Lost but found with you

You're so cold

but you feel alive

He tried to soothe her, tried to offer comfort even with his hands tied back. Maea let go of the ropes, let them fall open and relinquished her telekinetic grasp on them; the game was losing its fun and she wanted to feel his arms around her. To know the truth of the words she couldn't quite bring herself to believe. He was fine, not even upset about it, didn't mind the scars - so many were littering his body already, what was a few more? - and yet, for all that he told her not to worry, Maea found that it only reinforced her sense that he didn't understand.

"What if the scars were on me?" she asked quietly, still hiding away against his neck. Burying her nose in the space where it met with the collarbone, where she could feel his scent the strongest. "Would you not worry about it? What could have happened, whether I would have made it home again.." Her fingers stroked his hair, found the feel of the curls under her touch calming, soothing; this was hitting deeper than she'd even realized, touching upon some of the darkest fears she still had not found a way to process.

"I keep having this dream," she said. "I'm coming home to the farm after being away, and there are no lights in the windows. There's snow on the ground but no sign of people moving around, and when I come to the front door, it's open. Broken, hanging off the hinges... I call out, but no one answers, and when I look down, there's blood on the threshold. Every night, ever since... " She swallowed. Ever since the LongNight when this had been what she'd actually found. An empty house, and no one to answer when she called.

"Only, lately it's the VlamVloed I see instead... The bar is empty, you aren't there, and the floor is covered in liquour and blood. Mostly blood..."

Maea shuddered, hating to recall even the memory of the visions. Haunted by the idea that it could all happen again, and this time? She wasn't sure she could get back on her feet again. Not without him.

lay your hands on me

one last time

MAEA

don't you know i'm no good for you?

The ropes fall away, and he slips out of them to pull her close, to bury his head into her neck like she does to him. Her whisper against his skin is met with a slight tilt of his head toward her, to keep his face buried into her pale hair. And the question? Yes, he'd worry about it. But there was a part of him that knew he could handle most things, be able to get out of them, survive. And to him? Maea was still somewhat fragile, soft, sensitive.

There was a vast difference, and perhaps it was because she didn’t know much about him. “I would worry, but I’ve seen and done things worse than face a dragon and a drunk man.” He hums to her. “I handled it.” A soft hum to his voice, trying to show her that it didn’t bother him, that it shouldn’t bother her, too.

But then she tells him of her dream, and he runs his hand along her back, beneath the shawl. She shudders and he holds her tighter, a similar fear he has of this place, of Halo, and he hums lightly to her. “Maea..” He begins, pulling away from her to look upon her face, a soft frown forming on his face. “I’m here.” He tries to soothe her. “I’m not going anywhere.” But he understands the fear, what it means… He hadn’t intended it to frighten her so much.

i've learned to lose, you can't afford to

SUNJATA

You're so cold

but you feel alive

She had not known it would scare her so much either. Not when she knew he was strong, capable... but perhaps it was a difference of theoretical knowledge and the visceral understanding that came with seeing something with her own eyes. Perhaps she saw too much the breakable soul, the young boy and the silver lining to fully appreciate the deep darkness that was also him. There was a vision of him kneeling in the sand imprinted in her mind, drowning and desperate for a lifeline. How could that wounded spirit be this indomitable warrior with blood dripping from his hands? How, when they were stroking her back so gently, easing her fears away?

Leaning into his touch, letting her forehead come to rest against his and peering deep into his eyes, as if to try and see what else lay within his soul. He said he would not go anywhere, and she nodded, wanting to believe him. "I'll never say you can't fight," she promised him. "If you want to go somewhere or do something, I'll never stop you. Just... I really hate the idea of losing you, especially over a stupid fight. Not to a friend, who should be protecting you, have your back... not slice it open like this."

Was it friendship, to not pull any punches? To push someone to the very limit, without seeming to care about the consequences? Would Loren have been this vicious without the healing gift, if he wasn't sure he'd be able to patch Sunjata up again?

"Did you win, at least?" Her hands came up to cup his face, thumbs brushing over his cheeks, over the stubbled jaw, down to his neck. Blood singing with the realness of him, heating at the lingering sensation of his face pressning into her neck. She wanted him back there. Feel his mouth, his teeth... needed the pain and the bruises to tell her this really wasn't a dream she could be roused from.

lay your hands on me

one last time

MAEA

don't you know i'm no good for you?

