Fire Ch. 04

Her eyelids fluttered and she made a mewling sound, but remained asleep. He could feel his fangs extending automatically at the nearness of her, and he shifted her quickly to a nearby settee before he decided to take advantage of the situation. He removed his cloak and covered her, moving away.

He watched her a little longer, though from a safe distance, trying desperately not to think of the warmth of her body, her hot blood, smooth skin...he closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"Jairus?"

The breath caught in his throat and he looked slowly up. She was sitting up, looking down at the cloak then back up to him.

"Yes?"

She didn't answer. Her eyes seemed to shine, glinting with something that made his heart begin to pound in his chest. She stood slowly, draping the cloak conscientiously over the back of the couch. She approached him, but stopped when she was just out of reach. He wondered if that was intentional, or just instinctive.

"Have you fed?" she asked softly, looking up at him with her soft shining doe eyes.

"No." He watched an odd expression flit across her face.

"You should." They stood there, staring at each other for what felt like an eternity before he nodded in agreement and began to turn away to excuse himself. He didn't trust himself. His blood was pounding a little too hard in his ears, her scent was filling his lungs, making his mouth water.

She stopped him when she raised her arm. She held it out in front of her, fingers curling into her palm, wrist up turned. He gazed down at the pale blue vein under white skin and choked back a groan.

His gaze traveled up her arm and into her face. She looked calm enough, if not a little flushed. His eyes lowered to her mouth. Her lips parted slightly, as if they felt his eyes on them. He lingered there, remembering the feel of them against his, imagining his tongue sliding between them.

He swallowed and tore his gaze away, only to have it linger on her throat instead. In the periphery of his vision he saw her arm lower and she took another step toward him, then another. She pulled her hair to one side and tipped her head slightly.

He closed the gap and reached for her before his thoughts registered his actions, his hand stopping just before he touched the smooth flesh, tracing the curve of her neck through the air just above the skin. His hand shook imperceptibly as he brought his mouth to her, hovering less than a breath away. He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. He could hear the quickness of her breath, the rapid pounding of her heart. His hunger was ready, waiting.

With a barely audible moan he gave in, capturing her neck with his fingers even as the skin broke around his fangs and the searing blood welled up from the opened wound.

Thea couldn't contain the low groan that emanated from her as she felt her blood begin to flow. She was already electrified. She had been since he`d open his eyes and she`d seen the look he gave her. She hadn't really needed to ask if he`d fed, the look in his eyes had been the same one he`d had when he`d watched her naked on his bed.

That thought had spurred her on. Even when he`d turn away, she couldn`t help but offer herself. She wanted desperately to feel him, feel his heat inside her, one way or another, whatever the cost.

When his hunger won out and he moved to claim her, she almost whimpered in relief.

This time instead of fighting it, she relished the heated arousal that pumped through her and sighed with pleasure, wrapping her arms around him, threading her fingers around his neck. This must be what silk feels like, she thought as she smoothed the short locks of his hair that caressed her cheek.

He nuzzled the crook of her neck, his mouth and tongue coaxing a steady stream of appreciative sounds from her as he drank. Her heart pounded in her ears and set the rhythm for the throbbing of her body. She could feel the room dissolve and her legs give out as the first red wave washed through her. She closed her eyes and let the wave buoy her up, or drown her as it pleased, letting it sweep her away.

He should never have waited so long to feed. It took every ounce of his control to pull slowly and gently from her. As elated as he was that she had melted so easily into his arms, her apparently willingness and the intensely arousing sounds she was making were rapidly destroying all his good intentions about trying to take his time with her. He groaned as he felt her fingers press him to her, caressing his jaw and neck absently, unaware of the effect her caress was having on him.

She leaned into him, and he released her throat just long enough to scoop her into his arms and get them both into the nearest chair with her settled snugly in his lap.

He paused to collect himself, an attempt which was again spoilt by Thea as she leaned into him and leisurely opened her eyes into his. They radiated desire. He ground his jaw as he felt himself pressed hard and throbbing against her thigh. She leaned in closer until their breath mingled and he felt her soft breasts crushing up against him. 'One kiss won't hurt' he rationalized belatedly as his mouth moved softly against hers.

