Winter Solstice 4994, 26 Ginmoth
Shon could hardly focus enough to circle his ki. But that was precisely why he needed to do it. Grounding the scattered, drunk, energy into the earth to clear the alcohol's effects and speed his sobriety. Lily pulled him by the hand, weaving through the remaining crowd of celebrants, away from the dancing and drink. Abandoning their table and Yua's remaining liquor.
She turned off the main road, and it took another block before Shon thought he recognized where they were going. He planted his feet, pulling her to a stop and causing her to stumble back, falling against his chest. Before he could find his words, Ryuuko flew swift as a loosed arrow over his head and to his rescue. Spinning in mid-air, it flapped before Lily's face and chittered on Shon's behalf.
"Not the Temple. Please, Lily, anywhere but-" Shon started.
Lily sighed, waving her free hand at the pseudodragon and turning to stroke Shon's cheek, "I know," she assured him. Then proceeded to pull him again, turning down more dark, seedy alleys. Ryuuko latched onto his sword and whistled a question, searching Shon's mind, then squawking at the mixed message of distress and excitement it received.
Shon himself couldn't name what he felt. It was like a dream. Would she really let him play out something he'd only ever imagined? Would she like it? No. She valued her freedom more than her life. No one was that trusting. This would be like throwing an arachnophobic into a cave of spiders for kicks.
Worse. Because he knew it wouldn't be the same if she were the submissive type. He'd never liked those kinds of people. Probably for this reason. He wanted this precisely because Lily didn't give her power to anyone.
Lily stopped suddenly, and he used his forward momentum to wrap her in his arms, holding her tight from behind and whispering, "Are you sure?"
She squeezed his arms, and he felt her nod as she added, "Most definitely," before she pulled him through a rough door, its red paint chipped and faded.
It was the kind of place that charged by the hour. The entry room was dimly lit and held only a small counter and set of stairs leading up to the second floor. The old man running the counter looked up at their entrance, then back down again, reaching for a key and droning, "Five silv-" Lily snatched the key from his fingers and flipped him a gold coin, then pulled Shon up the stairs.
This was really happening... It wasn't a dream... She would see... And she would leave.
Lily let go of his hand to squint down at the key and find the right door, throwing it open and stepping aside. Ryuuko flew in, and Shon followed, trying to calm his pounding heart.
The room was tiny, about eight feet square -only slightly bigger than his room at Hamerfoss- with a single bed on a rusty frame. This room would only be good for two things and was only meant for one.
Behind him, the door clicked, and Shon closed his eyes. Ryuuko whistled, and he opened them again, moving to the window and cracking it open. Letting in the cool air to combat Lily's continued intoxicating heat.
Lily spoke, but not to him, "Ryuuko, do you think we could have this night just the two of us?"
The pseudodragon let out a long whistle, and for once, Shon didn't want it to leave. Maybe he could delay this a little longer. Pretend for a little longer that he wasn't worse than her worst nightmare. That he didn't secretly want the exact opposite of what he preached. Maybe he could convince her that it didn't matter what he wanted after all, only what he did. He'd managed to control himself, for the most part, up to this point. This was just another reason why he'd given control of his life to the Temple. And though they gave him a lot of freedom, Shon wouldn't care if they dictated his every movement. Maybe she would change her mind if-
Ryuuko chirped and jumped from his shoulder to the window cill, squeezing out and flying up to wait on the roof. "Of course," Shon grumbled, closing the window again. Lily giggled.
"Lily," Shon stripped his sword off, its pommel swirling cloudy white, and leaned it in the corner, "Are you sure?" The lock clicked.
Shon froze. Lily didn't like locked doors... he turned slowly to see Lily standing on her toes, tucking the key away on the door frame before she spun to face him, "Very."
She answered with a smile, but ran her hands over her dress in a nervous gesture. Her voice held a slight quiver and she glanced over her shoulder at the locked door, "You want to take control, and I want to give it. I told you before that I want to try everything, to figure out what I really like." She straightened her shoulders and firmed her voice, "Well, there is no one in the world I trust more than you. I know you can't control what you want. But if you want something, then I want to at least try and give it to you."
She came closer, near enough to rest her hands on his chest. She watched her own fingers as they trailed over his shirt, "I can feel when you hold back, so don't even try. I want you to show me everything."
Shon grabbed both her hands, squeezing them tight, "You'll tell me." he said, "You'll make me stop if..." She nodded, looking up at his face and managing a nervous grin,
"Do your worst."
She would know if he held back... She'd asked him not to... Was trusting him. Not only to stop if she called it off but to be honest with her. And with himself.
