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ambiguouspuzuma · 3 months

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The Weldmire

Her name was Dolomedes Silt, and there wasn't a soul alive who knew it. Nor did there need to be. To a young woman who scraped survival from the greenery of her new home - a simple creature of simple tastes - such a luxury was unwanted, unneeded, and entirely unused. She got along just fine without.

"How much farther?" The voice was weak; not through lack of use, as hers was, but through the exhaustion of everything else. It was a man. She recognised the tone in the way she would the caterwaul of a common redshank, or the warble of a marsh toad. A man, and one now close to death.

"Just keep moving." His companion sounded little better. A sailor, she thought: not used to the hard yards on almost solid ground. "We have to reach a town eventually."

The creature once known as Dolomedes lived far from the slums of her birth, on a spur that jutted from the coast, many miles from the nearest settlement; as alone as anyone had ever been, at least between visitors such as these. She had been named, delivered and raised by women long since dead, and had only sought out the company of more death in their absence.

Having set her nest along a freshwater stream, her new home was not entirely devoid of life, at least until she caught it - she had wading birds, amphibians and crayfish for sustenance, easy game for the only hunter here. But much of this land was peat-soaked fen, and she spent most of her days wandering around its murky pools, enjoying the sense of total solitude. It was shown on maps as the Weldmire, but that name had largely been forgotten too.

"What now?"

The visitors had reached the farthest shore. They had likely moored their boat within the shelter of that spur, that unfortunate spit into which the tide had spat, no doubt praising their good fortune to find protection from the larger waves that lashed its outer edge. They would have expected a short journey inland, seeking an inn in which to dine and spend the night. Instead, they'd found the Weldmire lying here in wait.

"Are we sure they went this way?"

The voices seemed to know their roles. The first, unsure, belonged to a slender man in a shirt that must have once been white, rolled back to reveal tanned forearms. He had a red jacket tied around his waist. The second, impatient, a larger man in a traveller's cloak.

"We're not sure of anything. A snatch of fabric on the gorse. Footprints sunk into the mud. It might have been them. It might have been here."

Each visitor trod a similar path. On the trek in from the coast, they soon found themselves marooned upon the shifting islands of its fields, an archipelago of pools and unsafe ground, desperately in need of a guide. The Weldmire was both badlands and oasis, the synthesis of life and death, but no less repugnant for that poetic provenance - like an artist had combined her full palette of colours to arrive at a sludge of yellow-brown. For Dolomedes, it was home. For everybody else, it was quite the opposite.

Waders feared what might lurk within the opaque shallows, imagining scuttling claws and jagged teeth, but the truth was far more terrifying still: the Weldmire's pools held no life at all. Whilst nature's infinite variety found a way in other extreme climes, from polar ice to hydrothermal vents, it found these waters truly inhospitable. Dolomedes lurked like a raft spider, squatting by the surface, but no reflection ever met her gaze.

The depths held no mouths than that of the mire itself, a sucking hunger for any boot that lingered in one spot for long. They held no teeth than those of its victims. This was a realm of death, and it was populated by the dead. She'd snared many birds that had become entangled in the viscous waters, curlews and snipes whose alarmed cried had summoned her to dinner, but far more than sunk beyond her reach, their bones now preserved beneath layers of suffocating mud.

"Left or right?" the first voice asked. "It looks a substantial detour either way."

There had been people, too, like the visitors today. Many had been felled by exhaustion. It was slow, arduous progress, wading against a thigh-high lake that felt less water than mud, a glutinous tide that almost seemed to push back. There were obstacles, too - branches preserved within the lifeless depths, fallen birds in suspended animation, the grasping hands of those who had drowned in years before. Waders were prone to stumble - and those who did fall rarely rose again.

Today's pair arrived already sodden, having waded to shore from their boat, only to find another body of water inland. The morning wore that uncomfortable temperature of overcast days, an oppressive humidity that drew the sweat from working men's backs like blood from the lash of a silent whip, and their journey had been hard-going even before they reached the Weldmire's edge, the glistening lip before its open mouth.

"There's a rope."

It lay taut across the water, emerging from the shallows like a cottonmouth come to bask upon the slopes. A thick, tar-soaked line, fasted around a tree on either end. Secure. It held the promise of a stable path: the chance to follow in the footsteps of those who had survived, entering the mire and emerging from the other side. Unfortunately, it was also the path of many who had fallen underneath, hands grasping for their lifeline as the mire sucked them in.

"We're supposed to go through it?" Dolomedes could really see the sailors now - watching from her den, poised like a heron waiting for the chance to strike. The forearms not quite tanned, but tattooed. The red jacket laced with golden thread. That first man had crouched above the rope, and gave it an investigative tug; testing its strength, and willing his to return.

"It seems like it," his companion replied. Neither looked overly enamoured with the prospect.

"I can help you." This was her cue. Dolomedes lacked for volume, her voice ragged and rusty from disuse, but her intervention carried in the empty space. The sailors started, reeling back at the surprise of her company: eyes scanning for her across the water, as if she was there to be found.

Now was her time to step forward. Dolomedes parted from the undergrowth as if she had been born from it, her skin stained in mouldy greens and browns, slathered in the filth and the grime of her surroundings. She wore the rags that she'd arrived in, or what remained of them, and plenty more besides: broad clumps of damp and rotting leaves, blood-stained feathers in her wild and uncut hair, the detritus she'd accumulated through her new life in the wild.

"Help?"

"You?" Both men seemed unfamiliar with her words. Dolomedes briefly wondered if she had misspoken, out of practice since the previous visit, but then they returned to the familiar script. "How? Is this your rope?"

"No," she called, stepping closer, as a spider to the corner of her web. It had been another group of sailors who had hauled it from their ship, trawling it across the mire to be fastened on the other side. They had needed to make a number of trips inland, and invested their time to secure a safer path, as they might bridge a gap or clear a route between the trees. But they had not returned for many a year, and Dolomedes had claimed the Weldmire in their absence. "This is."

She held in her hands a second coil of rope, more slender than the blackened line that lay astride the pool, wound tight about her narrow frame: with the peat packed in between each ring, she might almost have been mummified. The end disappeared into the pool, and was wrapped around the thicker rope towards its start. This had come from the sailors too, but Dolomedes had made some adjustments. Unfastening it at her end, for a start.

"You mean to pull us across?" They noticed the second line, now that she moved across the mire: there were knots along its length, and they writhed just beneath the surface of the mud, shifting slightly as she crept closer.

"For a price," she said. Dolomedes didn't need for much, but that didn't mean she didn't want. Her nest needed to be feathered, for the colder months - and a girl needed to eat. "I will need your gold, your clothes, and your weapons."

"What?"

"Your gold, your clothes, and your weapons," she repeated, assuming that they hadn't heard. Hers was a toll road. Perhaps sailors were unfamiliar with the concept.

"Not a chance." She couldn't make out the second man's face, but he wore the sneer in his voice. "A scrawny thing like you? What help are you going to add, compared to just pulling ourselves?"

"A solid footing," she said, in well-practised patter. "What does an anchor add to a mighty ship? What help a mooring, when it has three masts of sails? You are welcome to attempt the crossing on your own, of course. Many have. It's always entertaining to watch them sink into the mire, without the fulcrum to haul themselves out. It's a matter of leverage, not strength."

The men conferred on that in private, in whispers too weak to carry across the water. There was always a reluctance, parting with money for old rope.

"You say you've helped others with this crossing?"

"Yes."

"Two men in jackets like this?" The first voice untied his velvet belt, like the cord that pulls a curtain back, and held it up for her to see. Some sort of insignia embroidered on the cloth. Something familiar.

"Yes."

"One called Ellis, the other Tristan?"

"Perhaps." Dolomedes didn't deal in names. They had no use, living alone, and she got on fine without. But jackets kept her warm. "Many pass through here."

"Fine, then." That seemed to decide it. "We pay after we cross?"

"Naturally."

She fastened the rope's loops around her waist, and gestured for them to do the same, before looping back around the tree for anchorage. From there she pulled, and they proceeded: tightrope walkers, clinging to their lifeline, hauled forth by her horizontal noose. She was a spider spinning silk, feeling the twitch of their movements, watching them wade cautiously across her home.

"Stop there," she called, when they were close enough. They did. She had them on a leash, and they were hers to command. "Throw the payment now."

"You said on completion," the first man complained.

"You said you didn't want to pay," said the scorpion to the frog. "This is a matter of leverage, remember. I still have it, now, but won't when you're ashore. I don't trust you not to flee."

"And if we refuse? You'll really leave us to drown?"

"If that's the only way to secure my price." Dolomedes shrugged. This close, they could see the flatness in her eyes: as wan and lifeless as the Weldmire itself. Nothing swam in those inhospitable depths. "I can retrieve it at my leisure. You'll take some dragging out, of course, but I've done it before."

The weapons and gold were easier to prize from cold dead hands, once the bodies had stopped wriggling. The clothes, too. The mire had a way of preserving things, even if it took her a few days to dredge it fully. As for the corpses, the mire was always hungry - and frankly, so was she. There was no sense letting fresh meat go to waste.

"You're too late to pull this particular move." The second man was less convinced. He took another step forward, surveying the path ahead. "We're close enough to make it on our own."

"With just one rope?"