Her honeyed mouth parted for him and he accepted the invitation eagerly, sliding his tongue slowly and suggestively between her rose petal lips only to find her own moving enthusiastically to meet his, mating with him with long sensual movements.

He captured and sucked at it, making her moan, and making his own hips grind upwards into her warm bottom. She was emanating heat, her whole being a flame that he was irresistibly drawn to. He broke the kiss and returned to her throat, though a little more voraciously this time, sucking at her neck, leaving little red marks of desire before reopening the wound.

Thea thrilled as she felt his hands begin to explore her body and intentionally shifted her hips to press herself against his rather prominent erection. He groaned against her throat and she sighed with pleasure at the sound.

He couldn't be all that upset with her she thought with a dark smile and shifted again, sliding her hand between them and pressing her palm against the bulge there. Her fingers were pulling at the laces, seemingly of their own accord, just as one of his hands began sliding up her thigh. She managed to fumble open his breeches and slip in her hand awkwardly, her fingers finding and wrapping around the searingly hot and wonderfully smooth prize she found there. His hand found her heat at nearly the same time, sliding over and between the already slick folds of her sex.

Someone gasped, and someone moaned, but she couldn't really tell where one was beginning and the other ending. Their bodies seemed to melt together and their hands collaborated instinctively seeking the others pleasure.

Thea wondered fleetingly if she knew what she was doing, or how to do it, but he appeared to be content to let her continue. More than content it seemed. His mouth found hers again and his kiss was almost bruising in its ferocity.

She tasted blood and realized it must be hers, still lingering on his tongue. The thought made her even more electric, if that were possible, and she writhed in his lap, working her hand rhythmically around his arousal and whimpering against his mouth as he slid two fingers deeply inside her. His thumb moved against that sensitive place he seemed to good at finding and her whimpers turned to breathy gasps.

She was already so worked up that it took no more than a few firm thrusts on his part before she broke their desperate kiss and buried her head against his neck and panted as her body clenched and jumped against his hand. He kept moving inside her, prolonging the body twisting contractions that wracked her until she clung to him making wild incoherent sounds.

It took her a moment to recover herself and she breathed shakily as his hand slid wetly from her.

Her hand, she noticed, was still gently squeezing his still very hard cock, and the way it pulsed made her heat up all over again. She began stroking him more rapidly, her head still tucked against his shoulder, and soaked in the low growling purr that came from his chest and reverberated through her.

She could feel him breathing harder, and she watched in fascination as he jerked in her hand. She was so enraptured with what she was doing that she started when his hands grabbed her wrist and stopped her.

"Thea.." He groaned breathlessly, "you're going to have to stop that."

Jairus held himself back as he tried to pry her hands gently from his aching cock. Gods but they felt good wrapped around him. She looked up at him from her shoulder, her eyes wide and black, her mouth swollen and ravenous and he almost lost it again.

"Am I doing it wrong? It's not good?" her voice was a throaty whisper and he felt his cock twitch against her hand again. He was having trouble getting her to let go.

"A little too good. If you don't stop now I'm going to make a mess of you." He tried to smile, but it felt like a grimace.

"Can I do something else?" She asked, all intensity and eagerness. For the love of god woman, he thought, you're killing me. He repeated the mantra of 'go slow' 'be gentle' over and over in his head, but that still didn't keep his eyes from slipping briefly to her red lips with a longing glance.

He wasn't sure if she noticed the glance, if he'd said something without noticing or if she just read his mind but she pulled away and tilted her head at him and arched a brow. "My mouth?"

He opened his mouth to speak and nothing came out. A small smile twitched the corner of her mouth and she slid off his lap and onto the floor, taking him in hand, as it were, and looking up at him uncertainly. Finally he coughed and managed to find his voice.

"You don't have to do that." He grabbed her shoulders to pull her back up to him, but stopped short when her little pink tongue whipped out and lashed the swollen head. He froze and swore. He watched, still gripping her shoulders as she lapped at him again drawing low sounds from his throat. She continued, licking at him like a cat with a bowl of milk.

