no vacancy

save your eyes for someone brighter than i will ever be

The tension drains, though Sunjata’s mind still reels with all the possibilities, the confusion regarding it. He passes it off to think on it for another day, feeling as she settles against him again and he leans back into the blankets a bit more comfortable, reaching for her as she gives him a cool look, some hidden smile appearing for a flicker of a second.

Her question, however, has him snorting and chuckling lightly. “Something, something, you’ve grown soft for a Senzaok, something.” A rumble, a pass off of the topic at hand before his hand finds her side again, squeezes her hip and traces idle lines along her ribs. “She’d have a lot to say about my habits.” He shrugs, looking down to spot Maea again, a gentle smile tugging at the corners of his lips.

“I don’t regret this though.” He offers, aiming to pull her close and brush his cheek against hers, a quiet admission, but there nonetheless.

don't hesitate to bring me to my knees

SUNJATA

You're so cold

but you feel alive

She laughed quietly against his chest, feeling like she could agree with the dead woman's sentiments quite well. For all that she didn't pester him about it, Maea had her own opinions. It just... did no one any good to argue about it. It wouldn't change his mind anyway.

But for all that, Maea went quiet when he said he didn't regret this. She supposed it was a comfort to hear, but.. what of herself? Right now everything felt wonderful... but come morning, would she start to question herself for giving in to desire? How would she be able to look at the fresh bitemarks on his neck and arms next time? Because there was no doubt in her mind that there would be new ones.

Had she betrayed herself, in the end? Oh, she loved him, and it was wonderful to be here, but... But.

With his cheek pressed against hers, his fingers raising goosebumps on the skin along the ribs, she just didn't know anymore. What would the cost be, for this quiet night of bliss?

lay your hands on me

one last time

MAEA

save your eyes for someone brighter than i will ever be

Her laughter is bright, bringing a smile to his face as he listens to it, shifting to where he can better ensure they’re both comfortable. He doesn’t notice too much as she grows quiet with his words, instead he focuses on the travels of his hand along her side, his free hand lifting to touch along her shoulder, letting his gaze flit between the marks on her versus the pale skin that looked as though it had been moonlight embodied.

His cheek is pressed against hers, and he buries his face into the crook of her neck. Perhaps the silence has prolonged too much, perhaps he has far too much on his mind now. But he brushes his nose and lips along her shoulder and neck as he keeps her close to him. “Do you?” It’s a whisper against her skin. Do you regret this?

don't hesitate to bring me to my knees

SUNJATA

You're so cold

but you feel alive

Did she? Yes and no. No and yes. It's not really a fair question, because he knew how she felt and what she really wanted, and yet here they were regardless. But taking it all back and blame it on him wasn't fair either, and would be a lie - she had been very willing, eager even. If this had a relationship status, it would be stamped with a big 'it's complicated' and that would only be half of it.

But he asks, and she has to answer. It's just so hard to be honest when he is pulling her in, settling them down, nuzzling her neck and stroking her body like she's a treasure to be admired. Especially when goosebumps turn to shivers, and that smoldering pile of embers inside her begin to glow, stirred back to life by his hands.

"... no... not tonight." An echo of her own thoughts, brought the truth to life. But she said it with her lips against his shoulder, half muffled as she brushed her mouth across an inked feather. Maybe he didn't actually hear it. Or pick up on the slight reservation, the little thorn of fear of what changes tomorrow might bring.

But he usually heard her. And he would know why she might hesitate.

lay your hands on me

one last time

MAEA

save your eyes for someone brighter than i will ever be

There’s the hesitation, and he knows why there might be. But once more, he’s been in the unfortunate habit of getting trapped, untrapped, trapped again by labels and terms and official titles that it was enough to make his head spin. All he wanted was to explore what the world had brought him – and if he hadn’t had the chance, he wouldn’t have met Maea that one fateful day that she arrived in the VlamVloed with a small spark of hope, of starting over.

If he hadn’t consistently been looking for some sort of outlet, at the very least. And now? Now he doesn’t feel the need to – sure Nate is there, but the man doesn’t know him like Maea does, doesn’t know the details to why he is the way he is just yet. Doesn’t know the jealousy that had lingered and brimmed within him when Nate had been the one to spark those feelings within the pale woman in his arms.

At least he had accomplished that, and with it the jealousy had died away. He isn’t entirely sure why he had those feelings in the first place, but they were there, lining beneath the surface as his head and lips brush against her shoulder, and her own pressed against his. He hears her answer, and his only response is a quiet understanding. Love. And it did terrify him, deep down where few things did.