"That's right." He held on tight to that mooring. "We don't need yours. I'm not convinced we ever did."

"Ah, but they're both mine," Dolomedes said, drawing a previous trophy for their inspection. The sword's blade was rusty, but still sharp: they were hard to maintain in this climate, and she'd never learnt how. No wonder she always needed new ones. "How easy it would be to cut you loose, if you did wish to short-change me. Tell me, would you bet on your survival then?"

"You'd cut us adrift?"

"It's an empty threat," the second man said. "This rope's as thick as my arm, and a darned sight thicker than hers. I'll say again: she's not strong enough. We'll make it across before she's made it through the tar."

They pressed onward, and she stepped back. It was the work of a moment to untie the rope from the tree, not needing to cut it at all. She let the other line go slack from her waist, and the second man stumbled, his doubts forgotten in an instant. Idiots, Dolomedes thought. She would have to sack their ship for a replacement rope, if this one was lost to the mire. But she was going to have to unmoor it anyway, lest it serve as a warning to future visitors. There was no harm in a jaunt down to the coast.

"Pick it up!" the believer was pleading, failing to get hold of his companion; wet hands on wet clothing, a grasp that never seemed to grip. He was at risk of losing balance himself. "We'll pay, I promise. Please, just pick up the rope. He'll die if you don't."

"Many die on the crossing," Dolomedes told him, her voice no louder or more urgent than when telling him her price. "Do you think he's the first? I have watched many men drown, a dozen souls sucked into the dark. What cost one more? What profit one less?"

"Look." As words had failed to move her, the first man resorted to action, stripping off his jacket and waving it above his head. "You can have all of it; just give me something to lean on. Just give him something to hold."

If Dolomedes herself had ever been in possession of a soul, she suspected it had long since atrophied, malnourished and unused; as had almost been the case for her other organs, before she really learnt how to kill. She'd once heard, from a traveller in those early days, that when a body starves it begins to consume itself, absent any other form of sustenance. In her case, the conscience had clearly been the first to go. She'd consumed him as well, and it hadn't troubled her in the slightest.

But the red flag in the air brought her back. If this man was willing to work for her, that would be easier for all concerned. She tied the guiding rope back up around her waist, and walked it back around the tree to make it taut again; he clutched the lifeline gratefully, and leant down to dredge his friend out of the murk. There was no apology for doubting her; only a throatful of bilgewater to return to its home.

"Payment," she said.

True to his word, the first man tossed his jacket, and the second followed with his cloak. Whilst they fiddled with the buttons of their shirts, Dolomedes slunk down to the water to claim her loot before the lapping water could; the men were exhausted, unsteady, and hadn't tossed them far. The gold thread was even richer up close; the red more potent and alive. One of her own browns had looked like that, once, before it had been keelhauled through the mire.

She peeled it off, undressing as they did. The second man was still hesitant, and paused to watch her make the exchange; not in the way men sometimes looked, but with his usual glare. "This is what must have happened to the last shift. Ellis. Tristan. They came this way, and were never seen again."

"I told you," she said. "Many pass through here. Some make it across, some don't. Who am I to tell them apart?"

"You must remember!" The first man now stared at her with the same fury in his eyes. "You're wearing their jacket!"

"I'm wearing your jacket," she corrected, speaking slowly.

"No- you were wearing it. There, on the ground!"

She looked at the sullied jacket as if seeing it for the first time. "Two men?"

"One jacket," the second man said. "Did both not pay?"

"Oh, they paid." The memories were as murky as mire-water, but she was starting to recognise the shapes. "One was too deep to salvage. This one fell closer to the bank. I was able to pull him out."

"You saw them die?"

"I told you," Dolomedes said again. "Many die. This is a perilous route."

"Only because you make it so! You let them die, for what? Gold?"

"I own the crossing," she corrected. "Some refuse to pay, and then they drown, the victim of their own choices. What do you want me to do about it?"

"Apologise!"

"Fine." Dolomedes sighed. She had nothing to do for the rest of the day, but even she felt this was taking too long. "My apologies. Such a shame, but we move on. The rest, please."

The rest of the payment came soaring out of the mire: two fistfuls of coins, a golden ring, an ornate dagger, a pair of swords, one slim and one broad. Her passengers clearly knew to take her seriously now, not wanting to repeat their colleagues' fatal mistake. Dolomedes tossed her old rusty blade back into the soup, now spoilt for choice of replacement, and stooped to pick up the coins, which she tucked away beneath her many other layers.

They fell back at just the right moment. Both men collapsed at once, and she followed, not knowing what had hit her. She wondered if she'd stuck them with the sword, or somehow cut the rope, but that was what now held her tight: they were sinking back into the mire, keeping it taut as they pulled back the way they'd come, and drawing her along the ground more quickly than her legs could find a purchase in the mud. She gave up clutching for the tree, and worked to untie the rope around her waist, but her hands were wet from sorting through her prizes.

"Not to us," the first man said, as her frail and overburdened body, layered with clothing and laden with gold, succumbed swiftly to the ooze. He was sinking with her, but he continued to pull, determined that he would see her drown first. Willing to join his friends, on the condition she did too. "Apologise to them."

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julemmaes · 3 years

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Honey - part five

Elide Lochan x Lorcan Salvaterre roommates au

A/N: last famous words “This is their first time so nothing too serious or too long.”

I ENDED UP WRITING THE LONGEST SHIT EVER AND LITERALLY 8K WORDS IT’S JUST FOR THE SMUT. I HOPE YOU ENJOY IT AND DON’T EXPECT PART SIX TO COME OUT ANY TIME SOON CAUSE ACOSF CAME OUT AND I’M SORRY, I HAVE PRIORITIES

Also, this is for my girl Maizie, who I’d die for. I love you ma’am.

masterlist

Word count: 13,118

The second Elide stepped into the house, it was as if she had found herself in the South Pole, and she was almost afraid to walk into the living room, thinking she would find penguins and polar bears there. The only thing she found, however, was a notice slipped under the front door warning them that the boiler system had been damaged by some animal that had gotten into the basement of the building.

She opened her eyes wide when she read that they would not be able to repair it until Monday. That meant no hot water for at least five days.

The cold was already starting to get unbearable and Elide, who had come from outside and had hoped to get back in and turn the heat up to maximum until Lorcan got home and started complaining that their house wasn't a sauna, was about to cry.

Classes at the university that day had been heavy, and the Contemporary History professor had said they should be halfway through the work for the final exam by now. Elide hadn't even chosen the topic she was going to take, too split between the role of women in the Great War and scientific innovations in the 20th century.

The idea of not even being able to take a hot shower made her sincerely consider getting on a plane and fleeing to her parents' house for a few days.

She put her stuff down in the kitchen and headed for the bathroom, undressing and leaving pieces in the hallway. She knew that if she took off her clothes after turning on the shower she would never be able to take one, especially since the idea of putting on her pajamas and getting into bed with a sweaty, grimy body repulsed her.

As soon as she touched the water with her hand she wailed, pulling it away as if it had burned, "Fuck fuck fuck."

She leapt under the jet, wetting her hair and trying to make it as fast as she could as her teeth chattered. She had never felt so cold as she did at that moment.

Not even the time Lysandra had pushed her into the snow during one of their holidays in the mountains and they had just come out of one of the hot tubs.

She didn't even bother to get all the soap out of her hair, because her skin was tingling as if a thousand tiny needles were piercing it trying to reach her bones.

She stepped out of the shower, wrapping herself in her bathrobe the quickest she could, and dialed Lorcan's number. He answered after two rings.

"Hey, honey."

Elide smiled at the nickname, but the happiness was short-lived when a chill shook her body, "Babe, we have a problem."

"What happened? Are you okay?" the concern in his tone of voice made her chuckle.

"Yeah, I'm fine, don't worry," she heard his sigh even through the phone, "Are you still at work?" she asked, "Because I just finished showering and-"

When he spoke, it was as if Elide could see the smug grin on his face, "And you wish I was there with you to help you do things?"

The girl huffed, rubbing her hands against her arms in an attempt to get warm, "I wish you were here because it's thirteen fucking degrees and I'm freezing. We won't have heaters until Monday and the shower is really cold, I just wanted to warn you."

Lorcan cursed, "Are you serious?" he asked with a hint of desperation in his voice, "This is shit luck."

"I know," she sighed, "Maybe you can go to Fen's and take a shower? That way you won't freeze to death."

He snorted, "If I go to Fenrys I risk being assaulted by Asterin."

Elide burst out laughing, "You're right, Rowan's?"

"Can't I just come home and suffer a little?" he asked.

"I don't think that's a good idea and you'd be back in over an hour." she pulled out the hair dryer, squeezing her phone between her ear and shoulder, "The water's already too cold, with the time it'll take you to finish there and get home, it'll probably be freezing. If you get sick it's one more problem. Go to someone and wash up there."

He was silent for a while, then huffed, "Alright, I'll swing by Rowan's."

"Good boy."

"I have to go now because I have to change the water for the dogs, but I'll try to finish as quickly as I can and get to you right away," he said, "I'll see you later."

Elide smiled, "See you later, babe."

