They migrated shortly after, to the smaller room that the Exarch had chosen as a bedchamber. The bed showed little sign of use, but it was far more comfortable than the Ocular floor. After they had cleared it of books, of course.

“I’m afraid you have me at a disadvantage,” the Exarch said ruefully as he attempted to tidy some of the stacks of books and at least clear the area around the bed. “I had not expected to be inviting anyone into this room.”

“I understand completely.” In all honesty, the mess was a bit endearing – it showed the Exarch’s passion for words, in both an informational and a recreational sense. Also… Brynne openly admired his naked form as he moved about, tail swishing back and forth. It was kind of nice to be able to view him like this.

He looked up after moving one of the stacks, catching her eye, and titled his head with a small smile. “Apologies – the crystal is a bit unnerving, I know.”

He’d missed the mark on her reason for staring – by quite a bit. Brynne shook her head. “I was just thinking about how beautiful you look,” she said honestly, and smiled back warmly. “I don’t find it unnerving at all.”

The Exarch blinked, clearly taken aback, and then fidgeted under her gaze, rubbing his spoken hand over his crystalline forearm anxiously. “There’s no need to be kind with your words – I am an unfortunate mess, as you see.”

“I wasn’t being particularly kind.” Brynne stepped forward, reaching out to take his hands in hers. “You are beautiful,” she repeated firmly when he met her gaze again. “Every inch of you is perfect.”

He took in a breath, and then smiled fondly, shoulders relaxing. “A sentiment held by you alone – but it is your opinion which I most cherish.” His fingers twined with hers. “Thank you.”

“No need to thank me for speaking true.” She gave his hands a squeeze. “Shall we retire, then?”

“Yes, but first,” he said, bringing her hands up to kiss each in turn, “I believe I owe you several compliments on your beauty.” He smiled at her surprise, eyes warm and fond. “Every time I look at you, I cannot but think that you are more stunning than the last. It leaves me breathless.”

Brynne could feel her cheeks growing hot, but couldn’t look away. The sheer amount of devotion in that gaze was mesmerizing. She could only hope to be worthy of it. “Flattery like that will go straight to a lady’s head,” she teased. “But thank you all the same.”

There was a beat of silence between them, comfortable if a tiny bit awkward.

Brynne let out a tiny cough. “Bed?”

“Yes, of course,” the Exarch responded, just a little too quickly. He released her hands to indicate their direction. “Right this way, O Warrior of Darkness.”

“Why thank you, my Lord Exarch.” She noted with interest that his ears perked up and his cheeks took on some color as she spoke the title, and filed that away for exploration later.

Surely with the immediate danger passed, there’d be plenty of time for such things.

Brynne took the initiative, moving towards the bed and tugging him along with her. On a whim, she deliberately overbalanced and pulled him down on top of her, laughing merrily. The grin that formed on his face reminded her of his younger days, and he retaliated by caging her with the blankets, tucking them both into a tight cocoon. They tussled for a few moments longer, making an absolute mess of the bed, before their laughter started to die down and they both lay still, facing one another.

The Exarch brushed aside a stray lock of hair that had fallen over her cheek. “I haven’t laughed so much in years,” he admitted, still grinning. 

The sight of him, fully relaxed and with joy writ plain on his face, warmed her heart. “You should more often. It suits you.”

“I believe I shall, with you at my side.” He regarded her with open adoration, but his tone took on a humorous note. “Something tells me that there will not be a dull moment to be had.”

“I’m afraid not,” Brynne agreed, shifting closer to him and sliding one arm around his waist. “It comes with the territory of being close to the Warrior of Light, you know.”

“I find myself somehow willing to make that sacrifice.” He leaned in to softly kiss her lips, and then smiled fondly at her. “Indeed, I look forward to it.”

She smiled back, feeling her cheeks ache and not minding in the slightest. “As do I.”

---

In the end, she wasn’t certain how long they slept. With no immediate crisis and likely with her friends’ insistence that they needed their rest, it could have been days. All she knew was that when she finally came to, blurrily opening her eyes to take in the waking world, she found the Exarch already watching her, with tousled hair and a small half-smile on his face.

“Mm.” It was a sight she could get used to waking up to. Brynne blinked several times, trying to clear the sleep from her eyes. “G’morning.”

“Good morning,” he responded, voice low and soft. “I trust you slept well?”

“Very well, thank you.” She yawned, stretching her legs out beneath the covers. “Did you?”

“Better than I have in weeks, I must admit.” He reached over to brush the hair from her face. “Though I do feel compelled to mention, I rarely sleep for so long.”

“Well, sometimes you need it.” Brynne captured his hand before he could withdraw it, turning her head to press a kiss to his palm. It was his spoken hand, she noticed, and she had to wonder if he’d positioned himself deliberately to have that hand free. “I’d say being kidnapped for several days, fighting a battle, and then having to swim to freedom does give you that need.”

He chuckled. “You may have a point. I shall have to hope that such activities remain a rarity.”

“I most definitely agree.” She shifted on the mattress, drawing herself closer to him and snaking an arm around his waist to draw their bodies together. “That’s not the sort of – ” She paused, thoughts derailed as she noticed the telltale hard curve of flesh against her hip.