So the only response he can give her is a series of kisses along her neck, along her jaw, hands trailing and pulling her to where she can lay along his chest, to straddle him and keep her as close as he possibly can.

don't hesitate to bring me to my knees

SUNJATA

You're so cold

but you feel alive

She didn't need an answer. Knew his reasons, if perhaps not all of his fears, and felt the fool for daring to hope anything might have changed. She tried to smother the burning ache in her chest by pressing it closer to his, hoping that perhaps the beat of his heart might make hers a little steadier, a little less easy to break.

He helped, knowlingly or not, by burying his face against her neck, littering kisses like rain over her bruised and tingling skin, and the ache grew a little sweeter, a little less difficult to endure.

Maea moved with the guidance of his hands, brought her knee over him and thrilled to find herself pressed flush against him, straddling and close; her hands reached up for his hair, their favorite place to be, and she rose with them. Pressing herself into him, sliding herself up against his chest as she searched for his mouth, needing to taste him again. To reassure herself that it was still night, the moon was still shining outside and she... she was still dreaming.

They could worry about tomorrow when it came.

lay your hands on me

one last time

MAEA

save your eyes for someone brighter than i will ever be

He pulls her onto him, leaning into her touch as she presses herself flush against him, hands finding his hair again. He can feel her drag herself against him until she reaches his lips, his hands leaving her shoulders for favor of running them along her sides, to get to her hips, and up again. His lips find her own, giving her the answer she seeks in the form of playful and gentle kisses, surprised as much as she is that they’re here together tonight.

But he thrives with it, loves within it.

He wraps his arms easily around her waist, keeping her as close to him as he can, nipping at her lower lip with a rogue crooked smirk. He can’t withdraw his head from her, can’t really move all that much – nor does he want to. She has him ‘pinned’ though he’d be able to get out of it easily if he wanted to. He just… Doesn’t want to, wants to sit in it and enjoy it all that much more, wants to indulge her all that much more, wants her to explore like he’d wanted her to do that day at the river.

don't hesitate to bring me to my knees

SUNJATA

You're so cold

but you feel alive

Maea wanted to savor this, to make it last. His kisses blew a flame to life within her, made her feel needy again. She deepened the kiss, pushed her tongue in past his lips and let it roam the cavern of his mouth. Raking across his teeth, wrestling with his tongue. Searching for the fangs that sometimes were there and sometimes not, to see if they were sharp enough to make her bleed. In his hair, her hands kneaded the dark curls, small fists closing and opening in lingering, gentle tugs in pace with her breath. Around her, the strong arms kept her warm, kept her close, but moved surprisingly little. It didn't matter; she was in no hurry, and only had more attention to shower over his mouth like this.

Then, quite slowly, very deliberately, she trailed off. Placing those kisses against his cheek, along his stubbled jaw. Up to the ear, where one earring was a little more special than the other; she didn't know which, or why, but was careful not to bother them all the same as she let her tongue taste the tender skin beneath it. Teeth grazing ever so slightly; half teasing, half testing. To see how he would react.

lay your hands on me

one last time

MAEA

save your eyes for someone brighter than i will ever be

She deepens the kiss and he lets her. Exploring as much as she wishes to, fangs sparking beneath the probe of what she seeks, beaming and smirking against the feeling of her hands in his hair. For a moment he thinks he might have to break the kiss, to find a way to catch his breath as she steals it from him with every bit of attention she gives him.

Her kiss trails, to his cheek, to his jaw, up to his ear and careful of his earring, and he tilts his head to give her more space to press those delicate kisses, to graze her teeth against his skin there, bruised in the places she’d marked him before. And the sensation is bright, vibrant, sparks that electrify his body again, unable to stop the quiet hum of a growl from his throat at it.

He unwraps his hands from around her lower back, to run fingernails up her spine before trailing down her sides to grip at her hips. “That is a good way to ask for a second round.” He manages with a rough, gravelly voice, though he makes no attempt to stop her, a smirk crossing his face waiting to see what she does.

don't hesitate to bring me to my knees

SUNJATA

You're so cold

but you feel alive

Perhaps it was a stupid decision (she was making a lot of those, lately) because she was still sore, still aching from the first time. But Maea couldn't bring herself to really care. So what if she couldn't walk tomorrow? She had no appointments to make, no schedules to follow (only those of her own making) and his could wait until she was done. Her teeth drew a growl from him; she smiled against his skin as it vibrated through his throat, arched her back into the nails on her back as they tickled and burned their way up her spine. His approval is rewarded with a slightly sharper nip to that same spot, quickly followed by a kiss to soothe the small hurt.