***

"Fucking Jesus, Ellie," Lorcan basically yelled as he entered the house. She'd run to the door the second she'd heard the keys turn in the lock. The stuff in his hand fell to the floor as he brought his hands to her face, his eyes wide with worry, "What the hell! Your lips are purple." a chuckle escaped his mouth and then he wrapped his arms around her, holding her to his chest, "You could have put on a jumper, something, how long have you been like this?"

Elide was shivering so much that when she spoke she was stuttering, "I- I tried to- to," a shiver ran through her body, "warm myself with- clothes, but... god it's fucking cold." she managed to finish the sentence.

Lorcan grinned, rubbing his hands over her back and arms, but then brought them to her cheeks, leaning her head back so he could kiss her. Elide closed her eyes, parting her lips and drawing their tongues together. They stood in the doorway kissing for a few minutes, and only when Elide's feet gave out from too much time spent tiptoeing did they pull away.

Lorcan smirked, looking at her mouth, "They're not so purple anymore," he murmured, running a thumb over her chin and tilting her head back again, "Guess I found a way to warm us up." he said in a rough voice, leaning forward.

She blushed under his gaze and didn't fail to notice how the smirk on his lips widened, "Oh, yeah?"

He nodded, pulling away from her and slipping off his jacket, his shoes. Elide hoped very much that he would continue to strip off the clothes she only then realised were not his - probably Rowan's - and take her to her room so they could properly warm up. Her dreams went up in smoke when Lorcan turned to her and with a real smile on his face, exclaimed, "Soup!"

Elide looked at him so evilly that he burst out laughing, "Honey you're freezing." he said in a softer tone, wrapping his arms around her waist, "Let's eat first, then see if we can... do other things to entertain ourselves without dying of hypothermia." and as he spoke he let his hands slide lower and cupped her arse, giving a gentle squeeze and pushing her against him.

She nodded, biting the inside of her cheek to keep from moaning when his hand moved even lower, brushing against her covered sex.

He pulled away so suddenly that Elide staggered to regain some balance, but closed her eyes, insulting him under her breath. Teasing asshole he was.

I don't know how long she stood in the doorway, clutching her sweatshirt around her shoulders, but by the time she reached Lorcan in the kitchen, he had already pulled out the necessary for dinner.

"Okay we don't have any soups ready and I'm not going to wait an hour to eat, noodles?" he asked, holding up two packets of the food. Elide just nodded, still undecided if she wanted to beat him up or just screw it all and take him on the kitchen table until they both-

"Ellie? Are you there?"

She looked up at him, her mind fuzzy, "What?"

He winked, as if he knew exactly what she was thinking, "Chicken or beef? Or curry?"

She shook her head, "You pick and I'll take what's left."

"Okay, I curry, you chicken."

They waited for the water to boil hugging each other, Lorcan had gone to turn on the stereo and the last playlist he had made for her was playing all over the house at a low volume.

They were rocking, stepping on each other's toes and sharing shy kisses trying to get as much warmth from the cooker as they could and when Lorcan leaned over so low that he rested his forehead against hers, starting to sing, Elide felt that emotion so strong it had blinded her burst up in her bpdy.

"So, what should I do when I'm dark and I'm blue, when you light up my roon from July until June?"

She smiled, closing her eyes and enjoying the little gift that was Lorcan's voice and that he only showed to Elide.

"What would I do if there wasn't a you? Would you sing about me like I sing about you?"

She rested her hands on his chest, clutching onto him, "I didn't think you knew them, I thought you just picked them by rhythm." she whispered, almost as if she was scared that she would ruin that moment.

His arms tightened more around her, "We're burning through these yellow lights, yellow lights, yellow lights." he placed a kiss on her hair.

When they finished eating, they lay down on the couch, Elide with her back against his chest, one of his arm around her hips and the other under her head making sure she didn't feel chilled. Lorcan was a walking radiator, but even in case the boy lying behind her was an icicle, his leg between hers, positioned so high that if she moved her hips, she could rub herself against him, made sure Elide didn't feel the stinging bite of the cold.

One of the first episodes of New Girl was scrolling across the screen, but she really couldn't focus on anything but his body, hot, hard, very real behind her. Elide so hoped she didn't have so many layers on her.

She had just made a decision that didn't involve any clothing, just their naked, sweaty bodies grinding against each other, when Lorcan's hand slid higher as he repositioned himself behind her and brushed against her breasts and the words died in her throat for what Elide was sure was the seventh time in a matter of minutes.

A dark chuckle rumbled down her spine, "God this show is so good." he murmured, starting to move his fingers over her stomach, caressing her from over her shirt, "Do you remember when you first came here, the first week, and asked me if you could bring random people over?"

Elide burst out laughing, remembering the completely confused expression he had taken on that occasion. She turned her head just enough to look at him, "Fuck yes, and you said, 'why couldn't you?'" she giggled, pushing back against him even more and making their hips join as well, "I remember thinking you were really dumb."

"'No I mean, at night.'" he said, mimicking her voice and repeating the words she'd said to him years before, "It's not my fault, you look like a fucking innocent smurf, I didn't think you'd even bring a boyfriend, let alone a different person every Saturday night."

"Just because I'm a girl." she huffed, shaking her head, "I wouldn't do you for that kind of guy."

Lorcan leaned closer to her ear, "Don't worry, I know everything I need to know about your sick little mind now."

She swallowed, moving her hips spontaneously and sighed when he responded, rubbing against her in turn. And though Elide wanted to continue that thing that was building between them, her mind had begun to race and she couldn't resist when a laugh escaped her control.

She felt Lorcan smile against the shell of her ear, "What are you laughing about?" he asked, continuing to rub her stomach and going lower and lower with his fingers.

Elide wheezed, bringing a hand to her mouth, "Don't kill me, but... Maeve!" she burst out laughing again, leaning forward slightly to push against him even more.

His hand that had almost reached her lower belly stopped immediately and Elide heard him grunt, shifting enough to pull their bodies apart, "By what fucking logic do you think you can bring Maeve into the conversation? Why?" he asked with a hint of irritation in his voice.

Elide snorted, closing her mouth and trying not to laugh anymore, "I don't know, I guess thinking about the first few weeks here involves remembering her by default," she giggled, eyeing him over her shoulder.

Lorcan had a deep frown on his face as he watched her. He sighed, moving his hand from her hips and bringing it to his face, "Fine, but don't mention her name again."

"She really was a bitch." she muttered, turning back to the tv, "I honestly don't know how you could be with her?"

He huffed, bringing his arm back around her slender body and hugging her again, "Keep bragging about not having any crazy exes, but I'm not the only dumb one. I'd like to remind you of Fenrys's exes and that crazy freak Lysandra was with for a few months before she got with Aedion."

She wanted to laugh, to remember the monster that had been Arobynn, how they had kicked him out the night he had hit on not only Aelin, but Elide and Asterin as well, but she couldn't as an uneasy feeling began to rise in the pit of her stomach. She only prayed that Lorcan didn't notice how tense her body had become and that the topic would soon be dropped.

She was about to make a joke about the show, but he spoke again, "Actually, now that I think about it, I've never heard you talk about any exes," he murmured, craning his neck over her and brushing his lips over her cheek, "Just a few months' worth of flings and one night stands. I'm not your first serious relationship, am I?"

Elide closed her eyes, taking a deep breath and cursing in her head.

By then, he must have realised the change in her mood, because the arm around her tightened his grip only slightly, "Ellie?" the voice just a little more insistent.

She spoke before she could regret her decision, "I've actually only had one serious relationship." she whispered in a weak voice.

The forgotten series continued to play on the screen.

Lorcan breathed audibly behind her, "With a..?"

"Uh," Elide said realizing what he was asking her. Despite the situation and the knowledge that Lorcan knew perfectly well that she didn't differentiate between men and women, a surge of affection struck her heart at that simple gesture. The fact that he hadn't immediately assumed it was a boy made her more pleased than she wanted to admit, "A girl. Ava." she said hesitantly.

Hearing her tone of voice, Lorcan slipped his arm out from under her head, causing the blanket to slide off both of them and Elide immediately felt cold. She turned to him as he pulled himself up to sit and wasn't convinced of what she was saying when she saw the more than serious expression on his face, "Why did you get up, you let the heat out." she scolded him softly.

Lorcan breathed through his nose, studying her face carefully, "Cause I feel like I have to sit down to have this conversation."

Elide wrinkled her nose, making a small grimace, but didn't take her eyes off his, "It's nothing serious, babe,"

"Why don't you let me have my say on the matter?" he asked interrupting her, then ran a hand through his hair, "That is if you want to talk about it, I don't want to force you."

She blinked once. Twice. Then she let her head fall back against the armrest, "I guess the evening won't go the way I hoped it was going if I don't, so," she sighed. She closed her eyes for a moment, scratching her forehead, and Lorcan settled down, dropping his legs over the edge of the couch and positioning hers so they were on his.

When she opened her eyes again, the worried look on his face made her chuckle, "Babe, it's okay." she tried to reassure him, pulling herself up to sit in turn, but staying with her legs over his lap, "It's in the past."

He nodded, "I hope so, but we've lived together for four years and I've never heard you mention this girl. Not once," he said, raising his eyebrows, "And I'm sure Aelin or Asterin would have let it slip now and then, even if it was just to tease you."

Elide couldn't blame him on that and was about to reply, but he wasn't done yet.