“Ah.” The Exarch shifted back, flushing slightly. “My apologies. I’m afraid one hundred years of celibacy have left me rather…”

“Eager,” Brynne finished, her lips curling in a smile. Her nethers were already stirring at the prospect of more. She lowered her eyelids, gazing at him through her lashes. “I should hope you’re not planning to waste that.”

He blinked, clearly startled. “You – you would want to – ?”

“I’m honestly rather eager myself.” She closed the distance between them again, grinding her hip against his cock and watching with satisfaction as he shut his eyes and let out a little groan. “It’s not been a century for me, but two years seems long enough.”

“Why – ah – has it been two years?” He began to roll his own hips into her movements, flush darkening. His arm slid around her torso, and he pulled her in closer, her breasts pressing against his chest. “Surely there were many eager prospects.”

“Mm, a few,” she admitted, sighing at the feel of the hard points of her nipples catching on his skin as they moved together. She lowered her face to his shoulder and inhaled deeply, picking up the scent that was uniquely him. It set her blood to boiling. “But I’m afraid I was already holding a torch for someone who had the bad sense to lock himself away from me.”

His breath caught, and she used his surprise as an opportunity to roll him over onto his back, straddling his hips and gazing down at the sight beneath her. 

He was beautiful, as she had said before – lithe and fit, the lines of crystal perfectly blending to his skin. When she ran her fingers along those lines, she could feel the contrast between the smooth surface of the crystal and the catch of his skin. And looking up at his face… flushed and dazed, staring up at her with lips parted and eyes full of wonder and lust… Oh, she was lost.

He set his hands to her hips, urging her along as she ground down against him. “You,” he started, and then shut his eyes with another moan as she slid her slick folds along the hard line of his cock. “You waited for – for me?”

“Is that so hard to believe?” She bent her arms, leaning down to catch his lips as they continued to grind together, building the arousal between them to a fever pitch. He kissed her eagerly, straining his neck to meet her. “You waited one hundred years for me,” she murmured against his lips.

“Mm.” He kissed her deeply once more, hips jerking off the bed eagerly as his hands pulled her down firmly. “I did. But somehow, I still find it hard to imagine you doing the same.”

“You need not imagine it.” She pulled back, resting her weight on one arm and reaching back with the other to align his cock with her entrance, teasingly allowing the head to slip against her folds first. “I will tell you everything. Just…” She sank down, and his fingers dug into her hips, both of them gasping with relief as he filled her. “… wait.”

“Gods…” He raised his head off the pillow, gazing down the line of his torso to where he was buried in her body. “You feel like nothing else.”

Brynne squirmed deliberately around his cock, and he threw his head back with a groan. “You feel,” she began, letting him slowly slide out of her, “so good.” She dropped back down just as slowly, relishing in the friction and the stretch. From this position, she could adjust the angle to hit the best spots inside of her, and she began to do so, slowly at first but with increasing speed.

The Exarch’s hands clamped on her hips, trembling as he clearly held himself back from attempting to force a pace on her. “Oh, wicked white,” he moaned, then bit down on his lower lip as she dropped hard and fast on him, taking him to the root. “Don’t stop,” he mumbled, “please…”

His reactions were urging her on nearly as much as the sensations within her body. Brynne panted heavily, pushing herself to go faster – harder – as she watched him squirm beneath her, face flushed and eyes alternating between squeezing shut and staring at her in a lustful haze. “You’re so… perfect, Raha,” she managed, “So good inside me.”

His fingers dug into the flesh of her thighs, hard enough to bruise, and he whined low in his throat, gasping when she instinctively tightened around him as she found the perfect angle.

Gods, it was good. So utterly satisfying. Brynne picked up her pace, chasing her peak shamelessly. She was close now… so very close…

White-hot pleasure lanced through her as she reached orgasm, causing her body to shudder all over and clamp down hard on the Exarch’s cock as she cried out without reservation. Little aftershocks were still pulsing through her as he whined again and held her hips in a steel grip, thrusting up from the bed to wildly chase his own end.

It did not take him long. Still in the afterglow, Brynne watched as he arched his back and let out a series of broken groans. His cock twitched as he released within her body, buried to the hilt, and he shivered all over for a long moment before falling back limply to the bed, panting.

Damn, but he made a beautiful picture like that, face and neck flushed around the crystal, mouth open as he breathed heavily, and crimson eyes dazed with bliss. She could not resist the urge to lean down and kiss his bruised lips, allowing his softening cock to slip from her body.

He kissed her back languidly, arms coming up to pull her down to him, and she rolled a little to land at his side, tucked into his body with his crystalline arm trapped beneath her. It was a comfortable position, and as the kiss broke and they both came down from the high, she even briefly considered drifting back off to sleep. The sloppy feel of his spend trickling from her entrance to catch between her thighs, however, demanded that she take the time to clean herself.

Well, just a few moments longer.

The Exarch let out a weary chuckle, turning his face to kiss her forehead. “I have to say, I consider that to be worth the wait,” he murmured.

Brynne tilted her head up to catch his eyes, a smile spreading on her lips. “Just you wait,” she told him, sliding a hand across his chest. “This is only the beginning.”

And, if she had any say, there would be a long time before the end.

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