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+---- Thread: My best enemy (/showthread.php?tid=11562)
RE: My best enemy - Maea - 07-14-2025
The serenity of the forest was what cooled the worst of the fires inside. Not removing them so much as reducing it down to a low smoldering, the breeze became a soothing balm that reminded her of all the other things existing in the world. Birds and beasts, towering trees and sweet water rippling across stones that hummed melodies in response; it all grounded her back into a welcome normalcy that provided the clarity she needed.
Nodding her approval of his suggestion, Maea didn't reply but simply began to move, her footsteps barely a rustle through the underbrush. Parting from the trail, she slipped from rock to shadow to moldering rock with the ease of one familiar with the terrain - because after all these days and months spent combing the woods, she really was that. Not to the extent of Liam or the fae, perhaps, but enough to round the clearing quietly until the wind met her face to face.
Crouching low behind a tangle of flowering shrubs and blueberry barrens, she squinted through the foliage while waiting for Liam to join her. If that lighter patch of green up ahead was the glen in question, it was empty for now. They would have some waiting to do.
RE: My best enemy - Liam - 07-14-2025
Liam was more than content to allow Maea to take the lead. He might be capable enough to keep himself fed - most of the time - but he wouldn't count himself as a particularly adept hunter. He rather thought that Maea would do better than him, and he was perfectly content with that.
As he followed along behind Maea, he couldn't help but admire the view - and no, he wasn't thinking about the forest. While the woods were beautiful, Maea's clothing was fitted perfectly to her figure, and the way she moved through the trees - slipping silently and gracefully through the shadows and over the rocks - was entirely too easy to lose himself in. Liam had to swallow back the urge to ditch the hunt entirely in favor of pressing Maea to the nearest tree -
The Ancient crouched behind a bunch of flowering shrubs and blueberry bushes, interrupting Liam's reverie. Blushing faintly - taking things slow was going to be much harder than he'd imagined when he'd suggested it the night before - he took up a place at Maea's side. The glen was indeed up ahead, and it was clear of wildlife for now, though there was abundant life in the forest around them. Birds chittered overhead, squirrels chattered as they leapt through the trees, and there was even the occasional plop as a fish surfaced in the nearby river. All they had to do now was wait.
RE: My best enemy - Maea - 07-14-2025
Time languished in the shade alongside them, passing slowly as though it too was waiting. With every finger the sun rose towards zenith, the temperature rose, hot and humid. When an hour had passed Maea's silence shifted, softened by a faint sigh; old leaves and a barely there scrape of boot soles against black mulch accompanied her shift as she turned to sit down.
[say]"My leg's cramping up,"[/say] she murmured, barely a whisper but loud against the midday hush. [say]"They must be hiding from the heat. How are you doing?"[/say] Reaching for the bag, she pulled out a waterskin and unstoppered it before offering Liam the first sip. She was fine, more comfortable in this climate than the damp chill of Flowerbirth, but even ancients needed to water. It must be rough for him - maybe he ought to take that shirt off. Or they could take a break, cool off by the river... she could think of any number of reasons why that would be just as interesting.
RE: My best enemy - Liam - 07-14-2025
With his drawn crossbow on the ground nearby, Liam relaxed and settled in to wait. Even in the shade, though, the heat was still sweltering, and it wasn’t long before the soldier had a fine sheen of sweat upon his brow. He managed, for now, to ignore the discomfort. That was one of the good things about being a trained soldier: he knew how to ignore distractions. Or, well… some distractions, anyway.
When Maea eased into a seated position, Liam glanced down. [say]”Which leg?”[/say] he whispered, then held out a hand. [say]”I can help with that, if you want.”[/say] A quick massage, and she’d hopefully feel good as new - and if there was a pleasant side effect that Liam would have an excuse to touch her, then so be it.
At the offer of water, Liam shook his head. [say]”Ladies first,”[/say] he insisted with a smile. He would gladly accept it after, though, sipping at the water and barely resisting the urge to dump it over his head.
RE: My best enemy - Maea - 07-14-2025
He surprised her, this time. Maybe it was because she was so used to enduring all manner of discomforts on her own, but the idea of asking for help with a simple cramp never even occurred to her. That he would offer at all shouldn't have been this startling, but it was. She hesitated, using the excuse of sipping from the waterskin to buy herself time - maybe she really was nervous, after all. To leave her limbs in the care of another, to let go of the ever present need to control the narrative.
[say]"Mmh... sure. The left one."[/say] Wiggling the knees of said leg, Maea remained seated and watched Liam through half-lidded eyes to see what he intended to do. A flutter in her gut turned the very innocent offer of a massage into something far more intimate, way beyond the ordinary and safe acts of hugs and hand holding. Even the unremarkable passing of the water to be drank by him turned up the temperature within; his lips connecting where hers had been became significant, a sight she couldn't peel her eyes away from.
