Chapter 7: Dreamstate

Sighing, Lainné put out the fire and spread the coals, then sat back in the darkness. Eireannan lay quiet on the other side of the cave, still shivering under the blankets yet pretending to be sound asleep. Pretending…

The Light damn the Syndicate, Church and stubborn elf warlocks all together.
She felt angry. He had been willing to trade his life for hers that was why. For long hours she had wondered whether she would have even considered doing the same. She still didn’t know. And it scared her.

Then, while she was tending to his wound she had just…just…She had wanted to touch him, Lainné thought, bitting her lips. An urge so strong it had taken a lot of effort to focus on the bandage. Certainly it had not happened before.
Wows of chastity weren’t obviously a requirement. The Church even frowned upon such things – a priest with a happy family was a much better example that a lonely, embittered person. But she had never – never before – never…

Lainné took a long, calming breath.
She had never felt desire.
A warlock.

He had laid down his life for hers.

She rose again and paced nervously the narrow length of the cave. Moving did not help at all to quell the uneasy sensation in the pit of her belly. Ten minutes later her knees still felt wobbly and weak.
She had never –

Slowly, she lay by Eireannan’s side, worming her way under blanket and cloak. There was enough distance between them so as not to touch, but even so he tensed. She didn’t dare move for a while and he didn’t either. He would pretend to be asleep and not know what she had done unless she would acknowledge it first.
She closed that space between them. Her body curled instinctively against his and to her surprise, Eireannan put an arm around her waist pulling her even closer, until her head came to rest in the hollow of his neck.

Her mind cringed, urging her back. Instead she rose a hand and traced with trembling fingers the lines of his face.

“You’re cold”, was all she managed to say as if that explained it all.

Eireannan exhaled softly. So much time had passed since he last held someone like that. Someone to care whether he was cold or not…whether he died or lived.

“Go away” he whispered in her hair. “I’ll hurt you.”
“No…” Lainné’s breathing came out shallow and ragged, almost painful. “Don’t talk. Just…hold me. It’s a dream… Just…dream…”

Eireannan took hold of her hand and pressed it against his lips. Her fingers grasped his, a silken touch against his scarred skin.
“I’ll hurt you…”, he repeated, as quietly as the first time. “Some people named me the Deathcaller. Aren’t you afraid of what curse I might bring upon you?”

Oooh, she was afraid. Not necessarily of him – her own madness more like it.

“Can you just stop talking for a change?”

Feeling him so close made it hard to hang onto that last scrap of lucidity. Light, what was she –
She gasped in shock when Eireannan’s mouth came down on hers with a roughness she had not foreseen. She clang to him as if he were the last solid thing in a melting world – yet somewhere deep she was still angry... Years of discipline had taught her how to repress pain and weariness but apparently had done nothing for desire. The man had managed to break through all her precious self control in a matter of seconds.

“This is wrong”, he whispered so low she could barely grasp the meaning of words.

“No…” she protested. It was. But somehow it felt right.
His kiss was deeper this time, more fierce if that were possible. She was fighting for breath when he released her. He rolled her over, his weight pressing against her small frame and his lips found a very sensitive spot on her neck. A soft bite had her panting. She arched her back and moaned audibly in complete abandon as he started to undress her.

The bits and pieces she knew about what happened between a man and a woman had not prepared her in anyway for this.
She had never thought the sensations could be so intense. Never expected the gentleness with which he caressed every patch of exposed skin, nor the trail of lingering kisses that made her burn inside. She had even imagined she would be able too keep her head – yet reason was the first to vanish. She ran her hands through Eireannan’s hair, down his back, bathing in his warmth.

Capturing her mouth in another deep kiss, he spread her thighs either side of him exposing her most intimate spot. Lainné’s breath came out in sharp gasps as his fingers explored the damp folds before slowly penetrating her depths. He massaged her inner walls in a rhytmic motion, while his other hand moved to one of her breasts, teasing the aroused nipple. She cried out as the building pleasure exploded in rippling waves. It seemed to last for ever and Eireannan held her tightly, placing soft kisses on her forehead. Through the haze that clouded her mind, Lainné was dimly aware of him moving to enter her. His hardened length had slid only a little inside her before she froze with a whimper.

He stopped abruptly and – despite the darkness – she knew he was watching her intently.

“I didn’t know…I…You should’ve stopped me…”

It was a terse whisper as Eireannan blindly brushed a strand of hair behind her ear. Light, he would back down even now, Lainné realized – and suddenly she knew – it had to be –

She thrust her hips upwards biting back an anguished cry and forcing him all the way inside. The fragile control Eireannan had managed to keep over his aching desire shattered in a choked sound of pleasure as her tightness enveloped him.

It didn’t really hurt that much, Lainné thought eerily. With a growled oath in Thalassian, Eireannan smoothed her hair and covered her face in kisses until she relaxed. Slowly she found that wonderful rhythm again and danced it with every breath and every heart beat …and then nothing else was important for a while…