Shon growled, letting his fingers trail down to her wrists before squeezing hard and stepping into her, pushing her back with his bulk until she hit the door. He'd never thought of Lily as petite, but she seemed small now, delicate. He pinned her wrists over her head, "Even if I do this?" He asked.
There was a reason Yua had dubbed him 'big guy.' As tall as the northern barbarians and just as broad in the chest and shoulders, his strength and skills were chiseled into every muscle from a lifetime of dedicated training, not having missed a day since he was ten years old. Even considering her own skills, it would take Lily's magic to fight him if she decided she needed to. Magic only he could negate.
Though her breathing sped up, she didn't struggle against his hold. Lily nodded. But this was the least of it. He brought her hands together, stretching her arms out and taking both with one hand. Freeing up the other to reach for her neck.
His grip was firm, but Shon didn't squeeze. He could see her pulse quicken in the hollow at the base of her throat, feel it beating against his fingers, "And this?"
Her lip trembled, and she'd closed her eyes. But when Lily spoke, it wasn't to stop him. "The first time you ever kissed my neck..." she swallowed, the motion pressing against his palm, "I thought to myself, 'Finally. Something good to combat the bad memories. Maybe he can replace them, and I'll be able to wear tight necklaces and think of him, not them.'" She opened her eyes for only a moment, then relaxed, closing them again and letting her head fall back as far as the door and his grip would allow. Limp and compliant. He tightened his hold, just a little, still not enough to cut off her air. That wasn't something he wanted anyway. It was about control, not pain. She continued to whisper, "The collar they used pulled my heat but was never cold. Never refreshing like your skin. It didn't call to me like you do. Making me feel more alive."
Shon brought up his thumb, rubbing it over her lips, "Lily..." he leaned down to brush her lips with his, feeling the endless heat of her skin.
She tried to reach for his mouth with hers, but he stopped her, holding her down by the neck. So she arched her back to press her hips against him instead and whispered, barely close enough to brush his lips with her words, "I want this... Want you... Don't hold back."
He let out a shuddering breath and pressed his weight against her, so she could feel his arousal. Stretching her further, until she was forced to her toes, he held her by the writs, feeling the small bones grinding against each other. His other hand, still around her neck, forced her jaw up.
She'd asked... "You want this?" Shon growled, not sure if he meant the game they were playing or something more physical trapped between them. He let his lips trail over her cheek down to her ear and whispered, "Prove it." then let her go.
He stepped back, and she stumbled in surprise, falling to her knees to look up at him. Shon arched an eyebrow down at her, and she swallowed. Letting someone hold you down and agreeing to follow their orders were two different things.
Lily did exactly as she was told. On her knees, she ran her hands up from his boots to his thighs. Shon gathered her hair into a tail so he could watch her.
It was too good, too much in addition to everything else, and though he let her continue as long as he dared, Shon eventually pulled her back by the hair, "Not yet," he snarled, lifting her by the chin back to her feet, "You wanted everything, and I'm not even close to done with you yet."
He pulled her dress up and off, catching her hands while they were still over her head and pushing her back again to pin to the wall. Holding her with one arm, he used the other to remove his own shirt, slipping it down the arm holding hers and using it to tie her hands together.
Her bare body shook under him, and he looked down to gauge her reaction. But she didn't fight him, didn't struggle against the knots, keeping her eyes closed and relaxing against the door. He hummed a growl from deep in his chest, and she opened her eyes again,
"My turn..." he promised, then spun, throwing her onto the bed and making the ropes squeak in protest. Lily did struggle then. She tried to bend her elbows as he used the shirt to tie her hands to the bed frame. Once the knot was secure, he pressed his palms against her arms and ran them down her length, pulling as he went until she was stretched out again. He left her like that, watching her breasts rise with her breath while he kicked off his boots and let his pants fall to the floor. Waiting for her to protest, to struggle against her bonds.
She tugged at the knot but not enough to move. Lily didn't need to struggle to free herself anyway. She could've just burned the shirt off with hardly a thought. But she didn't. She arched her back and watched him. Her chest rising in long deep breaths of anticipation.
The lingering doubt that she was only pretending for his sake was challenged when he laid down between her knees and found her thighs already slick. He laced his hands under her, squeezing her cheeks hard to hold her steady as he tormented her with lips and tongue. Lily's breathing sped up, becoming short and ragged as he let her come close, so close, then stopped.
She whimpered, and Shon pulled himself up to stroke her face. "I decide," he told her. He let her catch her breath, using his lips to trace her scales, stopping at her neck to bite and suck harder than he'd dared before, leaving his mark on her soft skin, moving slowly lower, until he felt she had come down from the precipice enough that he returned to build her back up again.