RE: My best enemy - Liam - 07-15-2025
At Maea’s agreement, Liam shifted closer and reached out to pull her left leg into his lap. Glancing at her quizzically, as though to make sure this was alright, he began to gently knead along her calf. When she passed him the water skin, he continued to massage her leg with one hand while tipping the water skin up to drink from with the other; a few drops spilled free to roll down his throat, but he ignored them. After handing the skin back to Maea, he continued his ministrations, working his way up to her knee and back down.
[say]”Better?”[/say] he murmured, wondering if she could hear the way his heart pounded in his chest. His offer had been genuine, but it had also been given before he could really think the implications through, and now there was an intimacy between them that hadn’t been there before.
A movement out of the corner of his eye caught Liam’s attention, and his hands stilled briefly on Maea’s leg; but it was just a rabbit in the glen. Glancing between the small creature and his partner, Liam raised a brow in silent question. Would she want to wait for bigger prey, or take what they could get and move on?
RE: My best enemy - Maea - 07-15-2025
Catching Liam's unspoken question, she smiled quietly, a hasty quirk of a mouth that nevertheless held on to lingering apprehension even as she relinquished her leg into his hands. Given that she'd slept in his arms it shouldn't be nerve-wracking with a bit of squeezing of a calf, but... all the rules had been upended, and it didn't matter much where he touched her. The effect was the same; hot and intimate, his fingers finding spots of tension and working them out while she struggled to keep her thoughts out of the gutter. That he stopped seemed an odd kind of torture. That those big hands of his held on to her knee still was thrilling, embarrassing, so very tempting... not something she was prepared to give up for the sake of a single rabbit. Not when they had plenty of food in the larder and no pressing reason to kill it.
Shaking her head to indicate they might as well wait, Maea shifted her seat so she could get better support for her back against a tree. A flush colored her cheeksand her gaze lingered on Liam, following the path of a droplet down his throat. What would it feel like if her lips traveled that same line? Would he taste as golden as he looked in this moment? Aching to find out, it was all she could do to remain where she was; fighting like she never had before to keep her hands to herself and respect a wish they'd both agreed to. Slow... they would go slow.
So why was her heart racing like this just by gazing at him?
RE: My best enemy - Liam - 07-15-2025
The decision to let the rabbit be was a shared sentiment, and Liam’s hands quickly resumed their work as the creature slipped from the glen, unharmed and wholly unaware of the presence of two hunters in the bushes. Not that they were getting much hunting done; indeed, it was the furthest thing from Liam’s mind as he strived to keep his ministrations respectful and his mind from wandering down more lurid paths. When he’d finished with her left leg, he reached out a hand for the other, arching a brow in another silent question. Being in no hurry to stop touching Maea, he was happy to repeat the process with her right leg.
As he worked, he was reminded of his own words from the night before, his own request that they take things slow. Why had he suggested such a thing? This tension that was building between them might just be the death of him, and yet now that he’d made the promise, he couldn’t very well renege on his own request.
RE: My best enemy - Maea - 07-15-2025
From one leg to the other his hands shifted, thumbs digging into tired muscle and coaxing relaxation where none was before. Thoughts about stalking deer drifted away like clouds from a summer sky; Maea thought she might be melting, thought that her choice of legwear had been a happy accident or perhaps a terrible mistake. He might as well be stroking her bare skin, for all the difference they made.
With both legs in his lap, it was a simple thing to heave herself up and scoot the rest of the way into his lap. She didn't, but the temptation was strong enough that her hands trembled from the strain. Don't move, don't move, ignore all the heat pooling at her core, don't make a sound; breathing alone was a challenge at this point.
And even that failed when Liam pressed down on a particularly tender spot in her calf. Pain flared, then caved into a deliciously stretching sensation. A breathless groan escaped her throat before she could stop herself and she clapped a hand over her mouth, turning bright scarlet.
RE: My best enemy - Liam - 07-15-2025
Liam found his gaze drifting to Maea’s face, paying attention to anything that earned a particularly relaxed expression. The rest of the first melted away; the soldier was no longer aware of the glen, or the heat, or even the curious birds perched overhead. His focus narrowed down to the woman whose legs were stretched out upon his lap, and to how he could best make her feel good.
Maea was remarkably still, almost as though carved from stone, although her legs were soft and pliant beneath his hands. One particular knot in the muscle gave way, eliciting a breathless groan from the Ancient, and Liam froze, swallowing hard. He would do a lot of things to make her make that noise again - even if she seemed flustered and embarrassed, her cheeks scarlet and her hand covering her mouth.
There were a variety of responses that Liam could theoretically offer. He could stop, but he didn’t want her to think that he was withdrawing because of her. He could ignore her small outburst and continue, but given the way she was blushing, he wasn’t sure that was his best bet. He could say something to reassure her…
Or he could lean closer, close the distance between them, and kiss her.
And oh, how he wanted to kiss her.
In the end, he reached for the hand she’d clapped over her mouth, tugging it gently away. His eyes, dark with desire, never left hers as he pulled that hand to his lips, pressing a lingering kiss to her fingers. Never mind the hunt. This - here, now - was suddenly much more pressing.
