Kathryn had been separated from her guards for a mere 24 hours, and already she had found herself in trouble. There had been a time, she reflected unhappily, that she had drifted through Connlaoth virtually unnoticed. She had lived for a few days on her wits and bravado...but, in those days, her life had never truly depended on it, much less the life of her unborn child.
Five years ago, if this had happened to her, she would have been fine.
Now, she was alternatively cold, starving, and exhausted. Neither her pregnancy nor the poison the had nearly killed her only days ago had helped her condition, but she thought she would soon be home...
...And, so, the attack had come as a surprise.
Kathryn leaned against the doorway, trying to suppress a shiver as she wrapped her plain cloak more tightly around her frame. The borrowed clothing she wore was plain, but it was warm, and her guards had told her it would help her remain unidentified...though, clearly, not well enough.
It was hard to say what would claim her first: the cold, the hunger, or the rebels that had killed her confidant and servant, her guards, and Angsar knew who else. If one church hadn't already betrayed her, she would have tried her luck there, but could she trust them?
Whatever she did, she would have to do it soon... Perhaps a little food would clear her mind, if only she had the coin. She eyed the street, unsure of what, exactly, she was meant to be looking for as she rubbed her hands together to try to generate some warmth. Her fingers felt cold and stiff, and they would have to be nimble for this to work. After all, she was out of practice...by some number of years, although, she liked to think she had shown some skill in pick-pocketing once upon a time... Perhaps she would have done better if her teacher hadn't always gotten so distracted...
Thinking of Dekka made her smile a moment, although her smile was quick to fade as she turned her attention to the matter at hand. Silently, she stepped out into the crowd and began stalking her victim...
---
"Let me go!" Kathryn snapped at the guard. He seemed amused by her fury, more than anything, and he tightened his grip on her wrist.
"Perhaps you should have thought of your objections to prison before trying to steal from Master Chantier," he chuckled as he dragged her along.
"I wasn't!" Kathryn protested. That much was true; her eye had actually been on the purse of the gentleman ahead of Chantier. Somehow, by poor fortune, Chantier had turned just in time to see her reaching a hand out, and...
The guard stopped suddenly -- so suddenly that Kathryn would have walked into him had he not used her own momentum to throw her, hard, against a brick wall. Kathryn felt the impact against her shoulder, and it made her cringe slightly as she huddled against the unforgiving building. "Look, we understand. Don't we, boys?" the guard asked, although he didn't even glance at his colleagues, who were nodding. "You're cold. You're hungry. Times are hard, what with the war and all. We can give you a break, just this once."
There was just enough sympathy in his voice to make Kathryn wonder, for a second, if he truly meant to let her go...but then the other shoe dropped.
"For a price."
Kathryn's lower lip trembled slightly, and she shrank against the building all the more. "No."
"Then you'll go to prison. Look, you're a pretty girl." He reached a grubby hand out to catch her chin, and he turned her head this way and that to eyeball her. "You and I could have a little arrangement."
A tear worked its way from her eye. It began to move slowly down her face, leaving a wet trail in its wake...and, suddenly, her knee shot out and landed in his groin. She didn't waste any time in pushing him aside and fleeing -- or trying to flee, anyway. The man reached out, lightning-quick, with more speed than a man his size should have, to grab her ankle, and Kathryn went down hard a few feet away.
"You're going to pay for that," he growled, only to have Kathryn's foot make contact with his face. Blood burst from his nose, but it wasn't enough to make him let her go. "Boys, grab onto her. She's a fighter, this one. You know how I like fighters..." (It came out sounding a little funny, thanks to repeated blows to the man's face with Kathryn's shoe. Angsar, what kind of a monster was this man?)
One of the men hauled her to her feet by her hair, and he pushed her, face-first, against the brick of the building. She slammed the back of her head into his nose for his trouble and turned, plucking the dagger from the man's belt as she did so. She held it out in front of her defensively as she glared at the trio of men, two, now, with broken noses.
"Girly," the head guard said with a laugh. "What do you think you're going to do with that little pig-sticker, eh?" He reached for her, and she slashed him quickly across his outstretched hand. He withdrew slightly, then laughed out loud again. "Oh, I like you. I really like you. You and I are going to have fun tonight. And tomorrow night. And every night until I get bored with you."
Both of his lackeys moved, suddenly. With only one knife, she couldn't fend both off, and she was soon, once again, on the ground. This time, however, the big man was standing over her with a triumphant look in his eye as her only weapon was wrestled away from her by one of the other men.
The men were so focused upon the girl they hadn't noticed the cloaked figure moving behind them. The movement was as natural as the dance of shadows, so when he stood behind one of the men and gave a tap to his shoulder, it surprised all of them when a second later, the man went crashing to the ground, with the symbol of the King of Thieves burned onto his forehead, smoke hissing from the charred flesh.