He shuddered and closed his eyes releasing her shoulders and running his hands through her hair instead, letting himself enjoy her cool wet tongue as it both soothed and inflamed his painful arousal. He could only smile at the purring sound she made as he caressed her hair and face. Definitely like a cat, he thought, then gasped sharply and opened his eyes, watching in a haze of desire as her lips engulfed him completely.

His fingers clenched in her hair and his hips moved unconsciously. 'Gentle' he warned himself and growled as he forced himself to be still and unclenched his fingers.

He swore again and strained against the urge to thrust back as her mouth slid down his length and up again. He'd be lucky if he stood another ten seconds of this. It wasn't even as if she was doing anything in particular to push him over the edge, it was just her. Her mouth wrapped around him. Her dark shining eyes looking up at him. Her sweet little body writhing on the floor in front of him. Her.

His ten seconds was more than up. He gripped her hair again.

"Thea," he warned, "I don't think I can.."

She pushed down as he spoke, sucking at him, and he never quite got the words out. He came with a jerk when he felt his head press against the back of her throat. He heard her make a sound like a squeak and released her hair so she could pull away. She didn't and he rolled his eyes in his head as she swallowed with his pulsing arousal still deep in her mouth, gripping him almost painfully. After a moment she released him, dragging him slowly from her mouth. He saw a streak of white on her tongue as she pulled away and breathed with a hiss at the sight. He thought he could feel himself begin to harden again it was such an erotic image.

He looked into her eyes, which were wide and dazed, and felt instantly guilty, his instantly renewed arousal forgotten.

He pulled her up then and back into his lap, tucking her up against him. She rejoined him willingly and curled into him, laying her head on his shoulder, her eyes drifting shut. He liked how she felt in his arms, and her warm smell, it was oddly comforting. He shook his head slightly at himself. 'You're getting soft old man' he thought wryly.

Her breathing was much slower, and he thought she must have fallen asleep. He rose grudgingly, knowing he should probably get her to bed. It was late and she looked a bit pale. Maybe May was right, she probably wasn't eating enough.

He left his cloak and carried her up to her room, adjusting her slightly and pushing it with her shoulder. He felt her hand reach up and touch his cheek. He looked down at her as he laid her on the bed, leaning down, so that her fingers could linger on his skin. He was loathe to pull away from it. But he must. Even after all that he was in danger of getting carried away and demanding even more of her if he didn't put some distance between them.

"You look very serious, are you still upset with me? She asked softly. He frowned.

"Why would I be upset with you?"

"For my poor behaviour." He let out a dry laugh.

"If anyone should apologize it's me Thea."

She shook her head at him and yawned. "You did nothing wrong."

"I frightened you." She shook her head again.

"Then what are you so afraid of?" She didn't answer, only blushed and looked away. "See. I can hardly hold that against you though. I promise to be more careful." She looked at him again with furrowed brows.

"But.." He cut her off by kissing her lips gently.

"Go to sleep." He pulled the blankets over her and she sighed. Giving in and curling up. He allowed himself one last caress and smoothed a stray hair from her forehead.

"Sleep well" She murmured from under the covers. He smiled back at her and closed the door softly behind him.

**

Thea woke up with a pounding headache and a growling stomach. She wiped the sleep from her eyes and blinked at the ceiling. She'd had another dream about Jairus. It had started out like some of the others, only this time it was in the library, and she'd actually used her mouth on him. The memory of the dream was vivid and exceedingly arousing. She frowned. Hadn't she been in the library? She didn't remember going to bed...she flushed. It hadn't been a dream at all. He'd brought her here. That explained why she was still in her day clothes.

She arose, still groggy and fully dressed and washed up quickly, her thoughts fluctuating rapidly between happy excitement and her previous nervous anxiety. She changed into something less wrinkled and made her way to the kitchen, determined to overcome her hesitation and accept what life had thrown at her. Why shouldn't she have pleasure after all? So what if it was short lived, at least it was better than more loneliness.