"And that only leaves me to think that either the story you're about to tell me is so serious they'd never even mention it, or it's even more serious and they don't know because you've kept it hidden all these years," he concluded in a heavy breath, laying a hand on her thigh.

"Aelin doesn't know," she confessed, biting her lip, "And I wish she didn't find out, like no one else. The only people I'm sure know are Manon and Asterin, because they're directly involved in the story. Maybe Dorian knows too, but I wouldn't bet on it."

Lorcan's hand tightened on her leg, "Now I'm sure it's something serious."

She frowned, thoughtful, "It is serious, Lor, but I don't want you to start worrying about me if I tell you," she said, throwing herself back onto the couch on her back. He was looking at her with such intensity that Elide felt her skin tickle, "I'm fine and the only reason I've never told the others is because I know they'd start acting like mother hens and I don't want them to think I'm fragile or that I need protecting," she continued, holding his gaze and hoping he understood that if she carried on with the story, nothing should change between them.

He nodded, "I promise I won't start treating you like you're made of porcelain."

The sincerity in his eyes, in his voice, made her start, "It was two years before I moved here."

"So you were what? Nineteen?" he asked doing a quick mental calculation.

She nodded, "Ava and I met during my senior year of high school. She was a sophomore in college, but she was only a year older than me," she murmured, going down memory lane. She took a deep breath, "It was my first real relationship. All the ones I'd had before had lasted a month or less and had all been with boys, she was the first girl I'd ever done anything with." she looked at him sidelong, trying to work out how that made him feel. Lorcan looked impassive, completely caught up in her words, but she could see that he was mentally bracing himself to hear the worst.

"I don't remember when the fighting started, but it took me months before I realised how manipulative she was."

She lowered her gaze as Lorcan's features seemed to tense even more and she began to fiddle her fingers, "She didn't do it with malice, or at least I think she did," she trailed off, shaking her head, "No, you know what," she said nodding with conviction, "She did it on purpose and she didn't even try to hide it.

"She was always ready to throw my indecision in my face when it came to my sexuality. She was constantly on edge when we talked about my guy friends and every time I mentioned one of them to her, she would find a way to accuse me of liking them. And the next minute she was there to tell me that she was joking, that there was no way I could like them because I was gay.

"With the girls it was even worse. She wouldn't talk to me for days whenever I went out with my classmates and after sleepovers or whenever I went clubbing with them she would always tell me I had slept with them. So after a while I stopped going out with everyone and stayed in touch with Manon and Asterin, but we only spoke on the phone because they were at college and had no idea what was really going on at home.

She paused, closing her eyes, thinking back to how lonely the year she'd been with Ava had been.

"I loved her, despite everything," she whispered, sighing. "Despite every calculating manipulation. There were times when-" she paused again, feeling the emotion grow in her throat. She brought her hands to her face, rubbing her eyes.

The only time she'd ever had to tell anyone this story had been more than six years before and she hadn't had the courage to tell the details to her friends when they'd come back for the Christmas holidays. She hadn't been able to say the worst things, the things that had scarred her the deepest.

Lorcan moved beneath her and Elide opened her eyes, looking up at him. His hands were clenched into fists and his brow furrowed, "You don't have to tell me anything you don't want to tell me Elide. I'm already glad you trust me enough to tell me even that, there's no need to go on," he whispered.

The problem wasn't the telling, the problem was making it real once she would say it.

Elide had always been a strong follower of her 'until I tell someone, I can pretend it never happened' policy, because once someone else knew the truth too, there was no way to deny it.

She was afraid of how Lorcan might react if she gave him this truth of hers, and she didn't want things to change even before they started at all.

She took a deep breath, nodding, "These aren't things that affect me anymore, clearly, as I have absolutely no problem having sex with other people," she resumed, watching him as he stiffened and closed his eyes.

"Please tell me she never forced you to do anything," he murmured. And Elide could feel the anger, the raw, undiluted fury that laced his words, but also the sorrow for her. The need to protect her from the thousand possibilities that were surely forming in his mind.

She tightened in her shoulders and shook her head, suddenly feeling self-conscious, "It wasn't really a forcing, it was more a convincing me to- it was a convincing me to want it. She never touched me when I didn't want to, but she was pushing me to believe I wanted it. There were times when I didn't want to have sex and she could get me to give in by telling me certain things." then she blushed, feeling how stupid her words sounded. "I'm sorry, that makes absolutely no sense."

Lorcan opened his eyes wide, shaking his head, "No, Elide, no. It makes perfect sense." and as he said it, he shifted her slightly so he could lie back down next to her. "No one should try to turn a no into a yes."

Elide wrapped her arms around his hips and he settled so that she was half lying on his chest. One of his arms ended around her shoulders and the other found its place on her hip.

She closed her eyes, resting a hand on his chest and feeling his heart beat beneath her fingers, "I know, I don't know why I apologized," she confessed, "Again, it's not something that affects me anymore. I have no problem when I do something. If I don't want to do it, I let whoever I'm with know, and if they don't stop right away, I'll leave." Feeling him stiffen again, she was quick to point out that no one had ever asked her to do anything she didn't want to. After Ava, she'd never met anyone who pushed her to do more.

"I'm sorry, even though you're over it and you say it doesn't affect you in any way, I'm sorry that you had to spend months on end with this person and that it took you so long to realize it," he whispered, leaving a kiss on her hair.

Elide started to lightly caress his skin and a shiver ran through her body. She had almost forgotten about the freezing cold that reigned over the flat. Lorcan moved a little to pick up the blanket that had fallen and placed it over her, tucking it under her back.

"Don't worry, it all ended with a big bang." she giggled and it was as if the body she was lying on relaxed completely as the tension he had built up until that moment disappeared. "Asterin took her sweet time in giving me justice."

"What happened?"

"The first Christmas we were supposed to spend together I found out she had another girlfriend."

Lorcan opened his mouth wide, "Are you serious?"

She nodded, with an amused smile. It no longer hurt to think about Ava and everything that had happened to her in the months they had been together, "It was early December or so and I was on my way home to my parents after spending the weekend with her. I was going inside and Jenna appeared out of nowhere," she explained, resting her chin on his chest and watching his reaction, "Jenna was the other girl."

Lorcan nodded for her to continue.

"She started insulting me, telling me it was my fault that her relationship with Ava was going badly and I," Elide chuckled remembering how confused she had been at the time, "I was going to ask her who the fuck she was and what she wanted from me and then Manon and Asterin came out of my house and I remember thinking I was dreaming. Because my two best friends were supposed to be six hours away and there was a crazy woman in my front yard.

"Jenna called Ava and I don't remember exactly what they yelled at me, but somehow Ava managed to blame me for everything, even the things that had nothing to do with Jenna, but were internal to our relationship." she sighed, biting the inside of her cheek, "Manon was calm, sort of, but Asterin was so pissed." she opened her eyes wide, shaking her head.

Lorcan worked his jaw, stroking her arm, "I bet my ass she was, who wouldn't be."

"Anyway," she continued as if he hadn't spoken, "Jenna tried to hit me at one point and I think if it wasn't for Manon literally knocking me to the ground pulling me back I'd have a crooked nose right now. Asterin hit back for me and she was pretty frightening afterwards. Ava got in between the two of them and it went on for a while. They only left when Manon threatened to call the police.

"That night when my parents came home I had to explain everything to them. It was the night I had to come out and I couldn't help thinking that that was exactly what Ava had wanted all along. I knew my parents would accept me no matter what I told them or whoever I brought home, but it should have been my decision and she managed to wrest everything from me, even this.

"I found out later that Manon and Asterin had come back to Perranth to surprise me. I don't know what would have happened if they hadn't been there and I don't think I want to know. I'm just very happy that Rin managed to land some good blows," she concluded, smiling faintly at Lorcan.

He watched her for a while in silence, then he snorted, bringing a hand to his face, "God," he chuckled, "What a fucking story."

She tightened her arms around his body, "Yeah, and one I'd rather never tell again."

His eyes softened, "My lips are sealed," he murmured, then smiled, shaking his head as if he still couldn't believe what he'd just heard. Then he actually laughed, and Elide felt her heart warm up at that sound, "I'm so glad you made it out of there," then he cursed under his breath, still in an amused tone, "I guess I'll have to seriously consider Asterin's offer, to thank her somehow."

The girl pulled herself up slightly, raising her eyebrows and smiling, "Would you really do that?"

Lorcan's expression turned questioning, "I don't know if I should worry about you being so excited about fucking The Blondies," he said, mimicking air quotes with his fingers, "But no, honey," he shook his head with an apologetic grimace, "as satisfying as the image of you fucking more than one person at a time is, I'd rather not take part in such things."

Elide laughed, "You don't have to give me excuses, I understand. It's not for everyone."

Lorcan looked at her more closely, "Can I ask you one thing?"

"Even two," she said with a smile on her lips.

"You don't have to answer if you don't want to and feel fully within your rights to slap me if I'm-"

She put a hand over his mouth, shushing him, "If it's questions about my sex life you can ask me anything you want babe, I'm not the type to keep my adventures secret or private. Unless the other participants explicitly ask me to." she removed her hand slowly and he licked his lips.

He nodded thoughtlessly, "How many threesomes have you had?"