His gaze searches her face, and after a moment and the beginning of her promise has the hint of a smile returning to his face. He offers her a small shrug to that, a slight tilt of his head. “He wouldn’t have killed me.” Sunjata hums to her. “He’s not in a good place right now, but I think it helped.” He tries to show the honesty within his gaze at that. That Loren didn’t seem like a killer, not like he was.

But instead, his head is held by her hands, her thumbs brushing over his cheeks down to his neck and he leans into the touch a small amount. “Mmm, no.” He glances away from her briefly. He hadn’t won, but not when Loren had pulled out the magical stops to ensure that he didn’t come close. His lip feathers slightly before he exhales and looks to her again. “Next time I’m laying ground rules first.” He gives her a crooked smirk to that, before he bridges the gap and pushes against her.

He presses a kiss to her nose first, then to her lips, lingering for a split second, before traveling up the side of her jaw to her neck where he sighs lightly against her skin. His hands clutch the shawl to keep I from falling, letting the warmth continue to spread over the both of them.

i've learned to lose, you can't afford to

SUNJATA

You're so cold

but you feel alive

Maea was honestly surprised. Loren did not look strong. He looked pale and scrawny and all kids of pushover. Not someone who could grievously injure Sunjata, or best him in any kind of fight. Could magic really make you that strong? Was the combination of magic and the favor of gods truly such a force to be reckoned with?

She saw the way Sunjata's lips curled, heard his quiet vow, and nodded. Leaned into him as he did to her, and met his kiss with lips that didn't feel quite so numb when they were pressed to his. The mouth that trailed down her jaw, towards her neck, was warm. It drove the thoughts of other men and magic and gods right out of her mind, until only he remained. His hands on her back, keeping them both warm. Keeping them close.

"Next time we'll win," she agreed, a fervent vow delivered with distracted voice, that caught a little as warm breath rushing across her skin made her shiver. Aching. Needy. Gods, would she ever get tired of being close to this man? If this was only the beginning, then... Pale hands dipped in beneath the collar of his shirt. Feathered out across his inked shoulders, pushing the cloth away. Maea leaned her head back with a soft sound escaping her throat, offering up her neck to him.

He loved lingering there. She loved having him there. Common ground.

lay your hands on me

one last time

MAEA

don't you know i'm no good for you?

She leans back into him and he takes it as a cue to continue, pressing his kisses along her jaw to her neck, her vow granted with a quiet hum of agreement – too distracted by her and the way she adjusts to give him what he wants, the way she practically purrs beneath his touch. As she moves her head back a small amount, he can feel her hands as they stroke along his chest beneath where his shirt had been, and the goosebumps return. "We will." An agreement, breath hot against her skin.

His kisses grow a small amount hungrier, teeth aiming to mark and indulge, pulling the shawl over her shoulders a bit more before he fiddles with the hem of her shirt beneath it, aiming to run his hands up the back of it and drag his fingernails along it tenderly after a moment of removing his gloves. He buries his face into her neck, pressing kisses along the top of her shoulder, before he pulls away to scan her face – that shadowy lusty gaze returned.

i've learned to lose, you can't afford to

SUNJATA

You're so cold

but you feel alive

His teeth were sharp, nipping and grazing her neck. Hurting, but only just, enough that all her attention was drawn to where his mouth lingered. Enough that the skin grew more sensitive, more responsive to the caresss of lips and tongue, until lightning was zipping up and down her spine, awakening every inch of her body that was pressed to him. Just as he kept the shawl wrapped around her, she kept it over him. Losing it now would be brutal, a cruel punishment of ice and wind to invade their oasis of warmth. His arms were a haven to linger in, the strong hands a tickling, soothing taunt on her back. Maea pressed into them, shifting and angling as they moved, clay in his hands to be molded as he wished.

When he pulled away to look at her, she met his gaze with eyes that could not quite focus. Hazy, bright with swirling mist brought on by desire. She bit her lip. Shifted, a little restless. Pressed her hips closer to his. If she'd been in control and relished drawing reactions from him before, it was replaced by simpler needs now. Closer, was all she wanted to be; she brought her head closer, to steal a kiss, to taste his mouth again. Deeper now. Hungrier.  With her arms around his neck, she leaned back. Tried to pull him along with her, to fall back into the not-cold snow, with him over her.

lay your hands on me

one last time

MAEA

don't you know i'm no good for you?

