Out with the Old [DaGlob]

[DragonSong]

Yvaine shivered again as his lips brushed just above her ear, and she swallowed thickly. She met his eyes for a long moment, another little shudder trickling up from where his fingers stroked over her back, then she shook her head.

"No. It wasn't."

She reached up to curl her fingers around the nape of his neck and pulled him down to her, slowly, cautiously, as though afraid a sudden move might shatter the quiet stillness around them. She stopped when their lips were a breath apart, considering, then tilted her head to press a light, perhaps surprisingly chaste kiss to the corner of his mouth.

[DaGlobster]

Herrick took a moment to drink her shiver in, eyes easily meeting hers as she looked up at him. As her fingers curled around the nape of his neck, his hand finally settled properly on the small of her back, although he only wanted to maintain this tantalizing half-distance between them.

When she paused, their lips apart, she'd be able to hear Herrick's breath catch in anticipation and delight. His eyes slid closed when she leaned in, and he made a hushed, appreciative sound at the feeling of her lips, even if it was a relatively innocent touch.

For the faintest moment, he nuzzled his nose against Yvaine's and guided her hand lower on his hips, drawing her hand behind him so she could hold him like he was holding her.

"Good," Herrick finally murmured, and he mirrored the kiss to the corner of her mouth, but rather than end it there, his lips kissed lower, along her jaw, and finally just beneath it, soothing the drag of his teeth with another kiss, although he was gentle as to not leave any marks.

He knew how this sort of thing worked.

"I could spend a long time admiring you," he said, letting some heated intent out with his words. His lips drifted lower, kissing just that bit further away from her jaw.

"Every last beautiful piece."

[DragonSong]

She let him guide her touch as he would, so close now that she could feel the slight stutter in his breath as a hitch in his chest against hers, and a part of her dearly wished it didn't thrill her as much as it did.

A soft hum rose in her throat when he mirrored her little kiss, which rose to something of a contented sigh when he continued in a trail along her jaw to just barely brush a kiss against her neck.

"Could you now?" she whispered, repressing another shiver at his words. "How long, do you think? An hour? A night?"

Shut up, shut up, shut up and walk away, came the dying gasps of whatever good sense she had. Again, she ignored it, letting her fingers trace lightly up and down his spine as she tilted her head to offer the curve of her neck to his attentions.

[DaGlobster]

Oh, had Herrick been a vampire his very fangs would've curled at the way she offered him her neck. Very much like a vampire, he didn't hesitate for long to accept the offer. It wasn't too far a leap for him to stamp a proper kiss against her neck, his hand slipping to the side of her head to cradle it as he lavished her with attention.

He pressed more of his form to her as he did so, goaded by the gentle skating of her fingers along his spine. Finally, his hand went from the small of her back and settled on her hip properly so he could slot her against him.

"However long it'd take to leave my lady... sufficiently indisposed," he finally whispered, letting his teeth graze close to her collar.

[DragonSong]

That, combined with his attentions to her neck, earned another shiver as Yvaine let her own hand come to rest on his hip and pressed just a fraction closer.

"Mm...promises, promises," she murmured with a hint of a laugh in her voice, lips curled into a crooked smile and her lashes brushing her cheek as her eyes closed. The graze of his teeth against her collar raised goosebumps to her skin along with a flush of color, stark against her fair complexion.

"And just how often have you employed this particular technique in your exploits, hm?" she asked, mock stern.

[DaGlobster]

"I've never done anything like this before," came Herrick's honest reply. It was true! He'd lied and seduced in the past, fair enough. But to be caught by the lady of the house, only to end up in her arms? It was like something out of those books noblewomen kept hidden under their pillows.

It was exactly the kind of danger he lived for.

The grazing of his teeth was replaced with the glide of his lips as he soothed away the marks. Another to the column of her throat. His hand wandered lower so he could gently curve her leg against his hip. He slowly learned her shape, despite the modesty her nightgown provided.

"Never on a haunt, and never with anyone so gorgeous," he said, smile widening as his lips visited the corner of her mouth again. Herrick's lips lingered just a breath away from Yvaine's, part of him still thrilled by their game of intimacy.

"If I promise to give you my heart, just for tonight... will you do the same?"

[DragonSong]

Oh, God help her.

His hand moved to her leg and she momentarily went so tense that there was a fleeting worry she might simply shatter into a thousand crystalline, brittle pieces. And then she all but melted against him, humming quietly when his lips just barely brushed hers and then forcing herself not to chase after the touch when he hovered to maintain that breath of distance.

Her breath caught slightly at his words, and yet again she found herself torn between a rational responsibility and painful, desperate yearning for something more.

"Just...for tonight?" she repeated with a tiny thrill. Just one night. Just a moment, really, in the grand scheme of things. Just one night to allow herself to be utterly free, before a lifetime of being caged in gowns' stays and household duties and loyalty to a man she didn't know or love.

[DaGlobster]

When she finally released her tension and the contact between them became so utterly complete, Herrick let out some air through his teeth and his hands held her more securely. Now that she'd fully melted against him, he wasn't afraid to properly grip her.

"Only tonight," he said with a hint of urgency in his voice. He let his lips close the distance between hers and he could never believe that he'd ever parted the two of them to begin with. Her lips felt like a hot bolt of lightning against his. He tilted his head and drank deeper. His hand remained firm against the inside of her knee, pulling her ever more flush against him until their clothes were the only things separating them.