She giggled, pressing her face against his chest, "I wouldn't know, I don't keep tabs. I can tell you though, I don't have enough fingers to count."

"Hmm," was his only reply, "And have you done things with even more people?"

Elide tilted her head to the side as she felt his hands begin to slowly caress her side, her arm, over the blanket, and she felt again the imposing need to strip naked of every bit of clothing so she could feel his caresses on her skin.

"I might have." she decided to tease him.

Lorcan smirked, "So much for being comfortable with your sex life."

Elide slowly bent one leg, bringing it up until her knee brushed the crotch of his trousers and he tilted his head towards hers, brushing his lips against hers. "Perhaps I want to play a game with you," she murmured, licking his bottom lip. When her eyes met his and he nodded, she carried on, sliding her hand down his lower chest, "It only happened once, that I was having sex with a few people at once. Why don't you try saying a number and every time you get it wrong, you have to take off a piece of clothing?"

He smiled, closing his eyes and Elide felt him harden against her thigh, which had started to move as she pressed her centre against his leg. His voice grew hoarse, "What if I guess? What do I win?"

She rose slightly, pressing her breasts to him, and kissed him the moment her hand slipped under his shirt, going to rub his abs. Lorcan's skin was on fire.

Elide's tongue slid over his and she moaned into the kiss when the hand that was around her shoulders slid under her arm and came to rest on her breast, his thumb caressing the already hard nipple under all those layers of fabric.

"I need you naked," she murmured, pulling away from the kiss only briefly, continuing to rub her sex with his taut, hard leg. Lorcan had other ideas though.

"Wait," he said breathlessly, placing a hand on her face, brushing her hair out of her eyes, and smiled as a king who had just won a war would, "Six."

Elide released a surprised laugh, nodding softly, "Yes," she scratched the skin of his stomach softly, "How did you-"

Her words were cut short by Lorcan's lips crashing into hers. She moaned into the kiss as one of his hands clasped over her ass. Her hips began to rub more forcefully against his leg and when a louder moan forced its way out of her, he pulled away, lifting the leg she kept draped over his hips and turned her towards the TV, putting her in the position they'd been in earlier.

Elide was about to ask him if he was serious.

He couldn't tease her like that and kiss her and touch her and then-

She stiffened as the hand on her stomach began to trace a path to her navel slowly and his hips brushed against hers, she shivered when his mouth grazed the shell of her ear, "You didn't lay down the terms for my victory, so now we play by my rules."

Elide's throat went dry and when she tried to swallow she found herself gulping down air. She sighed when his hand reached the hem of her trousers and slipped under the loose elastic, sliding over the thin fabric of her panties, never getting close to her throbbing spot.

"And what," she breathed, closing her eyes as his other hand crept under her neck and Lorcan bent his arm so that he could reach her breasts unhindered, "what rules am I supposed to follow?"

"First of all," he whispered hoarsely, leaving light kisses on her jaw to her temple, "we should take this hoodie off. Because it's blocking me from touching your gorgeous tits and I don't like it."

Elide arched her back slightly, letting him lower the zip of her hoodie.

She wasn't used to standing still while someone ordered her what to do in bed. She wasn't always the one in charge, but she always had a way of turning the situation to her liking whenever she wanted, whereas right now, with her body tight in Lorcan's grip and pressed against his chest, she found it hard to even breathe.

Not least because the hand that had taken to kneading her low stomach had drifted lower, so slowly that Elide could have screamed in frustration.

The only thing that wasn't letting her lose control completely was the hard presence pressing against her bottom that let her know he must be in as much agony as she was.

"Lorcan," she begged him, tightening her hand around the arm wrapped around her neck. The hand not busy in the gentle torture in her trousers had moved the hoodie enough to allow Lorcan easy access that she would feel his touch even through the fabric of her shirt.

When the palm of his hand made contact with Elide's left breast, she gasped and didn't have time to assimilate the thumb and forefinger closing around the sensitive nipple that Lorcan's other fingers finally touched the apex of her thighs.

The sound that came from her lips was shattering. She spread her legs slightly, letting his fingers apply more pressure as they circled her clit.

With labored breathing and his chest rising and falling against her back, she managed to say, "More."

"You want more?" asked Lorcan, "How can I give you more?"

She moaned when he pinched her nipple a little harder, pulling and releasing it as her hips began to grind against his hand, trying to push him lower, "Touch me."

Elide heard him swallow behind her, but when he spoke, his voice was firm and teasing, "I'm already touching you, honey."

She whined, opening her mouth and letting out a groan of discomfort when she felt the lack of his fingers against her clit, "More." she repeated desperately, moving her hips back, against him, to relieve some of the tightness between her legs, "Touch me."

This was the Elide she knew. The one who gave orders to her partner even when it looked like the other had the upper hand.

Apparently, however, that wasn't the situation.

Lorcan removed both hands from her body, "I'll touch you when I decide you deserve it."

Elide opened her eyes wide, whimpering, "You can't do that."

He chuckled. Lorcan chuckled, "I just did."

"Lorcan." she said in a threatening voice, starting to turn towards him.

One of his hands, the one that had been occupied in her panties until moments before, snapped to her hip, pinning her down. He clicked his tongue a couple of times, "Don't even think about it." he whispered and Elide could hear the sneer in his voice, "Watch the tv and wait for things to come to you."

She was about to retort, tell him to fuck off and say she didn't feel like playing games, she wanted to feel him, to have him. If he didn't waste time, they could finally take the final step and Elide couldn't wait to feel that big, fat cock inside-

"It's like I can hear your thoughts from here. I can feel the wheels in your head turning, turning, turning," he said, moving a hand to her forehead and tapping it with a finger. "We've been together less than a week, but I know exactly what you're thinking when you look at me. How you fantasize-"

"You're only as good as your words, then?" she said with bated breath, feeling the heat build up deep in her stomach, "Because if you know what I'm thinking and you're not doing anything to make it real, then we have a problem."

Lorcan was silent for so long that Elide wondered if maybe she hadn't crossed a line. A hand brushing against her swollen nipple every so often, almost as if he didn't even notice, didn't give her enough time to think about how to apologize. She knew that some people found the courage to be talkative in bed until the other person talked back.

They'd already spent a lot of time in the sheets, considering only the mere days of their relationship, but that didn't mean Lorcan was comfortable with her talking back to him.

She was about to open her mouth, finally getting a break from that light, lingering tit torture, when Lorcan spoke up, "Take off your pants."

"What?"

"Now." he said in a hard voice, slipping a thumb under the hem of her trousers and starting to pull them down along her sides. Elide was appalled. "Since you're so keen on doing things quickly. Take off your pants." he repeated, with a little more urgency in his tone.

She looked over her shoulder at him, lifting her hips slightly off the cushions and bending her right leg for him to slip them off. She was about to put her leg down, bend the other to take strip down entirely and throw them on the floor along with the now forgotten blanket, but Lorcan's fingers tightened around her ankle and placed her foot on his hip, "Hold still."

Elide, completely open and exposed to his mercy, moaned softly and looked into his eyes, seeing the lust for her, for her body, there. She didn't even feel the cold biting into her skin anymore as his hand loosened its grip on her ankle and began to move up, up to her knee and then, much to her disappointment, down again.

Elide's head fell back and she couldn't sit still following his orders, moving her left leg to slip her trousers off once and for all.

Lorcan's hand snapped to her left thigh, pinning her down again, but when he realised she was only trying to undress, he gave a small nod with his chin and she released a long sigh at the utter dominance of her boyfriend.

"God you're beautiful." he murmured against her cheek, brushing her skin with his lips. Elide turned to him just enough so she could kiss him and as their tongues entwined, his hand slid to her stomach and, without hesitation, he slipped under the elastic of her panties.

She gaped into the kiss, opening her eyes and catching just a glimpse of the grin on his lips as his fingers brushed her clit, now sensitive from the attention it had received earlier, and slid lower, parting her lower lips. Her eyes snapped shut, eliciting a low chuckle from him.

The sound made Elide's muscles clench and it didn't go unnoticed by the man, "Just cause I laugh?" he whispered, pressing his forehead against hers, "What are you going to do when I actually touch you?" he asked. His fingers left her skin for a second before bringing her folds apart and it was then that Lorcan bit her lip, making her moan at the exact moment he ran his middle finger over her entrance, utterly soaked for him.

"Fuuck." she said slowly as his finger traced imaginary lines from her clit to her sex over and over again, until Elide grew overly impatient and began to sway her hips.

Lorcan breathed in her ear, "Don't move," he began to roll his finger over her entrance, pushing just the tip in and teasing her.

The fingers holding her open loosened their grip and Elide had to hold back a cry when Lorcan finally pushed his finger inside her, ever so slowly that her eyes rolled in her head at that slight stretch. Her fingers had never been big or thick and they certainly weren't as long as his.

When he thrust his whole finger inside her, starting to rub her clit with his thumb, her hips snapped up and the hand Lorcan held on her chest slipped into the neck of her shirt, finding only bare, soft skin. He muttered, "Girl, you really don't know what bras are, hmm? I'll never have the satisfaction of taking one off."

Elide couldn't find the words as Lorcan began pumping his finger inside her and when he added one, shoving them in very slowly, she couldn't hold back any longer and moaned so loudly she doubted the neighbours wouldn't hear them.

