It was kind of pleasant to be in all that snow again.
Ever since they returned from Cyrodiil, they've been staying mostly in the southern areas or Solitude where no one could find snow no matter how hard they tried with summer approaching steadily. Except for on the mountains, of course. Probably the last time they enjoyed some traipsing through the snow, aside from traveling, was around the secret chapel in the Jeralls, but did that small plateau even count? The lush golden forests were right below.
No, this was better. A proper frozen wasteland of the Pale.
And Dawnstar felt so… different.
They hadn't been here for ages. A lot has changed. Their last prolonged visit here involved a certain Daedric artifact and people looking even more like zombies after they were freed from their nightmares but newly plagued by the memories of them.
Now they looked better. Some even looked rested. Refreshed. It really was a new dawn for the city.
If it weren't for the charred buildings and the stares that Aeyrin and Bishop received from everyone.
Now, this was in no way similar to Rorikstead, Karthwasten or Helgen. It was more like Markarth. There was visible damage on some buildings, but clearly the dragons didn't manage to do much to the city. That was reassuring.
What was not reassuring was the frequency of the attacks on cities.
But there was nothing to be done about that. Not while Dexion and Esbern still worked on solutions to teach Aeyrin the Shout and not while she was still a werewolf.
That concern was pushed into the next month again, of course. Her three nights were over and at least they arrived at Dawnstar without having to deal with that. And she still said nothing about her nightly hunt with Bishop. She really didn't remember. That was a relief. Maybe she blocked out the more traumatic experiences. Maybe it really was her mind protecting her from what she didn't want to know.
Regardless, it was behind them and they were finally there in Dawnstar. Maybe they'd even get a decent night's rest here. If people stopped staring.
"Dragonborn," a woman actually approached. She looked kind of nervous and Aeyrin wasn't sure, but she almost looked reverent. That made her uncomfortable. "I just… is that true?" she asked nervously.
Aeyrin sighed. What was she supposed to say? She didn't wanna lie to people, there was no point. But she still hated admitting anything about that damn prophecy and Alduin.
"I'm… glad Dawnstar withstood the attack better than Rorikstead," she only nodded, returning her gaze to the charred roofs of the wooden houses. This was no Markarth. If Alduin actually targeted this place himself…
"Well we could have shared their fate," the woman sighed. "What good are you if so many places get attacked and destroyed and you're not there? How are we simple folks supposed to deal with these monsters when the legend herself doesn't even bother helping? Pfft."
What?!
That went very differently than Aeyrin thought. She had so many protests on her mind. How was she supposed to know when and where dragons would attack? How was she supposed to get there on time? And was she supposed to split herself or something to be in numerous places at once?
But before she could voice any of them, Bishop promptly stepped in front of the woman.
"Piss off right fucking now before I fix your mug for you and make sure you're lacking the teeth to spew shit like this ever again," he growled at her threateningly.
The woman blinked at him a few times before she scoffed disdainfully.
"Bunch of incompetent brutes," she mumbled a bit, but she promptly started to walk away from Bishop. She even looked over her shoulder when she was further away to see if he was following her or looking at her. He was looking at her. He made sure to keep up the death glare until she actually broke into a run.
"Bitch," he grumbled after that.
"Let's just go find the blacksmith," Aeyrin sighed. Hopefully he did survive the attack. Casavir said there were a lot of casualties that day. It was understandable that the woman lashed out. It was hurtful and unfair, but understandable.
Aeyrin still had no idea how Bishop could default to the threats like that so easily. She usually just got caught-off guard and stammery. Unless she got really angry. He was always better at keeping calm, but he was also much better at seeming angry. And scary.
He let out a sigh as well and wrapped his arm around her waist. They were still in their armors so she didn't really feel much, but she still liked the gesture. Although maybe it would have been better to remove the armors. Hers really attracted attention.
Regardless, they continued onwards to the smithy below the inn. Unfortunately, for that they had to walk through half of the town before they got to a slope that would take them lower. People were definitely staring and whispering. This was going to be so annoying. Everywhere. Everyone already knew.
Fortunately, nobody else approached them as they walked with Bishop still holding Aeyrin around her waist. She kind of felt like the word about his threats was supposed to spread already and now she was 'under his protection', the way he was glaring at everyone else too. The thought made her chuckle, but she only waved her hand dismissively at his questioning look.
