He drew her near with little decency or decorum, the slave brought to his lap with the flimsy excuse of a doctor ‘needing a better angle’ that seemed as lost on her as it was to the one who’d spoken it. Yet still he waited with bated breath for her aghast expression at his audacity, her screams of protest or harried struggle against his wandering touch. To his surprise, none ever came. Instead, Elias found his nerves set alight as Shiress’s hand slid across his chest unabated, curious fingers tracing the tapestry of scars and mistakes that served to map the life of a man with too many regrets and too few years to match them. The hairs on his arms prickled and rose as she explored her pale canvas with a newfound daring, her lithe form leaning into his unyielding frame as if this were nothing new for either of them. To say he was surprised would have been an understatement. Like tinder brought to flame, it seemed that their sudden union had kindled something within the slave in that moment, and the Caldera immediately began to feel his heart betray him.
His ruse, or game, or whatever one chose to call it when he had made his less than subtle advance upon her had been but a childish tactic meant to instigate a reaction, to tease something out of the timid girl and satisfy his deranged sense of humor more so than anything else.
He had not expected such boldness to be her reply.
…but he had hoped.
Neither of them had failed to notice how she had shuddered at his mere touch, how his hands brought forth from her a reaction undeniable in its powerful throws. It may have seemed like madness to anyone else, for they were little more than strangers caught up in the maddening dance between life and death together, but it was that same desperate contest upon the precipices of disaster and destiny that had such a dastardly way of changing one’s perspective in the aftermath, not to mention one’s priorities. As a solder who’d fought most of his life, Elias knew this feeling all too well, and perhaps Shiress -her emerald eyes now taking command of his as she looked down at him from upon her new throne- was learning much the same.
The two may have been unintended partners in such a perilous waltz, but with such intrigue and frenzied passion born of their short but hectic time together, what was about to happen next seemed as inevitable now as their kiss.
She could not know what such a simple act would unleash.
There was a fever that raged within the pale man as their lips met for the first time, something dark and hungry and barely controlled as the two kissed with a desperate urgency that Elias was all too willing to indulge. The scent of her wet auburn hair so close filled his senses and drove him wild as their tongues did battle and vied for dominance. He felt excitement rise along with anticipation and thrill as their bodies burned against one another in the maddening collision of untamed desire. The sultry struggle between them came to its conclusion far too soon however, as the pair shattered their connection and gasped for air in unison.
She spoke first in the quiet void that followed, green eyes of unbearable intensity delving deep into his as lips, now slick and glistening in the twilight, gave rise to a devilish question that seemed to fill the room with its stifling candor. He knew his answer already though, for in Shiress’s bright gaze was something Elias had seen in too few women before, something that stirred an animal within him until the cage that bound it seemed to all but crack and buckle before the Zeltivan’s scrutiny. Ravok was a merciless city that had little patience for such petty things as dignity and defiance. Many were bent by its unrelenting will or simply destroyed in the process, but in this slave the ravokian beheld a proud soul -a strong soul- one beset, but never truly broken. Now, all that and more could be his if he but dared to choose the right answer.
But Elias Caldera was not a man who settled for choice. He was not ‘given’ anything.
“What I want… I take.”
Strong arms encased her without another word, vigorously tightening around supple thighs as Elias stiffened and rose from the chair with an abrupt ferocity that left Shiress trapped in his clutches as he hefted her skyward. An instant later and the two of them were falling into the waiting sheets of the nearby bed amidst a tangle of flesh and stolen breaths. He lifted himself above their embrace before he became too lost within however, rising over Shiress while he pushed her back down with a commanding touch. Like a predator over its prey, the swordsman loomed above the slave, and with a yank of her hips, wordlessly brought them against his own. “From this city,” he began, growling as his hands danced across the loose fabric of her dress along her hips and further up until they rested upon her tauntingly lowcut collar. “I will take back my rightful place!” In an instant the fabric was undone, sundered in two as Elias tore the blue cotton apart betwixt his fingers.
She would be entirely at his mercy before this night was through, something Elias wanted the young woman to know completely before he leaned down and delved back in for another fervent kiss. His lips trailed from hers before long however, wandering south across her neck and lower still as he continued. After a while, calloused hands found Shiress’s, grasping both tightly before forcefully lifting them above her head and pinning them against the bed at the wrists. “From my enemies,” he murmured in a low snarl between his bouts of biting and nibbling, “I will take my vengeance!” His free hand had found the hem of her skirt, or what was left of it amidst the burning bedlam of their lust. With powerful yank, it too was gone in an instant.
The bed groaned in protest under their shifting weight, no doubt subject to much in its storied career here at the brothel that should have left it more than accustomed to such torment and hassle by its guests over the years. It had better be, for now the desire burning a hole through Elias as he gazed upon a disrobed Shiress promised to see the two of them putting it through its paces before long. She had scoffed at his compliment earlier though, but that only spoke of an unnecessary humility he found so charming, and the fact that she could not see what he saw. She was stunning beyond words, and more importantly, she was all his. He wondered how she would react to that, wondered if she would struggle against his might in vain, or submit herself entirely to his ravenous will. Elias knew he would revel in either.
“But from you…” the whispered words faded as the depths of her longing gaze were reunited with the flames of his own, “from you, I would take everything.”
At least for tonight. He mused as his thumb came to rest upon her quivering lips. “Yet from these lips, I would have an answer first.” The two of them hovered on the edge, what little remained of Elias’s clothing the only thing that denied them from one another, and barely so at that, yet the mage would go no further until he was obeyed. If she thought such a thing unbearable, the girl had no idea what it was like to be him in that moment. He persisted none the less. “You saved my life, and put yours at incomprehensible risk… I would see you rewarded. Anything you desire, you need but speak it and see it made reality.” He leaned in, his careless words hot upon her neck as he tantalized a response out of her. “Anything.”