The hand that had taken to kneading her breasts continued undisturbed as Lorcan's mouth found its place on her neck and Elide caught fire. There wasn't a part of him that wasn't touching her and she could feel the way this made him feel.

His fingers picked up a little more speed and his thumb stopped stroking her rosy little pearl much to her chagrin, but she didn't think about how close she had been to coming when a third finger entered her, spreading her even wider.

She couldn't help herself when she thought that even just his fingers gave the same feeling as a good portion of the dicks she had seen. She didn't know if she'd ever tell him.

"I know I've told you this before," he panted against her skin, "But fuck, you're so tight."

A soft moan left her lips as one of her arms folded behind her, tightening around Lorcan's neck and pushing him against her hard. His fingers arched inside her, hitting that sweet spot of rough skin and Elide's eyes went wide, "Fuck, yeah. There, don't stop."

Lorcan didn't and sped up his movements, angling his hand so that it was always hitting the sensitive spot inside her that only with toys could she touch on her own, sucking on the skin under her ear and drawing blood back up until a bruise began to form. He licked the sore spot before biting her jaw, turning her to face him and capturing her lips with his.

The hand that was wrapped around him slid between their bodies and Elide never regretted what she did during sex, but in that moment, as her hips moved against his hand in search of that high she so craved and his mouth proclaimed her his, she imagined there was a first time for everything.

She touched him through his jeans, feeling his hard length ready for her, but Lorcan didn't seem to like the deed because in an instant his hand was out of her panties and his mouth was no longer on hers. The hand that had been tending to her nipples slipped out of her shirt with impressive rapidity and when Elide finally breathed, realising how little of her he was now touching, she closed her eyes, almost crying.

"You should have asked," he said through his teeth, thrusting his chin forward, "It wasn't in the rules. Or was it?"

Elide groaned, unable to open her eyes, "Lorcan."

"It wasn't in the rules." he repeated, starting to stroke her bare thigh, sending shivers down her spine, "We should do something about that."

"Yeah," spat Elide, "finish your fucking job."

Lorcan's eyebrows shot up, "You're not used to being ordered around." Elide looked up at him and the expression on her face was enough of an answer as Lorcan smiled mischievously, "Perhaps we should move to the bed."

She clenched her fists, "Perhaps, you should finish. Your. Job."

Lorcan brought his hand to her covered sex and Elide moaned, biting her lip. He cupped her through her panties and then gave her a little nudge with his hips, "Bed."

She grunted, knowing full well there would be no convincing him, so she sighed and pulled herself up onto her seat, closing her legs and feeling how wet she actually was.

Lorcan put both hands around her hips and kissed the back of her neck, "I promise I'll make it up to you in not even a minute."

Elide, despite her frustration for not having come, smiled from over her shoulder, pulling herself to her feet and spreading her arms wide, "You carry me."

Lorcan smiled at her from a sitting position, her body between his legs, and when he circled her hips with his arms, leaning forward to leave a kiss on her stomach, Elide's demeanor softened. He stood up, sliding his hands under her thighs and taking her in his arms with a smooth swing of his hips.

Elide laid her hands on his face, smiling back at him, "I sincerely hope you finish your job cause I might have to take care of this myself and I wouldn't let you touch anything. I don't know how much you'd enjoy it, at that point - the teasing."

Lorcan snorted, "Like you'd really be able to let me just watch."

She frowned, still with that sly smile on her face, as he started walking towards his room, "Maybe not tonight, because I can't wait any longer, but I'll take your word for it, Salvaterre." then she winked, leaving a light kiss on his cheek before whispering, "We'll see who gives in first when you watch me touch myself without being able to do anything."

She felt Lorcan falter in his steps and was content with even just that reaction.

She had already won.

"We'll see," he murmured.

Once in the room, it didn't take Lorcan half a moment to lay her down on the black cotton covers and she pulled herself up to the headboard.

Elide looked around the room and then ran a hand over the sheets, grimacing when she found them scratchy, "Why do you sleep on sandpaper?"

He huffed, crawling across the mattress until he was half lying on top of her, "Not everyone can afford silk sheets, honey."

She smiled sweetly at him, laying her hand on his bicep, "I'll get you some for your birthday."

Lorcan furrowed his brow, "Sorry Ellie, but right now," he had moved so close that he was now standing in front of her and she could feel his breath on her nose. Hips pressed against hers while still too many layers separated them, "I couldn't care less about the sheets."

She pouted, "It was just a commen- uh."

She opened her lips wide in surprise to feel his mouth against hers, but closed her eyes immediately and kept molding her lips so that they were never parted from his.

Elide brought both arms behind his head, pushing him harder against her and wrapped her legs around his hips.

Lorcan was too lost in the kiss to realise his girlfriend's true intentions and failed to react when with a quick jerk of her hips, Elide found herself on top of him, straddling him. She didn't break the kiss, but loosened her arms from his neck and without breaking away from him, slipped off her hoodie, with Lorcan's help.

"You're way overdressed," she breathed between one touch of lips and another, "You need to take something off."

She pulled herself up, staying on his thighs and began to fiddle with the zip of his trousers. Lorcan's hands snapped forward and when she had unfastened the button, he pulled the garment down with such force that Elide hopped up on her heels and they both chuckled, "And you say I'm the one who wants to do it quick," she teased him, helping him pull them off all the way, along with his socks.

She leaned down again, placing a swift peck on his lips as he began to caress her arms and her hands slipped under his t-shirt, touching that skin that still burned despite the temperature dropping with such speed that Elide wondered how she was still alive.

"You need to take this fucking shirt off because it smells too much like Rowan and I can't touch you if I think-"

"Got it."

Casting a quick glance at him, she saw the ghost of a smile on his lips and one began to form on hers, but Lorcan pulled himself up, removing his jumper and shirt with a simple movement of his arm and Elide felt that familiar warmth reappear stronger than before in her stomach as he stood almost completely naked in front of her.

"You still have your shirt on," he pointed out to her, drawing her attention back to his face and not to the sculpted abs he was sporting.

Elide smirked, fighting the haze that was blinding her mind, "And I'm not taking it off for a bit longer, I want to enjoy myself first."

She put a hand on his chest, pushing him and forcing him to lean against the headboard, "What do you want to do? I haven't-"

"You've had your chance, now it's my turn," she reprised him, not letting him finish.

She slid her fingers slowly across his chest, scratching the skin with her nails just enough to mark his body. Lorcan's hands ended up on her thighs, caressing the skin there in circular motions and the loving smile on his face made her freeze with her fingers wrapped around the elastic of his boxers now struggling to contain his erection.

"What is it?"

Lorcan closed his eyes, giving her legs a little squeeze, "Nothing."

Elide smiled more widely, lowering his boxers a little and letting his cock finally spring free. He didn't waste another second, and then her hand wrapped around him.

"Fuck, Elide." he sighed, opening his mouth and throwing his head back on the pillow.

She began to slowly pump him, never really touching his most sensitive spot. With her right hand wrapped around his erection and her left working his balls - something she found drove Lorcan insane - Elide felt her core heat up with a new desire.

She looked at her lover's face, chuckling at the expression of sheer ecstasy that morphed his features as she ran her thumb over the tip, drawing a choked groan from him. "You're so big I can't even close my fingers around you," she murmured, shifting her eyes to his member.

His hips snapped forward and Elide twisted her wrist, starting to massage him harder.

Lorcan arched his back as she closed her fist over the tip and groped it for a few seconds too long. One of his hands snapped on her wrist and pulled her away from his hard-on. Elide, with an amused grin on her face, moved her hand from his balls to his cock, squeezing it so hard that he groaned one more time before he pulled himself up to his seat and grabbed her other hand as well.

Now, he with bated breath and she with a satisfied expression on her face, they looked at each other as if they both knew exactly where it was all going and neither spoke when Lorcan picked her up and laid her gently on the bed, kissing her with a softness he rarely showed to the outside world, but was always ready to flaunt when it came to her.

He ran his tongue over her lips, caressing every inch of exposed skin on her legs, and when his fingers finally reached her panties, Elide heard his breathing quicken, as if he hadn't seen her naked before, as if his hand hadn't been inside her just minutes before. He pulled them off so slowly that she wondered how many minutes, hours, days had passed.

They pulled apart slightly, foreheads still pressed together as Lorcan gently parted her thighs and ran a knuckle between her folds, feeling how wet and ready for him she was.

Elide opened her mouth, breathing in the air he was giving her when without warning, he entered her with a finger and quickly withdrew, adding one and then another until she was fully content and he began to move in earnest. He fucked her with his hand for a while, never slowing his pace, until she felt that tight squeezing sensation in her stomach, lower down, tugging and pulling like a taut rope.

"You're so beautiful." he murmured, curling his fingers upwards and scratching that sensitive spot inside her. Elide moaned loudly, clinging to his arms and arching her back. "So fucking beautiful."

"Lor-" his name broke off as he stopped and very slowly slipped a fourth finger inside her. She lowered her gaze between their bodies and when his palm began to rub urgently against her clit, Elide fractured around his fingers.

Her nails sank into his muscular arms as she arched and her body was shaken by violent jolts, one stronger than the last until she could take them no more and the fingers inside her didn't stop. Just as the heel of his hand did not stop as it continued to grind furiously against her bundle of nerves.