They reached the blacksmith soon enough and approached the Nord working the forge there.
"Hello," Aeyrin disentangled herself from Bishop's arm again to talk to the man.
"Hey. Whoa," the Nord's eyes went wide. For a moment, she was worried that it was the whole Alduin thing again, but then she noticed the direction of his gaze. He was staring at her chest, mesmerized. And a moment later, he reached out to brush his hand over the crystals decorating her plate.
"Hey! What the fuck?!" Bishop scowled at him promptly, but it only elicited a scoff from the man.
"Boy, you really think I'm touching anything but rock here?" he pushed onto her breast as if to accentuate the point, but she couldn't feel a thing, of course.
"Still…" Bishop grumbled. Couldn't he touch her back or something? Well… it made no difference in her armor, but it was still weird.
"What is that?" The blacksmith shook his head incredulously.
"Some crystals we found deep underground. You know mistress gra-Bagol? She put it into ebony plates for me," Aeyrin beamed.
"Ghorza from Markarth? Yeah, she's one of the best. No wonder," he nodded thoughtfully. "Expensive too."
"Well… those underground caves had a lot of treasure," Aeyrin grinned. For a moment she expected a comment – about how she was looking for treasure instead of protecting the cities from dragons which was somehow her solemn duty now, apparently, but the Nord said no such thing. She really got rattled by that woman before. Now she was worried to mention the wedding lest people think she wastes time on it while such dire events are happening all around.
"Lucky," the man smirked. "Well, what brings you here? It looks to be in decent condition," he examined the armor more.
"We're here to see your wife, I think," Aeyrin explained. "Mistress gra-Bagol referred us here for some quality jewelry-making. We have a small piece of silver… and a pearl."
"Ah. Congratulations," the man smiled kindly. "I'll go get her."
The Nord entered the house by the smithy and only a few moments later, he appeared there with his wife – a Redguard woman dressed from head to toe in thick furs and still shivering.
Her eyes studied Aeyrin for a while – she was clearly taken aback by her presence here and this time it was not about the armor – but she gave them a small smile soon. "Rustleif tells me you need some jewelry."
Bishop pulled out the objects from his pack – a small piece of silver and a pearl from the Sea of Ghosts.
"Oh. You are…?" She looked at the two of them. This was more of the reaction they should have expected. This was uncomfortable. Hopefully the word about their wedding wouldn't spread as well. "Congratulations," she smiled again, though she looked a lot less genuine than her husband. Maybe it was just the constant shivering of hers. How was she so cold here? Was she always so cold? Permanently? That sounded horrible. Even Aeyrin didn't have it so bad.
"Thank you," Aeyrin smiled back. "What can you make of this?"
"Anything, really. Necklace, ring, though I'd need less silver for that. Bracelet, hairpiece, anything," the Redguard shrugged.
Hmm… she really didn't want more necklaces or rings. This piece would look best somewhere alone and prominent. Bracelet was an interesting idea, but she had no idea what kind of dress she would get and if it had long sleeves, it might not be visible. The pearl was beautiful and they went through so much for that piece of silver – it needed to be worth it.
"Hairpiece could be nice," Aeyrin finally decided. Her hair was not usually decorated by anything but the ribbon from Bishop. That could pair with a silver decoration with a pearl nicely, if she wore it for the wedding at all.
"You got it," the Redguard nodded. "It takes time to do ornamental stuff though and I have more commissions. You'll have to wait a day or two, alright?"
"That's fine," Aeyrin answered before Bishop interjected with the most important question.
"How much is it gonna be?" They were not exactly loaded now again. It felt like an endless struggle. Then again, both of them usually thought that when they got money, they should enjoy it. But it left them with uncertainty whenever they were running low.
Then again, it was not as if they could lug thousands of spare septims with them constantly. They'd get robbed or they'd lose it in some dungeon at some point. Shit like that happened.
"Since you have your own material," the woman tapped her chin before a strong shiver went through her body again, "I think two hundred for my work is fair. My jewelry is very elaborate and sought after, I assure you."
"That's fine," Aeyrin nodded. They had that much to spare.