The shawl keeps them both warm, keeps them hidden from the outside elements and world for the most part. In here it’s just them, the two of them whispering sweet nothings and marking and embracing and taking. He hums beneath her trailing touch, the way she pushes against him and adjusts her hips. His hands move from her back to trail along her hips, and when he looks upon her he can’t help the smirk that grows along his face at the way she seems so warm, vibrant, strong atop him.

But she leans in and kisses him again, a devouring sort of feeling that when she wraps her arms around his neck and pulls him down with her, he’s powerless to stop her. A growl leaves him as he braces himself above her in the not cold snow, and he situates himself between her legs to not squish her, lips finding hers (as if they’d left) and deepening the kiss, shrouded in the darkness and warmth of the shawl. One hand moves to run along the outside of her thigh, the other braces himself near her head.

i've learned to lose, you can't afford to

SUNJATA

You're so cold

but you feel alive

Her knees parted to make room for him, coming up to cradle his hips as he settled in between her. Her hands stroked the back of his shoulders in long firm caresses, urging him to relax, come down on her, cover her. Maea wanted to be squished, to feel his weight push the air from her lungs and her body sing in near-painful pleasure at being crushed into the snow by him. His hand felt hot against her thigh, even with the leather breeches between, and she moaned softly, barely more than a sigh colored with voice.

Her hips bucked up to grind against his, full lips opening to invited his tongue in to play. He was in her blood now, in her breath and she was smoldering, aching to feel more. Restless hands wandered lower over his back, down to his sides to explore the new landscape his scar had created on the skin, further down to his hips. Squeezing them in her hands, kneading, fingers playing with the waistline, dipping in under it to brush over the skin below.

lay your hands on me

one last time

MAEA

don't you know i'm no good for you?

He hums a small sound toward her, a smirk hinting and deepening around the corners of his lips as he kisses her more intensely, tongue testing her lower lip before she allows him in. A sharp exhale leaves his nose as she grinds against him, hands exploring him, dipping her fingers beneath the waistband of his pants – and he goes to break the kiss with a hum of a chuckle, gaze turning a bit mischievous as he looks to her.

“Greedy today?” It’s a hoarse question, not that he’s complaining much, shifting a small amount to rest on his elbow to free his hand, reaching to tangle it in her hair once more. His other hand by her thigh trails upward in a slow tantalizing dance, his gaze remaining on her to see how she reacts but somewhat out of the way of her reach to close the gap again to kiss him once more – something playful shifting in his gaze.

His hand slides along the back of her thigh to her backside, slipping up beneath the hem of her shirt to her skin. His head nears hers then, pressing a kiss to her neck as he tugs on her hair a small amount. His voice drops to a husky whisper as he trails his kisses up to her ear, playfully nipping at her earlobe. “I like it when you get like this.” As if for proof, he shifts his hips to grind against hers, to show her just how much he did.

i've learned to lose, you can't afford to

SUNJATA

You're so cold

but you feel alive

Yes, she was greedy. There was a gaping hole in her soul screaming to be filled, a void hungering to be sated and he was the only one who knew how, the only one she would allow close enough to try. His hands made her burn, his mouth, his teeth stoking the fire with tantalizing trickles of pleasure that flowed through her veins, pooling in her core. The fright of seeing the scars, of realizing how fragile life was and how easily he could be torn away from her only made her want him more.

His hand traveled from her thigh, to her rear, up in under her shirt while his mouth went back to her neck, and Maea arched into the touches, craving more. Like a cat, her spine arched in a rippling wave against his palm and into the fingers tangled in her hair. She tried to reach up and kiss him, wincing in frustration when he held himself out of reach, and her head pressed back into the snow so she could give him more of her neck instead. His voice was quiet thunder in her ear, a soft rumble of approval that made her dip one hand in beneath his trousers, her nails scraping over the skin at his backside. Kneading at a buttock, while the other came up to tangle into his hair.