Her mind made up, more or less, she set about her late breakfast like a starving woman, and went about her chores with a much lighter heart. She even had a rare conversation with Tim about rabbit snares, and he very politely listened to what she had to say on the matter over dinner. May just beamed that Thea had finally shown up to eat. That made Thea feel more than a little guilty. It was so easy to please the woman, and her morose self-pitying had gotten in the way of that.

After dinner Thea went to the library hoping to catch Jairus before he left for the evening, just to be certain that she hadn't imagined most of the previous night.

It didn't take long and she heard him talking to Tim out in the hall and went to investigate. He was standing by the door, dressed to leave. They both looked up and saw her.

Timothy said something she couldn't hear and went outside, Jairus just stood there watching her. Slowly she approached, until she stood so close to him she had to look up to see his face. It was back to its standard stony expression.

"I'm leaving for a few days."

She nodded, and they continued to stand there looking at one another until a throat cleared behind her. It was Barin leaving the kitchen and heading upstairs.

He gave them a quick glance as he turned the corner, and she thought she saw him smirk. She sighed and moved to turn away herself, only to find his immovable grip on her wrist. She blinked down at the hand then up at his face.

He was still unreadable as he pulled her back toward him. His body bent over hers and his mouth brushed her lips in a gentle but lingering kiss.

He pulled away and neither spoke as he let himself out. Thea was quiet when she returned to the study, but she couldn't quite wipe of the silly grin plastered on her face.

***

"So, are those Neanderthals in the corner my men?"

Jairus watched the group of five Huroth warriors huddled conspiratorially at a table in the corner of the dreary tavern.

"Not a great lover of the Huroth?" asked Marcus curiously.

"Not especially. I can only imagine what they want with me."

"What does anyone want with you?"

"Point taken."

"At any rate, your audience awaits." Marcus gestured for Jairus to enter into the backroom of the tavern and strode out cheerily into the main hall to collect the clients. Jairus sat and waited, propping his boots up on the table. He wanted them to taste his derision the moment they walked into the room. It was infantile of him, but some bitter tastes never quite left ones mouth. He didn't like them. He had good reason. He was one of them. Or had been.

They entered, and he was pleased to see the dark looks they gave him when they entered. It was a great insult to show the souls of your boots to another man. They had a lot of idiot traditions like that, and were quickly and easily to annoyed. It was one of the reasons they rarely came south into the empire, keeping to their barbaric wastes where they jealously guarded their traditions and codes of honour. Their tempers usually got them jailed for starting fights over imagined insults.

He saw one of the hotter heads make like he was going to try and put Jairus in his place, but another, the one clearly in charge, stayed him with a guesture. Too bad, Jairus thought. Three of the men stood, the third took a chair that did not face Jairus's boots. Jairus wondered where giant number five was hiding.

"I want you to find and kill someone."

If there was one thing he could say in their defence, it was that they never said more than they needed to.

"Do you have a name?" Jairus asked from under his hood.

"No. She'll be a woman. Twenty four. Her mother was fair, small, named Maria. Her father was one of us. She has kin in the villages south of here."

"That's not much to go on." Jairus felt his stomach tighten. Why did these so called warriors feel the need to have a young woman assassinated?

The man sneered.

"They said you could do it with less. I knew they were exaggerating." Jairus smirked under his hood.

"I only mean to suggest that you're holding vital information back. If you want me to find and dispatch the target, I would suggest you learn to be a bit more forth coming." The man bristled.

"This is not to be spoken outside these walls."

He looked to Marcus, who nodded.

"I am Darius, of the house of Sevrin." He paused to wave back an objection from his men. " Her father was Belok..."

"House of Dareth, and she is the only surviving heir of Jarith, that you know of, and you want to finish the job you started in order to control the remains of the house you helped destroy. Am I correct?" Jairus knew he was correct. For all his distaste for his cousins, he was always strangely curious to find out how it was they were getting along without him as the centuries passed.

Recently, twenty four years ago to be exact, there had been a coup held by Darius's house against the reigning Cheif, the head of a house that had reigned for hundreds of years. Now it appeared they were tying up loose ends.