Shiress would be wise choose her next words carefully. Not only because of the power they now held, but because she’d have no time to catch her breath for the rest of the night after she chose, Elias was going to make damn sure of that.
His ruse, or game, or whatever one chose to call it when he had made his less than subtle advance upon her had been but a childish tactic meant to instigate a reaction, to tease something out of the timid girl and satisfy his deranged sense of humor more so than anything else.
He had not expected such boldness to be her reply.
…but he had hoped.
Neither of them had failed to notice how she had shuddered at his mere touch, how his hands brought forth from her a reaction undeniable in its powerful throws. It may have seemed like madness to anyone else, for they were little more than strangers caught up in the maddening dance between life and death together, but it was that same desperate contest upon the precipices of disaster and destiny that had such a dastardly way of changing one’s perspective in the aftermath, not to mention one’s priorities. As a solder who’d fought most of his life, Elias knew this feeling all too well, and perhaps Shiress -her emerald eyes now taking command of his as she looked down at him from upon her new throne- was learning much the same.
The two may have been unintended partners in such a perilous waltz, but with such intrigue and frenzied passion born of their short but hectic time together, what was about to happen next seemed as inevitable now as their kiss.
She could not know what such a simple act would unleash.
There was a fever that raged within the pale man as their lips met for the first time, something dark and hungry and barely controlled as the two kissed with a desperate urgency that Elias was all too willing to indulge. The scent of her wet auburn hair so close filled his senses and drove him wild as their tongues did battle and vied for dominance. He felt excitement rise along with anticipation and thrill as their bodies burned against one another in the maddening collision of untamed desire. The sultry struggle between them came to its conclusion far too soon however, as the pair shattered their connection and gasped for air in unison.
She spoke first in the quiet void that followed, green eyes of unbearable intensity delving deep into his as lips, now slick and glistening in the twilight, gave rise to a devilish question that seemed to fill the room with its stifling candor. He knew his answer already though, for in Shiress’s bright gaze was something Elias had seen in too few women before, something that stirred an animal within him until the cage that bound it seemed to all but crack and buckle before the Zeltivan’s scrutiny. Ravok was a merciless city that had little patience for such petty things as dignity and defiance. Many were bent by its unrelenting will or simply destroyed in the process, but in this slave the ravokian beheld a proud soul -a strong soul- one beset, but never truly broken. Now, all that and more could be his if he but dared to choose the right answer.
But Elias Caldera was not a man who settled for choice. He was not ‘given’ anything.
“What I want… I take.”
Strong arms encased her without another word, vigorously tightening around supple thighs as Elias stiffened and rose from the chair with an abrupt ferocity that left Shiress trapped in his clutches as he hefted her skyward. An instant later and the two of them were falling into the waiting sheets of the nearby bed amidst a tangle of flesh and stolen breaths. He lifted himself above their embrace before he became too lost within however, rising over Shiress while he pushed her back down with a commanding touch. Like a predator over its prey, the swordsman loomed above the slave, and with a yank of her hips, wordlessly brought them against his own. “From this city,” he began, growling as his hands danced across the loose fabric of her dress along her hips and further up until they rested upon her tauntingly lowcut collar. “I will take back my rightful place!” In an instant the fabric was undone, sundered in two as Elias tore the blue cotton apart betwixt his fingers.
She would be entirely at his mercy before this night was through, something Elias wanted the young woman to know completely before he leaned down and delved back in for another fervent kiss. His lips trailed from hers before long however, wandering south across her neck and lower still as he continued. After a while, calloused hands found Shiress’s, grasping both tightly before forcefully lifting them above her head and pinning them against the bed at the wrists. “From my enemies,” he murmured in a low snarl between his bouts of biting and nibbling, “I will take my vengeance!” His free hand had found the hem of her skirt, or what was left of it amidst the burning bedlam of their lust. With powerful yank, it too was gone in an instant.
The bed groaned in protest under their shifting weight, no doubt subject to much in its storied career here at the brothel that should have left it more than accustomed to such torment and hassle by its guests over the years. It had better be, for now the desire burning a hole through Elias as he gazed upon a disrobed Shiress promised to see the two of them putting it through its paces before long. She had scoffed at his compliment earlier though, but that only spoke of an unnecessary humility he found so charming, and the fact that she could not see what he saw. She was stunning beyond words, and more importantly, she was all his. He wondered how she would react to that, wondered if she would struggle against his might in vain, or submit herself entirely to his ravenous will. Elias knew he would revel in either.
“But from you…” the whispered words faded as the depths of her longing gaze were reunited with the flames of his own, “from you, I would take everything.”
At least for tonight. He mused as his thumb came to rest upon her quivering lips. “Yet from these lips, I would have an answer first.” The two of them hovered on the edge, what little remained of Elias’s clothing the only thing that denied them from one another, and barely so at that, yet the mage would go no further until he was obeyed. If she thought such a thing unbearable, the girl had no idea what it was like to be him in that moment. He persisted none the less. “You saved my life, and put yours at incomprehensible risk… I would see you rewarded. Anything you desire, you need but speak it and see it made reality.” He leaned in, his careless words hot upon her neck as he tantalized a response out of her. “Anything.”
Shiress would be wise choose her next words carefully. Not only because of the power they now held, but because she’d have no time to catch her breath for the rest of the night after she chose, Elias was going to make damn sure of that.