With all that was happening, Kathryn didn't recognize the cloaked figure who had rescued her -- nor did she particularly care who he was; he had distracted the guards, and that was something she could use. She felt the grip of the guard to her right slacken; she pulled her arm free from him and turned, throwing her whole weight into the guard on the left. Both she and the guard fell heavily down onto the ground -- and, somehow, she had managed to get the knife back again in the scuffle. She brought it down into the man's throat without hesitation as the remaining guard, ignorant of the murder playing out behind him, moved to attack the cloaked man.
(OOC: Do something awesome! Go!)
A swift punch swung over his head, another even lower, but his burning hand caught it, and the man howled in pain as his fleshed bubbled and popped and charred beneath the magics. But as the man attempted to pull away, Dekka continued to push forward, the magics nearly consuming him before he dropped his grip, dropped his magic, and then proceeded to kick the howling guard in the gut as he writhed on the cobblestone ground. Though Dekka's aim wasn't to kill him, he just as well should have, for all of the burns the man would have sustained from the powerful fury of the King of Thieves. Then to the simply clad girl wirh the bleeding knife, he turned, and where his face had once been menacing, now he offered her a deep bow.
"One neck saved for another."
The debt, at least for now, was paid, and as he rose up from the bow, green eyes flashed and met to hers.
Kathryn had rose up, blood leaking from the man's wound and pooling on the ground beneath him. She watched the man go down, smoke curling up from his still-burning flesh...and a slow smile stretched across her lips as it dawned on her just who had saved her. Even before he straightened, the knife was abandoned and her arms were locked around his neck in a hug.
"Dekka! How did you ever find me?"
It had been so long since that day...
When the woman swept her arms around him, he pulled her in close, silencing her question with a passionate kiss as he lifted the woman clean off the ground. Then upon settle her back down, he flashed her a knowing grin.
"How do I always find you?"
Apparently, she had a scent he went in a frenzy for, and he always rushed after it like a hound.
Kathryn's eyes sparkled at the challenge, and she lifted a hand to caress his face...though she frowned slightly as her hand found an unfamiliar scar there. Her eyes met his, questioningly, at first, though a slow anger had been kindled within them.
Vesrik.
Instead of pursuing that train of thought, she leaned in to kiss him deeply again, celebrating, for just a moment, his nearness...and the fact that neither of them were dead. She pulled away from him slightly when the man Dekka had knocked out groaned softly.
"Is there somewhere else we can go?"
"Of course," he said, speaking low, his body still close to hers. "We can go wherever you want." And a hand found her hair, combing through it before his lips sealed to hers briefly again. "Just say the word and I'd take you to the clouds." Speaking of clouds.. his hands felt over her body as her kissed at her cheek, then ear. "Say.. you don't happen to have my..."
She'd know what he was asking about. He felt naked without it. His hookshot was a god send. As were his magics, but his hook shot he felt nearly useless without.
"You don't think that would have looked a little out of place in a Cathedral?" she wondered, her expression one of absolute amusement at the thought. Besides, what on earth would her guards have said? "I'll get it back to you. I'll have Molly..."
Her voice trailed off, and her expression slipped. Molly. Dear, sweet Molly, who had always been more than willing to leap in to trouble for Kathryn... Molly, whose scream had been the thing to alert the guards to the assassins... What would she ever do without her?
Kathryn's lips trembled and her arms tightened, momentarily, around Dekka. But this was not the place to have a breakdown. They had to go -- before the guards called for help.
"Let's just go. Anywhere."
Dekka gave a rub to his goatee.
"Fuck." But then he shrugged. "Can't blame a guy for asking." But then hearing her voice about Molly, he frowned. "Those men are fucking bastards. Anyone of their friends come to mess with you again I'll fucking punch their faces in." And he felt so mad about it, he thoroughly believed he could. Muscled tensed, but then relaxed after he found her clinging to him tighter. Sighing, he drew his arms around her more tightly as well and buried his face into her shoulder.
"We could get away," he murmured against her ear. "I do have a horse." And the last spot was spoken playfully, after all, the horse he still had in his possession was the same white stallion (which he found out later was a mare) that road him off from freedom when he would have other wise been a dead man.
Kathryn's smile was soft but beautiful as he swore to protect her. It was amazing how simply he made her feel better...and it was something she wasn't used to feeling so easily...
"I like the sound of that," she answered honestly. And, truly, she didn't care where they went...as long as it wasn't here.
Once upon his horse -- a very familiar-seeming white horse -- she snuggled into his arms. "I'm glad you're safe, Dekka... You should see how high your bounty's gone after that escape..."
Dekka laughed.
"Maybe we should go back to Reajh to check it out?"
"Only if we take our time," she answered with a playful grin. "Maybe, if we get a little lost on the way..." Well, that wouldn't be such a bad thing, would it...? "Are you still building shacks out in the middle of the forest should young, impressionable girls to find?" She looked up at him then, with a smirk. "And should I be jealous?"
Dekka flashed her a grin.