"Shon..." She whined and thrashed. He dug his fingers into her flesh to hold her still, proving once more that -physically at least- he was stronger than she was. He let her get almost there, felt her start to tighten, then stopped again. And smelled smoke.
Shon surged up. Bracing himself over her and reaching to grab her smoking bonds to cool them with his touch. "Tell me to stop, Lily." he ordered her, "I'll end this now, and we'll go back to the Temple and forget it ever happened." Every muscle was strung taught, and he throbbed with his need for her, but counter to his fears, he hadn't lost control. If anything, he'd gained more. By letting go, he'd found a balance and could stop if she asked. He didn't want it if she needed him to stop.
Her eyes squeezed tight, Lily whimpered and shook her head, "Please," she opened her eyes, and begged,
"Don't stop. Please. I want more. Want you. Please. Please..."
Shon let go of the ties to cup her face, lacing his fingers back through her hair and leaning down to speak against her lips, "I'll give you everything." He didn't hold back and balled his hand into a fist, pulling her hair hard and kissing her harder. She gasped for breath as he let her go. Kneeling between her knees, he lifted her up by the hips and commanded, "Light the room. I want to see you."
Two fires flared to life to either side of them, and Lily arched her back off the mattress to reach him. "Don't..." she gasped, "Hold back... Please."
He didn't, not this time. His cold fingers dug into her hot flesh hard enough to leave bruises, and he drove into her. Hard and deep. She cried out, though if in pleasure or pain, he couldn't tell. "More..." she gasped, clenching around him like a vice. He gave her exactly what she asked for.
There was nothing gentle or romantic about what they did, but still, she begged for more, for release. Until he let her go to hold up with only one hand, pinning her by the neck with the other. Ordering in a whisper, "Come for me, Lily."
She did. Crying out, her fires flared and her body arched, every muscle contracting hard enough that she nearly pulled out of his grip, as he drove in one last time to fill her with all he had.
Lily went limp beneath him, and Shon fell forward to hold himself up on shaking arms. He managed to untie her with trembling fingers as they struggled to catch their breath. But once she was free, he rolled to the side, hitting the wall and sliding down it to lay beside her. Closing his eyes as the reality of what he'd done sunk in.
The horror of it... It was just shy of rape. Worse, he'd manipulated her into agreeing. Far worse than anything the Warlocks had done. He'd let go and used her, not caring if he hurt her, making her beg... "Shon..." Lily whispered beside him.
He didn't want to open his eyes. It had been so good, so freeing, but at the cost of her freedom. He felt her hot hands on his face. She wouldn't have submitted if she wasn't determined to prove herself. Just like she dove into danger to prove her strength. "Shon..."
He finally opened his eyes to see her leaning over him, her golden hair pooling over her shoulder onto the pillow beside him. He couldn't read the look in her eyes. "I'm sorr-" he tried, but she rested her fingers over his lips.
"How dare you..." She whispered. Of course, it was no more than he deserved. Then louder, "How dare you." Lily poked him in the chest. Hard. "You made me wait weeks. Months! For this!" She fell over him, pinning his head to the pillow with hers, "That was amazing, and you would've let me go my entire life without it."
"Lily..." he cupped her cheeks, and she beamed down at him, her fires still lit and making her hair and scales glitter in their flickering light.
"I finally got to let go." She whispered, "I gave myself to you, and you finally took it, and gods..." she never used that term, "...it was so good. I could finally feel how much you wanted me. How good it felt for you too..."
Shon rolled over her, pinning her down and still cupping her face. She laughed. "Lily..." He breathed her name but had no other words and kissed her.
When he pulled away to breathe, she laughed again, running her fingers through his hair, "Please don't make me wait for holidays or birthdays to do that again."
She wasn't lying, and she wasn't leaving. She'd seen him, all of him, and accepted it all over again. He felt warm and complete, and Shon laughed. Burring his face in her neck, he laughed and shook his head in answer.
Ryuuko flew down from the roof and tilted its head through the glass at the two of them. Then hissed as someone pounded on their door.
Shon growled, rolling off the bed and reaching for his bag in one smooth motion. The knocking continued as Shon twisted the key in the lock and wrenched the door open. He glared at the proprietor and young couple standing behind. All three froze under his stare, until Shon thrust a fist-full of gold in the proprietor's chest and slammed the door shut.
He turned back to the bed to find Lily covering her mouth to try and smother her out-of-control laughter. He returned to her side as she caught her breath and managed, "That poor man... I doubt any of em'll be able to get it up after that..."
Shon snorted, jerking the thin blanket out from under her and making her squeak in surprise before he covered them both, "I don't care."
***