Well, it seemed like they would be staying in Dawnstar for a while. And why not? The city was certainly different from before. While the gawking people and the proximity of the Hall of the Vigilant were not the best things about it all, it wasn't going to be that bad, surely.
Maybe they could actually have a few days to relax here.
…
Aeyrin plopped down on the bed in exhaustion.
She felt so tired after their diner and bath. The inn was bustling and she kept getting anxious about people looking at her. Some even approached her and asked if Alduin was really real. She was tired of pretending and being evasive. She just admitted it to everyone. Delphine would have smacked her for that or something, but she didn't know what to say anymore. Delphine did not have to deal with all this, unlike her. She would be the one deciding how to handle the masses that were bugging her.
She told her reasoning to Bishop and he seemed to agree. His exact words were 'Who gives a fuck if they start hiding out in panic or leaving Skyrim. At least they'll leave you alone.'
That was a fair point, though Aeyrin still didn't want to create unnecessary panic or alert the dragons that people knew about Alduin. But that ship had sailed. Whatever would happen, would happen anyway. The rumors and hearsay were out of her hands.
In any case, all that anxiety and discomfort made her really exhausted now. She barely felt like she had the energy to try to slide her boot down with the use of her other leg.
Before she made any progress, Bishop approached the foot of the bed and yanked the boot off her leg, then the other one promptly. Only a second later he plopped down on the bed too and positioned himself fully on top of her, barely keeping his weight off her by leaning on his elbows.
Oof. He was heavy.
"Hmmm, tired," she made a point of yawning exaggeratedly. She knew it wouldn't go over well with him though. And she didn't even really want it to either, she just wanted to be lazy.
"What? From what? We did nothing the whole day but walk a bit and talk to the smith and his wife," Bishop scoffed at her before he dipped his head down to run his tongue over her neck eagerly.
"I don't know," she groaned and shuffled a little under him. Her breasts hurt from how his weight squeezed her. They've been sensitive all day and this wasn't helping. "I just am."
"Well none of that, sweetheart," he murmured into her ear before he nipped at her lobe, eliciting a small gasp from her. "You got pre-wifely duties to perform."
"What?" Her gasp got now much louder and more incredulous and she promptly shoved him off her. "You did not just call it that," she laughed at the same time she punched him in the chest playfully. Maybe a little more than she intended because he let out a small grunt.
'Duties'? Seriously?
"Hah! See? I knew that would get you up," he chuckled meanly. Provoking or flustering her always worked wonders for getting her energy up. This time he chose the former.
"You are such an ass," she giggled as she pinned him to the bed and straddled his thighs.
"Are you going to find out what would get me up?" He winked at her mischievously.
Sure. In the same way he did to her.
She promptly grabbed the pillow her head just left reluctantly and she smacked it against his face.
A muffled 'oof' escaped his lips and she did the same thing again. It was satisfying, but not very effective to stave off her exhaustion. It didn't take long before she put the pillow down and rolled herself off him again, lying back down on her side.
"That's it?" He scoffed. "So fucking lazy, sweetness," he chuckled as she felt his hand on the small part of bared skin of her stomach, riding up along with her shirt.
"I am," she groaned. "Just do whatever you want with me and I'll just lie here," she sighed wistfully.
His hand stopped suddenly and it forced her to open her eyes and look at him. He had his brows raised at her and an amused grin on his face.
"Seriously? 'Whatever I want'?" There was a glint in his eye that made her wary.
"I don't know… what do you want to do to me?" She bit her lip. What could it be that he of all people wouldn't outright ask her to do? He was always open about new things and all that. If it was something he kept to himself up until now, she couldn't even begin to imagine the depravity of something like that, surely.
"Hah! You should see your face!" He laughed at her merrily.
She wanted to smack the pillow on his face again, but she was lying on it and she didn't want it gone. So she only let out a groan.
Bishop's hand continued to travel up her stomach, over her ribs and then her breasts, crumpling her shirt and baring her skin to him. When the shirt was bunched up above her breasts, he left it alone and instead lowered himself to her properly.
Aeyrin closed her eyes in contentment again and nuzzled her head into the pillow while she concentrated on the sensations on her body. Bishop's warm lips pressed to her stomach first, right under her belly button, before his tongue flicked over her skin there, traveling upwards very excruciatingly slowly.