Then she moved on. Went a little lower, to keep exploring his neck, with its sinews and muscles. Her hands came down along with her mouth, and as she tasted his pulse on her tongue - lapped at it, nibbled as if she too wanted to know what his blood tasted like - slender fingers wrapped gently around the base of his neck. Measuring the strong, sturdy pillar. Found that she couldn't quite reach all the way around, and one settled for caressing the back of his neck with tender fingertips, intentionally light enough to just barely touch him. The other trailed down, found support against his chest and kept her upright, pinned him down, made sure he didn't move to spoil her exploration of this intresting new territory.

Maea was getting quite drunk on the taste of him. Salt and sea mingled on her tongue, with an aftertaste of sweat and soap, and perhaps some smokey liquour she might be interested in trying herself.

Later.

lay your hands on me

one last time

MAEA

save your eyes for someone brighter than i will ever be

She smiles against his skin as he growls, feeling her press back into him with an arch of her back as he trails his nails into her skin up her spine. And just for that alone, he partially shifts the tips of his fingers to the claws of the panther though definitely less sharp – not wanting to mar her skin unless she wishes for it. And as he trails his hands down, he drags those claws delicately along her flesh, head tilting against the sharp nip, bringing another hum of approval from his throat.

She’s a quick learner, he’ll give her that. And he’s acutely attuned to how she moves around him, to his neck, hands exploring and pressing and creating that steady burn again within him, enough that his breath hitches as she taunts him with a brief and light trace of her fingertips to the back of his neck. As she pins him down, there’s a huff of air that leaves him with the pressure, claws digging in enough to leave red lines along her hips.

He finds that she could do anything to him and he’d be fine with it, encouraging her to do so. He’d had his way, and now it’s her turn to bring him a chance at burning from the inside out.

don't hesitate to bring me to my knees

SUNJATA

You're so cold

but you feel alive

Maea was no budding sprout, no delicate porcelaine doll, for all that she looked like one. Nor was she a blushing teenager, high on hormones and paralyzed by the need to please. She was a woman. Young and inexperienced, yes. Shy and a bit repressed, sure. But she had an excellent teacher, and a very good memory. Everything Sunjata had done to her she took and made her own and turned right back onto him. Figured, if it worked on her, then why not on him too?

So there was a lot of teeth. Plenty of nipping. Quite a bit more tongue, because she was hungry and he tasted good. If she fumbled a little, wasn't as elegant in her ministrations as he'd been, it was merely a lack of practice showing through.

So yes, she learned quickly. Just... didn't quite know what she wanted yet. What he liked. Where the boundaries went between great and slightly awkward. So she tested them. Hummed a soft wince at the sensation of his fingers turned claws on her back, scraping the skin just on the right side of painful.

It made her bold, dared her to go lower, to take her kisses and her hands to his collarbone, to his chest, where palms could caress the broad pectorals and she could try out a theory by touching a mischievous tongue to one of his nipples. Revenge was sweet. The ache between her legs was sweeter still, and she pressed her hips into his, hoping to find some answer there.

lay your hands on me

one last time

MAEA

save your eyes for someone brighter than i will ever be

Oh it absolutely works on him in return, the way her mouth moves against his skin, and he hums for her beneath the pressure of teeth and roaming hands. His claws dig in with her own quiet hum in response, and he drags them slowly up her body until he reaches her shoulder blades, dragging red lines along her back in makeshift wings like he sports on his own.

Her hands trail lower, brushing against the tattoo that he’d gotten with Lusea here — a flaming arrow over his heart. But from where Maea sits at the present moment, teasing and testing him, his compass’ north points directly at her — as though she’s the star and he’s lost in the night. His hands continue their roam as her mouth meets his chest and he smirks against the feeling of her hips grinding against his, sure she can feel the answering response from his body with it pressing against her again.

He tilts his head back a small amount, one of those clawed hands reaching for her hair to tangle in it, to tug at it and scrape those claws along her neck, down her own collarbone, to the full swell of her breasts as he circles them with the points of his fingers.

don't hesitate to bring me to my knees

SUNJATA

You're so cold

but you feel alive

Problem was, it was so very easy to get sidetracked. By claws drawing patterns on her skin, by fingers digging into her hair, by something hot and hard pressing up against her as she ground her hips to his. It was quite distracting, so much to keep track of. So many things to react to, that her hands almost stopped moving.

Almost. But there was one thing she was desperately curious about. So Maea shifted herself a little, angled herself off to the side while remaining on top of him, and the hand that stroked his chest began to move downwards, lowering over his stomach, across vicious scars on a hip... and she paused, letting fingers circle there, lingering. Pale eyes looked up to him, searching for his gaze. Asking permission, the way he had, before daring to move her hand in on him, to where it wanted to go.

lay your hands on me

one last time

MAEA