his hands roamed freely across her stomach and up her sides. Caught only briefly by surprise, Daine responded to his touch with the same fervor. But soon even this amount of contact was not enough, and she ducked under his arm to push open the door. Numair hesitated only for a fraction of a second, then followed his wildmage through the open door, eager to taster her again on his lips...
PS. Somebody give me an idea for the setting, somewhere good! i.e., WHERE DOES THE DOOR LEAD?!