She let out a pleased groan and one of her hands moved to rest on his head, playing with his soft hair.
Bishop's tongue soon stopped on her ribs and he began to leave little bites on her skin – not even ones that could leave any mark, but the pinch of the contact always made her body shudder a bit. He got to her breasts soon enough and his hands joined in the ministrations, stroking over her side-breasts while he planted kisses on her skin.
"No teeth," she warned him. She was really too sensitive for that today and she merely felt him nod against her skin before he nuzzled his head to one of her breasts and continued to kiss the other one.
Bishop was being too slow and gentle. She knew she kind of set the pace with her tiredness, but now that slight jolts of pleasure began to shoot through her core at him treatment, she was starting to rouse properly and yearn for more.
She let out a soft moan and gripped Bishop's hair more tightly when he moved to her collar. He began biting her skin again and suckling on her, leaving marks behind, but he was still a little too gentle for her tastes. Maybe it was because he was doing everything so languidly.
When he moved over to her neck and jaw, she couldn't take it. She moved her hands to his cheeks and pulled his face to hers forcibly, capturing his lips in hers and sliding her tongue in his mouth practically at the same time. She held him firmly in place while their tongues battled against each other, as if each of them was eager to take charge of the kiss just then. The only respite to catch a breath was when they changed angles of their lips every now and then, but they remained fastened to one another for what felt like a long time. Until the brief intakes of air really weren't enough.
"Heh," Bishop chuckled breathlessly when they parted and she let go of his face. "I thought… you were lazy today."
"You were too frustrating," she pouted. "Too slow."
"Well, we can't have that then," Bishop gave her a mischievous grin.
Before she could question it, her shirt was yanked over her head with a rough motion. Her arms plopped back on the bed heavily when that was done, but she didn't get a moment of respite. Bishop grabbed her by her sides and flipped her onto her bare stomach in one rough motion.
Ow.
Alright, the bed wasn't exactly very soft and she really needed her breasts to stop being squished like this.
Bishop hooked his hands on her trousers and undergarments next and she barely managed to make sense of it all and to raise herself off the bed enough to let him yank the rest of her clothes down. She was completely naked in a mere few seconds – with only her jewelry and the white ribbon remaining on her bare body – nearly all presents from him. He almost never took those off her, even when sometimes the long amulet of Stendarr got somehow hooked around his own neck or limbs and he almost tore it in half. Several times already.
She felt his hands on her hips next and he pulled her up to position her on all fours. After the first moments, she really didn't plan on being lazy anymore – she was keen enough already. But Bishop was acting much faster than she was able to react now, so she ended up not doing anything anyway. And next thing she knew she felt his warm breath on her backside and then his tongue running through her folds eagerly.
She let out a somewhat shocked moan at the sensation and he didn't really give her much of a break. His tongue slid inside her entrance soon enough while his fingers began to stroke around her upper thighs, around her folds and buttocks – generally everywhere.
Gods, that really made up for the frustrations. Soon he moved one of his hands towards her face, first palming her cheek as he obviously tried to make sense of what was where – he couldn't really see her after all and her face wasn't facing him anyway. When he was satisfied with his exploration though, he moved three of his fingers towards her lips, prodding at her tellingly. All the while his tongue and other hand continued to tease her mercilessly while a sweet pressure coiled inside her.
She opened her lips for him obediently and began to suck on his fingers, running her tongue around them and wetting them with her saliva. He kept this up only for a while. Soon, his mouth withdrew from her as did his fingers. And the next second she found herself moaning loudly with those three fingers inside her, two in her already wet entrance and one a little higher. Bishop grabbed her thick braid of hair with his free hand and pulled it back a little to make her arch her back, letting his fingers slide even deeper inside her with that motion.
It didn't take long. She felt the pressure built more and more with each deep thrust of his fingers, not to mention whenever he stopped thrusting and rubbed his pinky over her clit. Soon she got overwhelmed and she felt her walls squeeze him, clenching and pulsating respectively as another moan left her lips and the familiar pleasant warmth spilled over her body.
"Still frustrating and slow?" He smirked at her, but he didn't show any inclination to stop. He did let her come down from her peak for a while, but then he continued to thrust his fingers in while his other hand moved from her braid to one of her breasts.