Then his hips pushed down into hers, ground against her and she moaned as a surge of pleasure bloomed between her legs. Even through the clothes she could feel him, hard against herself. Her hips bucked up, grinding back as her breath came harder, faster, head spinning pleasantly.  "I want you," she gasped, shifting restlessly under him. Needy, impatient... so very greedy.

lay your hands on me

one last time

MAEA

don't you know i'm no good for you?

She molds to his touch, doing exactly what it is he wants her to with the way his hand travels around her, about her, over her skin. Her back arches and he presses down against her a small amount, lips finding her neck and the lobe of her ear, a purring rumble from his throat at the way she so easily offers it up for him to devour her, to take her, to drown in her.

Her hand dips beneath the waistband of his pants, touching and scraping over skin, and he smirks into the kisses he gives her, the appreciation and confirmation to her in the way he moves his kisses to her jaw, stormy gaze hazed and lustful as he focuses on her reaction as he grinds his hips into hers. And what a reaction, it receives, he smirks as she returns the action, the slight pant to her breaths, the way she gasps for him and the way he could very well keep her waiting, or give in here and now.

He plans a kiss to her jaw, then to the corners of her lips, slowly and delicately despite the grind of his hips back into hers. “You know… One of these days we should use a bed, don’t you think?” It’s a lover’s purr that leaves his lips, rife with amusement before he goes to find her lips again, hand at the small of her back drifting up further to her side, thumb tracing the soft delicate space beneath her breast – wondering if perhaps they should wait and check their traps before something else comes to get them and return to the Tavern where he could properly bed her.

i've learned to lose, you can't afford to

SUNJATA

You're so cold

but you feel alive

He was playing with her. She could feel it in the slow kisses trailing up her jaw, teasing the corner of her mouth - she tried to turn and catch his mouth but he was talking again. Apparently not as drunk on need as she was. Maea hummed as he finally stopped and kissed her again, quite disinterested in the notion of beds. Her first times had been on the night-cold sands of a beach with the ocean licking at their feet, on a pile of blankets on the floor of a cavern, with firelight to warm their sweat-slick skin. Compared to that, this frozen wasteland was only mildly inconvenient, as the shawl could not be allowed to slip off. What did she care about beds, when his tongue in her mouth and his hips grinding into hers was all she really needed to be comfortable?

It worried her more that he sounded so amused, that he seemed to be holding back. Distracted, even? It made her pause, even as his thumb tracing the line of her breast raised goosebumps along the skin, made the nipple contract into a stiff peak. Maea pulled her head back a little, lust-drunk eyes searching his to see if there was a problem, if something was wrong.

"Would you prefer that?" she asked, a trace of worry in her tone.

This time, this moment had been on her initiative, her choice of location, of time, but... perhaps he'd rather not continue? The idea of having to wait until they had cleaned the traps, trekked all the way back to the portal, then back from the Spire to the bar, where they then had to clean their game and clean up before finding a bed made her want to grit her teeth together and groan with impatience, but... if that was how he preferred it? She would not force him to linger here if he really wanted to leave.

Still, her hand tigthened in his hair, fingernails digging a little deeper into his ass as she made to return to the kissing. A little more demanding, plenty clear on her own preference. Now. Maea wanted him now.

lay your hands on me

one last time

MAEA

don't you know i'm no good for you?

Oh, he absolutely is playing with her. Trying to drive that need of him so deep it makes her somewhat reckless, where the fun begins, where reservations are dropped in favor for giving into the primal desire at the core of them all. But he hums in her ear, kisses trailed and pressed to her jaw and lips before it’s her turn to pull back and away. She searches his gaze, and she’ll find a hint of amusement lingering beneath the stormy steel.

Would he? At this present moment, yes. He kisses her chin again before withdrawing with a tilt of his head, a smirk lingering along his face. “I would.” He hums a bit thoughtfully, aiming to brush his nose along hers, his thumb rubbing along her temple with the hand fisted in her hair. “The last thing I want is to drown in you and find an Ursur happily waiting for us.” He winks, shifting a small amount despite her insistence. His head tilts into her touch and his eyes shutter closed for a moment before he exhales a warm breath.

“But the second we’re there I’m going to devour you.” He growls to her, leaning down once more to kiss her deeply before withdrawing.

i've learned to lose, you can't afford to

SUNJATA