Elide cried, snapping a hand between the two of them as Lorcan's mouth closed over hers again. The orgasm still coursed through her, but she was too sensitive, too sensitive. She managed to pull his hand away from her clit, but his fingers continued relentlessly and Elide felt something that only a few times alone she had been able to feel, and as good as it had been, she was not at all inclined to do it in front of Lorcan.

"Wait," she managed to throw out. He stilled immediately, smiling and flexing his fingers inside her one last time, stroking her gently, before pulling them out of her quivering pussy. He cupped her sex and she trembled, closing her eyes and feeling the muscles in her body twitch as a rush went through her.

"You did so good, El." he whispered, kissing her cheeks, one at a time, and then her nose, her lips, until she opened her eyes and laid a hand on her face. She delighted in the touch. "So good, baby."

Elide wanted to tell him at that moment.

She wanted to tell him what she felt in the bottom of her heart, that emotion of deep respect and admiration. For the person he was and the perfect, patient friend he proved to be every day. For the things he made her feel, whether they were good or bad - because they were so strong, she didn't think she could feel that way with anyone else in the world.

For the trust she had been able to give him without even thinking about it almost an hour earlier on the couch in their house. For the love he gave her without even realising it every day.

And as she looked into his eyes, she knew she would tell him, sooner or later. Just, not right then.

"I wanna touch you."

Lorcan's smile turned sly, "Be my guest."

Her body still a little weak from the orgasm she had just received, she managed to pull herself up and her boyfriend, understanding her intentions, lay down where she had been just seconds before, folding his arms behind his head and stretching out fully naked at her mercy.

"You look pretty good tonight, babe," she whispered, tracing his abs with her fingertips, moving towards the line of hair that ran across his pubes. A single finger passed over his entire length and when it reached the tip, his cock twitched and Lorcan released a choked moan.

Elide looked up at him, closing her fingers around him as before, but failing to touch the head. She lowered her gaze to his sex and smiled, licking her lips to wet them and then lowered herself onto him, parting her lips just enough to slide him into her mouth in one breath.

Lorcan truly moaned this time, so loudly that Elide heard it ringing in her ears, and when she pushed lower, relaxing the muscles in her throat and taking him all the way in, his hips jerked upwards and the tip of his cock hit the back of her throat.

Despite the training Elide had forced herself to do over the years to be able to take her partners entirely, Lorcan was more than considerable in size and certainly not average, and when she pulled back to get some air and he followed her with his hips, she found herself gagging.

His eyes were on her lips, glossy with his precum as they moved over the head of his cock. She swirled her tongue along the length of him and bobbed her head as much as she could without having to pull away.

"Fuck, Elide," he breathed, dropping his arms down his sides and throwing his head back. His hands closed around the sheets and Lorcan had never felt like this. No one had ever been able to make him feel this good with just a blow job and he was about to tell her so, but if one moment Elide's lips were locked on him and her nose rubbed against his waist, the next the cold air hit his hard cock and not even her hand was on his thigh anymore.

He lowered his gaze to where her head should have been, but Elide was kneeling between his legs and stripping off the last of her clothes. The shirt disappeared in the blink of an eye and the panties the next and the girl gave no warning to him before straddling him and rubbing her now completely wet sex up and down its length.

They both moaned loudly at that first contact.

Lorcan's hands soon found her hips and as Elide slid a hand between her legs and spread her lips to glide him better against her heat. Each time she thrust forward, the tip of his cock hit her clit, eliciting an increasingly loud moan from her.

She was still a little sensitive from her first orgasm and Lorcan was so hard, so warm against her. She could feel so much pleasure just rubbing against him and couldn't imagine what it would be like to finally have him inside her. Elide pressed herself more forcefully against his body, grinding her hips into his and opening her mouth wide when a thrust a little too hard caused her to drop past the tip and it nudged against her entrance, giving them both a taste of what was to come.

His cock was dripping wet with her arousal and the way her lips wrapped neatly around the skin of his dick, creating the perfect friction, made Lorcan think he was in heaven.

It was as if he couldn't shift his gaze from the sight he never thought he'd be able to see, but the second Elide's eyes met Lorcan's, in an instant his hands moved to her breasts, fiercely kneading those perfect, round tits he loved so much. He pinched the nipples as Elide's movements became more erratic and he pulled and rubbed the darker sensitive skin.

"It's so good, you're so- ah." Elide fell forward, both hands on his chest as he didn't stop his movements and the orgasm flowed through her.

Lorcan brought his hands to her waist again as her motion began to falter, "Don't fucking stop, don't stop."

Elide screamed his name, her stomach contracted again and again until her body couldn't take it anymore and the jolts of pleasure that started from her hot core and reached every nerve ending in her small body broke her thoroughly. He continued to move her gently against him, pushing through the aftershocks until she couldn't take them either and collapsed against him.

Lorcan's arms quickly found their place on her back and Elide was breathing frantically, her head tucked into the niche between his head and shoulder. He laid a hand on the small of her back, "Are you alright?"

She didn't answer, but nodded slowly, relaxing her arms against her sides and letting him slide her off his body and onto the mattress. With one arm draped over his chest and one leg entwined in his, Elide felt at home.

"You sure you wanna do this tonight?" he asked her, stroking an eyebrow and moving her hair out of her face. She nodded again, keeping her eyes closed, and felt him settle down on the bed. "You don't have to do this just because I haven't come yet, in fact, I'd really rather not do anything if you're too tired or satisfied enough and-"

One of Elide's hands snapped to his mouth, "Give me five minutes and if you don't put your huge cock inside me then I'm leaving."

Lorcan made a sound somewhere between a laugh and a moan, "Yes ma'am." he murmured against her hair, leaving a kiss there shortly after.

Elide traced the tip of her index finger over his chest, following the rhythm of his breaths and after a few minutes where his hands roamed over her body as well, she lifted her head just enough to kiss him and Lorcan understood without her uttering a word and she loved him a little more.

He moved on top of her without weighing on her and never parting their lips and the more he tried to pull away the more she got off the bed, until they were sitting up and Lorcan had to put his hands on her shoulders and force her away. He laughed with a odd glint in his eyes, "Why don't you just lie down and let me do this?"

Elide hesitated for a moment, the words on the tip of her tongue, denial ready to strike... but why not accept the offer? Why not let someone else do it all for once?

She gave a small nod and settled down on the covers, legs spread wide for Lorcan as he sat on his knees like a subject before his queen, naked for her pleasure.

He moved closer, lifting her legs just enough to place them over his thighs and Elide moaned when she felt the tip of his cock graze her pussy. He hadn't thought she would still be so sensitive after all this time.

Lorcan arched his eyebrows, "We'll take it slow."

Elide glared at him, "You try that and I'll have you castrated," she threatened him, "I'm not too conceited to admit that this is one of the best nights of my life, but I've done worse and you know it," she gave him a pointed look, "I don't need you to treat me gently."

He watched her for a few seconds in silence, pondering her words, then nodded, tightening his lips into a thin line. He grabbed his cock in one hand and pushed the tip against her, dragging it up and down her slit and teasing her still sensitive clit. He grunted lowly, feeling how hot and soaked she still was.

Elide moaned, all kinds of venom forgotten as Lorcan brushed her sex with his and made her feel delighted as few before him had managed to do. He parted her lips with his fingers and continued to rub his cock against her, sending surges of pleasure through her body.

"You're fucking amazing." he murmured at one point, pushing the tip against her hole, teasing her and making her think he was finally going to give them both what they wanted most, only to slip his cock back between her folds and then up to nudge her clit.

He was praising her with sweet, dirty, loving words, but Elide just wanted him to slip inside her and finally give her everything he had to offer.

When Lorcan played that little fucking game of his, Elide pushed her hips forward, trying to drive him deeper into her, but he moved back, grinning.

The asshole knew exactly what he was doing.

Elide gritted her teeth and reached between the two of them, grabbing his cock and forcing it against her, not letting it in though. Lorcan leaned forward over her and she met him halfway, sighing when their faces were inches apart and she could feel his breath on her cheeks, "When you said I should let you do it, I thought you were actually going to do something." then tightened her grip on his member, fixing her eyes in his, "So why don't you cut the bullshit and get to it?"

Lorcan's hand that wasn't busy supporting his weight without crushing Elide tightened on her wrist and she released her grip. The smile on his face startled her as much as it turned her on, and when he lowered himself even more, brushing his lips with hers, Elide thought she was going to die, "Let me do this for you."

And then, with a slowness that belonged only to those immortal, he slid inside her, inch by glorious inch and spread her as she had never been spread before.

Elide's mouth formed an o as he continued to slide into her and it seemed to go on forever. Her walls tightened around him and Lorcan grunted, closing his eyes, but opening them again right away, as if he didn't want to miss her expression.

When he touched Elide's wall and pushed harder, straining for space he wouldn't find, Lorcan smiled, biting her lip and pulling away immediately after, "Next time you try to give me an order while I'm on top, I'll make sure the ropes around your wrists are so tight you won't be able to move."

Her back arched at the promise in those words and then Lorcan began to move and Elide felt him. She felt him everywhere as he slowly rolled out of her and back in with a hard thrust and then repeated as her pussy clenched and tightened on him, almost as if her body refused to let him go. The pain wasn't really a pain, more of an ache, but she hadn't felt this kind of sensation since the first few times she'd had sex and rarely could she find people filling her the way he was filling her.