She only let out another moan as his finger pressed onto her sensitive clit again. Gods, she just came and she was already feeling on the verge again. She couldn't even answer him. And after what she said, she had a feeling he wouldn't give her any reprieve for a while.
She wasn't wrong.
After what felt like an hour of the same over-stimulating treatment, she just rested on the bed with her head buried in the pillow again, sometimes biting on it or clutching it tightly with her fists when she was close, and her hips still high up at Bishop's mercy.
She came three times already and he was still teasing her both with his fingers and his tongue. Wasn't he eager to get some release too already?
And despite the constant pleasure, it was not enough.
"Please, Bish," she whimpered in frustration as she felt the pressure build again. Gods, she wanted him inside already. She certainly didn't need to be any more ready. In fact, she worried if he continued this, she would feel too sore to do anything else.
"You're so fucking cute," he chuckled at her, but the strain in his voice was also palpable. He had managed to get out of his clothes with minimal interruptions to what he was doing to her, but that only made her aware of how painfully hard he was when he rubbed his cock against her entrance or slid it between her folds. She begged him a few times already, but his answer was always just: 'Not yet'.
He didn't say that now though. He sounded frustrated too. Finally.
She felt the fingers leave her just when she worried the pressure would get closer to the edge again. She let out a soft and somewhat exhausted sigh, but the eagerness in her voice must have been obvious too. She really wanted him inside her already.
His hands were on her hips again and she was flipped over. Bishop was on top of her in no time, pinning her down as his hands stroked over her flanks, her hips, then her thighs, urging her legs up. She wrapped her legs around him promptly, calves pressing into his back, and she could already feel his hard cock eagerly poking her from below. He didn't enter her yet though.
Suddenly his hands grabbed her buttocks firmly and tried to lift them both off the bed. She had to help him by pressing her hands to the bed and pushing away, but the moment Bishop managed to straighten up, she wrapped them around his neck. She was still embracing him tightly, only hanging on his torso, while he made a few quick strides and pressed her against the cold wooden wall.
He finally entered her then and they both let out a long satisfied moan. It's really been a long time coming. Bishop had been desperate to feel her like this for what felt like ages, but then again, watching her writhe under his hands and tongue on the bed for so long was so fucking satisfying, he couldn't help but go on and on.
Now there was edification though. And definitely earned after getting her past her exhaustion like that. Then again, it was probably gonna be even worse afterwards.
He picked up a rough and quick pace, thrusting into her eagerly as she tried to clench her muscles around him every time he drove deep inside. Her moans filled his ears constantly and even though she tried to kiss his jaw and ears in the heat of their motions, she never really managed with the distractions. He felt her clench and pulsate around him with her release much sooner than he had expected, but he could definitely not stop now.
He continued to thrust into her overly sensitive spots for a while longer before he couldn't take it anymore either. His cock twitched inside her as he finally reached his peak too. Fuck he felt like he'd been pent up for days. Which wasn't true of course – they fucked yesterday too. It always felt like he needed her so much only a few hours later. Sometimes minutes, depending on what they were doing.
Aeyrin let out a soft sigh as he withdrew his cock from her and let go of her thighs. She stood on her feet again, but she began sliding down along the wall. For a moment, Bishop thought she was too tired to stand and wondered if he should help her up again, but when she got a little lower he felt a lazy kiss on his abs, then a little lower, and one more even lower with her tongue pressing against his skin.
He let out a pleased sigh when she settled herself on her knees and began running her tongue over his cock. He wasn't sure if he could get hard again this soon, but fuck did it feel good.
She didn't really take him into her mouth, she just licked around the head, then moved to the base, before she started to run her tongue around his balls and to plant open-mouthed kisses everywhere.
Alright, he was wrong. She continued doing that lazily for a few minutes, cleaning him off their juices, until his cock began hardening again and she eagerly took the head into her mouth.
Heh, where was all that exhaustion of hers now?
But he couldn't really complain. He pressed his hand against the wall, steadying himself on his feet while she continued to engulf him deeper and deeper. Maybe she would get him back for all hat overstimulation now.
Good. The night was still young after all.
They shouldn't spend it sleeping.