"Only for you," he murmured after he'd pulled away with a very needy tug on her bottom lip.

[DragonSong]

Yvaine bit back a sound that she was rather worried was a moan when he closed the distance to kiss her properly again. His hand curving her leg more tightly against him felt like a brand through the fabric of her nightdress. She wound her arms around his neck as he pulled her closer, her breath catching for a moment when their chests pressed flush together and she could feel his heartbeat against hers.

The tug of his teeth on her lip earned an honest to goodness gasp, and she had to force herself to go still again rather than chasing after the kiss as he broke away. She blinked at him, lashes hanging low, eyes hazy, and murmured what felt like an obligatory, "You don't even know me..."

Which felt rather wonderful, actually. The idea that they could know little more about one another than their names, and it still felt like this. Her whole body felt moments away from bursting spontaneously into flame, and she wasn't much interested in trying to tame the fire.

She leaned up onto her toes, breathing, "Just for tonight," before her lips were on his again, kissing him like she never intended to stop.

[DaGlobster]

"I don't need to," came the heated whisper from Herrick's lips, just before Yvaine took the kiss for herself and he was silenced good and proper. A low sound welled up in his chest, delight and pleasure, and he let one hand rise to smooth down her head and long hair, down to where it stopped on her back.

She kissed him with a kind of fire and longing that he at once both understood and had never felt before from another person. She took his breath away and when he finally had to surface for more of it he was panting with her.

It was his turn to cut loose.

Spying a low desk very close by, Herrick was quick to display his strength and their difference in size. She already had her arms around his neck, one leg curled against his hip. It was very easy for the tall thief to momentarily support her other leg and back, momentarily lift her, and set her down on the desk. A book or two were moved aside, and a wooden scroll case went rolling towards the edge.

Deftly, he stopped it with a hand while the other still held Yvaine's side. He set it somewhere out of the way and dove back in, drawing his now freed hand along her hip and down her thigh, where he found a secure purchase.

Now that she was more level with him, it was all too easy to get lost in the kiss. He remained chest-to-chest with her, his body parting her legs. It would be all too easy for Yvaine to take the final step of wrapping them around him.

[DragonSong]

Yvaine gasped again, then found herself struggling to swallow back a slightly incredulous laugh as he lifted her up onto the desk. She opened her mouth to make a quip about his quick reflexes when he stopped the scroll case from rolling onto the floor, but before she could his lips were on hers again and she was once more melting into the kiss.

Oh god. She leaned back slightly as he pressed closer, his hand sliding down to her thigh, moving far, far to easily to accommodate his body against hers.

What was she doing? Things like this didn't happen, not outside of the ridiculous novels she used to catch her maid hiding between cushions when she thought Yvaine's mother wasn't looking. That didn't stop her from moving to hook her other leg up around Herrick's hip to draw him even closer. Her skirts still hindered them slightly, an extra few layers of fabric she by now sorely wished was thinner, and she gave a soft, plaintive noise of frustration as she curled her fingers in his collar and tried to drag him closer.

[DaGlobster]

He knew what was troubling her, and he was quick to drag his hands up her thighs to roll up her nightdress, and then took her by the hips and brought her closer. Their bodies were flush together now, hips and all, and Herrick sighed against Yvaine's lips at the momentary spike of pleasure that brought.

He wanted the sound to be louder, it was obvious, but he bit his lip and kept quiet. When he needed to draw breath, it was his turn to lean back. With a few deft flicks of his fingers, he undid the buckles for his leather breastplate so it slid down to his ankles, where he nudged it aside with a foot.

His fingers visited the bottom of his black, long-sleeved chemise. Herrick gave Yvaine a look not too dissimilar to a cook presenting a dish, and then promptly lifted it up over his shirt so that Yvaine could finally see and access his physique. He was well cut, wiry around the forearms and legs but with a chest, stomach, and other features that belonged more on a knight than a thief.

He had some scars, most small, but he had a prominent scar from a musket ball of sorts that bloomed across his right shoulder, accompanied by a small, puckered lump on the other side. Entry and exit wounds, as it were.

[DragonSong]

Up until this point in her life, Yvaine had only ever seen one other man without a shirt; and, while that had been under perhaps  unfortunately similar circumstances, she still felt rather suddenly like the blushing maiden of a noblewoman she was supposed to be at the remaining newness of it.

She dropped her eyes—which turned out to be a mistake, as it only served to remind her of just how close their hips were pressed together and sent another shiver skittering down her spine—then lifted them again quickly. Her gaze caught on his shoulder, and she suddenly paused, concern flickering through her expression.

Without thinking, she reached out and let her fingertips brush lightly over the scar there. How often does a thief survive a shot like this? she wondered silently. She'd suspected, but it seemed there really was more to Herrick than he first appeared.

"You're a fighter," she whispered, finally glancing back up to his face. Cautiously, she flattened her palm over the scar. "Cat burglars don't get scars like this." One brother in the military and one in the clergy had taught her that much.

Still moving slowly, she let her hand smooth back over his shoulder to rest lightly at the nape of his neck, then leaned forward to press a light, fluttering kiss against the scar, cheeks flushing despite herself.