The discomfort almost immediately gave way to pleasure, and stars of light so bright they blinded her exploded behind her eyelids as Lorcan's hand landed on her hip and he pushed her down into the bed, angling his hips so that he hit a very specific spot inside her each time he thrust in.

"Fuck," Elide managed to speak once she found her voice again.

"There you are," Lorcan murmured in a strained voice, bending down just enough to leave a kiss on her lips. "I thought I'd lost you."

"You did for a moment," Elide moaned when he gave a particularly hard thrust, "God, you're so big."

Lorcan grunted, biting her shoulder lightly, continuing to shove down with his hips, with that patience even he didn't know he possessed, "Everything okay?" he asked her, not stopping.

She nodded, smiling reassuringly at him and then moaning, contracting the muscles in her lower abdomen and making him join in with the sounds of pleasure their bodies were making. "Never been better."

The grin of pure male satisfaction on his face did not go unnoticed.

And then Elide looked down and what she saw knocked the air out of her lungs. She clamped down on his dick and Lorcan moaned loudly again, thrusting his hips even further into her, expanding what Elide recognised as the imprint of his cock visible on her stomach.

She reached out a hand between them and Lorcan caught it, stopping her and shaking his head. When he spoke, his voice was even rougher than usual, "Don't touch yourself, not yet."

Elide looked into his eyes and then back down again, feeling a rush of pleasure when he pulled out so much that his tip - which she had noticed with no small amount of glee pointed slightly upwards - rubbed against her most sensitive spot. She managed to shake her head in turn, "No, not that... look."

And Lorcan didn't know what she was referring to and pulling back, stopping so he could look at whatever had managed to distract her in such a moment. Elide stopped him by grabbing his hips and urging him against her and it was at that moment that he saw the bulge that had appeared when he had slipped back into her. He opened his eyes wide, moving slightly, shifting that bulge which he realised was the tip of his cock pressing against her stomach.

"Holy fuck, Ellie, I can see myself moving inside you," he managed to draw out.

At those words and with the resuming of his movements, Elide dropped her head back and when she felt Lorcan's hand push against the bulge on her stomach, she cried out his name.

"You're not giving me orders now, hmm?"

His thumb had begun to draw circles on her clit, massaging it steadily as her walls kept quivering around the hugeness that was him and Lorcan felt the instant Elide came, because the pressure inside her became so great that he was forced out and he didn't have time to realise what was happening when a squirt of liquid hit him, drenching his legs and waist.

His hand never moved from the apex of her thighs and Elide began to shudder with the force of the orgasm that kept spurting inside her.

"You're so fucking hot." he tried to drive into her again, but he couldn't get half an inch in that Elide yelped and the discomfort in that sound was more than the pleasure as he quickly pulled away, finally moving his hand from her clit and giving her a moment's peace.

The instant his fingers were no longer on her, Elide's body slumped back on the covers and she continued to whimper between forced breaths, settling into a fetal position and closing her eyes. Her expression didn't appear to be pained, but he couldn't be sure he hadn't crossed any lines until she told him.

"Elide." the concern in the tone of his voice palpable.

The ache of his erection tugging at his skin and the discomfort of yet another ruined orgasm completely forgotten as he tried to figure out if the girl in front of him was okay.

"Love," he tried again, "Elide, look at me." he ordered, taking her arm. She turned to face him again, and when Lorcan noticed the tears in the corners of her eyes, he felt himself dying inside. "Ellie... god, are you okay?"

She let out a choked laugh, taking his hand and squeezing it with what little strength she had left, "That was the best orgasm of my life." she whispered in a voice so hoarse he almost didn't recognize her. "You broke me," she teased and he knew she was back with him.

Lorcan let go a sigh of relief, running a hand through his hair and over his face, "Fuck, you scared me."

Elide continued to breathe harshly, but held her legs open to make room for him and it amazed him when she arched her hips slightly and invited him to rub himself against her again, telling him to finish inside her.

He shook his head, more serious than ever, "I'm not going to- Ellie you literally yelped like a wounded dog when I just- No, no way." and as he spoke he was pulling away, trying to unwind from her legs without crushing her.

"Lor, you're not going to hurt me," she reassured him, her eyes half closed still in a post-orgasmic haze, "and if you do hurt me, I'll tell you. I promise." she continued, lifting one leg with what little strength she had left in her body and pushed him back against her.

Lorcan studied her face, looking for any sign that she was lying to him. She smiled at him, bringing a hand to his cheek and he sighed. He dropped his head forward and his eyes landed on his erection, which was twitching from the pleasure that had been taken from it.

He looked into Elide's eyes, "You promise. Are you sure?"

She nodded, smirking, "Look who's asking for permission now. You can cont-"

And Lorcan didn't let her finish her sentence, thrusting back in with a firm but gentle thrust at the same time so as not to hurt her.

She opened her mouth wide in a silent scream and it wasn't long before Elide's tight, swollen walls tightened around him in one last overwhelming orgasm that pushed him over the edge as well. He pushed into her all the way to the hilt and pressed his forehead against hers as white ropes of come spurred from his cock into her.

Her name fell from his lips like honey from a beehive.

He fell with the full weight of his body onto Elide and when she grunted, laughing softly, he found the strength to slip off her and fall onto the mattress beside her, wrapping his arms around her shoulders and pulling her onto his chest.

They lay in silence for what seemed like hours, days, years listening to each other's breathing and when Lorcan finally moved, Elide whimpered, "Where are you going?"

He chuckled, "Nowhere," and to prove how true his words were he tightened his grip around her, "I'm here."

She closed her eyes again, trying to close her legs which were starting to get cold, "Maybe we should cover ourselves before the frost steals all our warmth." she mumbled as she was shaken by a chill.

"Five minutes." was his reply.

And then Elide finally managed to bring her legs against his and felt a wet patch on the blankets and like a bolt from the blue she realised what had happened the third magnificent time her boyfriend had made her come.

"What?"

"Sorry?"

"You tensed up. What is it?" asked Lorcan. She felt him stiffen beneath her, "Are you okay? Does anything hurt?"

Elide pulled herself up with some difficulty. It was as if someone had driven a truck over her - a nice truck. She was sore in all the right places. She was about to tell him, her mind wandering so fast she couldn't think of one thing and that was it, but she remembered again the little show she'd put on and felt her cheeks flush, "Shit."

"Ellie, if I've hurt you-" his hand came to rest on her arm and she could see the way Lorcan sought her gaze, but she couldn't wade through it.

"No, Lor, you didn't hurt me," she said softly, then wrinkled her brow, "Can we sleep in my room?"

He didn't answer right away, but when he did his voice was harsher, "Until you tell me what's wrong, I'm not moving."

Elide brought a hand to her face, "Lor-"

"No, Elide," he said her full name and in that moment it didn't sound sexy or teasing, just dreadful, "you can't even look at me." and the pain, the uncertainty in his tone made her look up.

The worry in those black pools would have brought her to her knees if they were standing. At that moment, she didn't even know if she would be able to walk on her own, she doubted.

"What is it?" he pushed, taking her hands in his.

Elide bit her lip and then closed her eyes, "The sheets are wet."

She couldn't say directly what had happened.

"You mean to tell me that you'd never come- that you hadn't squirted in your life?"

Her eyes widened and his expression was completely different from what she had imagined. Only pride in what he had managed to do shone in his eyes.

"It's not- it was-" she stammered, clasping her hands together, "It wasn't the first time, but it's never happened to me with anyone else." she explained, straightening her back, "I've managed it a few times on my own, but never that hard anyway."

Lorcan chuckled, hugging her and putting one hand on her hair while the other went to stroke her back, "Ellie, it's okay."

She didn't know why she was so embarrassed, she just knew that she didn't know what he liked in bed and didn't want to fuck anything up.

They continued to talk for a while about the seemingly millions of times his magic cock had managed to make his girls squirt and Ellie proudly told of the very few times she had managed to do it on herself and it was only when the cold began to be unbearable that Lorcan got up and took her to the bathroom. He helped her clean herself, holding her upright in the shower while he wiped all traces of their orgasms from her skin with a cloth soaked in icy water.

He picked her up and carried her to her bed and handed her pyjamas and some very warm socks before leaving her alone under the covers that were much thicker and much softer than his own.

Elide was half asleep when he too crawled into bed behind her and held her to his chest until sleep claimed them both.

tog tag list (if you wanna be added or removed let me know)

@maastrash @ireallyshouldsleeprn @sleeping-and-books @ladywitchling @thegoddessofyou @ghostlyrose2 @claralady @anne-reads @sayosdreams @perseusannabeth @letstakethedawn @simping4bookboisngrls @post-it-notes33 @booksstorm @nalgenewhore @queen-of-demons-and-hell @miserablemusings @lanyjoy-13 @vasudharaghavan @cupcakey00 @bri-loves-sunflowers @queen-of-glass @thewayshedreamed @the-regal-warrior @fangirlprincess09 @januarystears

#elorcan #elide lochan #lorcan salvaterre #elorcan roommates au #tog fic #throne of glass #kingdom of ash #koa #honey

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