RE: My best enemy - Maea - 07-15-2025
Just like that, she went from hunter to prey. If Liam had laughed or joked or said anything at all she might have been able to recover, wave it off, act like it was only because he'd hit a good spot and not because she was burning under his touch. Frankly it was embarrassing, she was a grown woman who'd gone without intimacy for a literal decade. That the mere presence of someone should have her falling to pieces was ridiculous, he was only touching her legs, was she really so deprived that she couldn't separate a friendly gesture from something else?
Except... friendship did not look at each other the way Liam gazed at her. The hunger in his eyes staggered her, stole the air from her lungs. Caught between the tree at her back and his body, there was nowhere for her to run, nowhere to hide as he gently - so gently - pulled her hands from her face. Her mouth was quivering, nervousness unmistakable. Porcelain skin that would never tan did nothing to conceal how blood rushed into her face when his lips brushed against ivory skin, calloused and scarred and so far from perfect that it was a miracle she hadn't fallen to pieces. Maea thought she might, though, if he kept looking at her like that. If he came closer, she might forget all about taking it slow and giving them time.
Because, honestly? What were they even waiting for?
Her hand twisted in his grip, turning ever so slightly. Enough that her thumb could brush lightly across his lips - soft, so very tender lips - with an expression of longing ghosting through her eyes. [say]"Liam.."[/say] Just once...Just one time, and then she'd wait however long he wished, hoowever long they both needed.
RE: My best enemy - Liam - 07-15-2025
Liam's lips brushed against Maea's fingers, his gaze never straying from her face - and what he saw there astounded him. The pretty flush that spread through her cheeks, the blatant longing reflected in her eyes - it was all so similar to what he himself was feeling that it took his breath away. But she was nervous: there was a quiver in her lips that gave her away, and Liam might have told her that she wasn't the only one, but then she was twisting her hand in his grip, running her thumb along his lips, saying his name like that...
He'd had every intention of taking things slow, of doing things right, of making sure that Maea never felt like sex was the primary driver of his feelings for her. He knew how easily the physical could overshadow the rest of it, and that wasn't what he wanted for them. He wanted love, and time together, and the promise of forever.
But hadn't they just promised that this morning?
Liam's eyes searched Maea's face, looking for any sign of uncertainty. His hand slide down her arm, up her shoulder, cupping her cheek, a thumb ghosting across her skin. [say]"Maea..."[/say] he murmured, gathering his courage, clearly at war between what he wanted and the request that he felt tied to. In the end, desire won out. Just one kiss, he told himself, knowing full well that if he kissed her, he might not be able to stop. [say]"Can I kiss you?"[/say]
RE: My best enemy - Maea - 07-15-2025
The air seemed so close, here on the forest floor. Perfectly still, and electric. Like the pressure building before a thunderstorm. Or maybe the distant rumble lived inside her veins, driven by the beat of a heart wiith no defenses against this kind of onslaught. Sex had never been something she ever learned to wield as a weapon. All she knew was the need it kindled, the terrible power it could have over a person. She'd only ever felt attraction when connected intellectually, emotionally, halfway to handing herself over heart and soul.
There was plenty of uncertainty tied to that. It wasn't done lightly, after all. But at the very least... when it came to this, she was not afraid. Not much. Just what any woman would feel before sharing a kiss for the first time; only that very normal, utterly human trepidation that what she hoped for might not come true.
The path his hand took from her hand, along the arm and to her cheek left a trail of light behind. When he brushed along her neck, her head fell back in unspoken invitation, a response so ingrained she didn't realise she had moved. But the only hands she thought of was his, and the eyes that filled her vision were green as the forest, golden as the sun - and she didn't recall ever wanting anything as much as she wanted to feel his mouth upon hers.
The nod was a small thing, barely a flinch. Not good enough, not when he asked her like that. [say]"Yes,"[/say] she managed to say, a small rebellion against her seizing lungs, [say]"I'd like that..."[/say]
Her hand had lingered on his cheek, but moved now. Slid down to cup the side of his neck, applying the smallest bit of pressure to the back of it. A question, an invitation - a please that never made it off her tongue.
RE: My best enemy - Liam - 07-15-2025
Liam was someone who valued emotional intimacy over physical - most of the time. But he was still very much a man, and when Maea was looking at him like that, tilting her head just so in invitation... Still, he waited for her approval, for her to say the one word that he longed to hear: yes. And when she did, he was moving before she'd even finished the thought, yielding to the slight pressure on the back of his neck, leaning closer, and closer, and then -
Then his lips were on hers, his hand cupping the back of her head, and, gods, if it didn't ignite every nerve in his body, setting him aflame in a way that he knew, somehow, that only Maea could do. He kissed her sweetly, slowly - the kind of kiss that suggested that they had all the time in the world to spend wrapped up in each other beneath the trees. And maybe they did. Maybe the world stopped turning when his lips met hers, and this was all that mattered anymore.