"I have many places I call home. One even near here, but it's nothing as classy or cozy as our little cabins in the woods. Come on, it's to the North of here," and he gave a quick kick to the horses side and took off down the road.
"And I don't think you have to be worried about girls coming to visit."
It was always the other way around anyway.
There was a stable at the end of the block, and he tethered his horse there and helped Kathryn dismount, and guiding her along the narrow back streets, a particular corner seemed lively and full of many sultry and scandalously clad women. And just as they passed by it, he gestured at the door.
"Welcome home."
"Home?" she said, her confusion plain as she half-turned to look at him. "This?"
One of the streetwalkers passed, giving her a once-over as though she were competition. At once, Kathryn's expression sharpened, making the woman stop dead and swagger over to put an arm around Dekka's shoulders.
"You know, love, if you're looking for a good time, I've been to Yoreiq... I know all the secrets to Yoreiqi love-making...like the squid."
Kathryn's eyebrows rose slightly, and she stepped forward from Dekka's arm. "Scram, you disease-ridden, classless whore before I give you a very pretty scar to show off to your next customer."
"Woah, woah, easy there, er- Kat," he said, pulling Kathryn in with her arm. He almost let her real name slip. Couldn't be having the whores know that much. ANd to the exotic looking whore, he gave her an apologetic grin and shrug.
"Sorry, Kitty, this one's got claws. Is Maudy in?"
Kitty gave the two a narrowed look.
"No, she went to Breakpoint. She's been staying out there a lot." And she gave a fluff to her hair. "SHe got some lover or something."
"Aww, pity. But I'll be up in my usual room. Unless it's taken?"
Kitty turned away to light up a cigarette, taking her time and blowing the smoke in their direction.
"No, I don't think so. But if you get lonely, you know where to find me."
Dekka grinned at her and gave a nod, but didn't let Kathryn remain there for much longer. He had a feeling she'd try to claw that woman's apart if given the chance, and the second the door opened, they were both taken into a completely different world.
It was warm, with the fresh smell of in-scents burning and men and women having sex against hte wall, on the couches, even their cries of pleasure were coming off a pair bucking on the staircase.
"Welcome to Paradise," Dekka said with a grin. "Or so it's called." And he wasn't joking. That was the name of the join. Paradise. And there was so much sex going on, you couldn't turn any direction without it staring you in the face.
Dekka noticed her gaping and took her by the hand.
"It's probably best if you don't stare. We've got a room upstairs anyway." And he snagged a key from the wall poster before guiding her up the stairs.
"Don't mind the sounds and smells, you'll get used to it." It was a sex house, anyway. It was what it was. And no one was going to hunt down a man here. Or so he thought. And normally Maudy, or one of the other Madames running the joint, saw to that. Dekka gave them a lot of business, after all....
"You have a usual room?" Kathryn couldn't help but stare. She knew that, given her station, she was a rather adventurous sort, but she had never seen things like this before! Her eyes were as big as saucers as he led her towards their destination -- it was enough that it had even halted her tongue for the time being!
"This explains so much," she murmured softly, as though a lightswitch had been turned on in her mind. "So very much." Turning from the couple on the stairs to Dekka, she gave him an appraising look. The stamina, for one thing... Not to mention some of the more colorful things he'd shown her...
Dekka chuckled her guided her through the sin-laced floors. A few nearly naked women giving them a once over,a nd one of Dekka's favorites tossing him a wink. "Save some of that for me, later." And before he could stop her, the whore stole a kiss to his cheek.
Kathryn's eyes narrowed in the whore's direction, her competitive instincts momentarily taking over as she imagined tossing that whore right down the stairs! But circumstances had changed in the last minute; she had only been as rude to the whore outside as she had, because had not imagined the sort of place they were in. She had assumed the whore was trying to squeeze out the competition -- but that would be impossible in a place like this. Instead, she crossed her arms under her breasts and turned her glare on a poor, innocent wall, whose only crime was to be built where it stood.
"The room?" she prompted impatiently.
Dekka flashed her a grin. What could he say? He had a reputation, and she knew it. But only one woman captured his heart.
"Right, the room," he told her, not sparing a glance back to the whore as he ushered the Grand Duchess away. To think, he'd find himself bringing her here of all places. And in such a condition.... it only made the idea more scandalous. Then again, he seemed to thrive on these sorts of things.
He opened the door and stepped into the room, inspecting it in it's modesty before closing the door behind them.
"Told you this place was safe. Only thing you'll find here is horny men and women after their coin. But being with me... you won't have to worry about the men." The women... on the other hand...
He just hoped they wouldn't use the spare key to invade on them. While some nights that was kinky, he'd rather not upset the Grand Duchess more than she was. And he knew no dangers could befall them here.
"I'll try not to make a scene," she muttered as she strode into the room. Even in here, it smelled of sex -- and, in truth, it made her a bit afraid to touch the bed, lest they find it unwashed. A small shudder moved through her, and, in part to take her mind off it, she turned to him.
"...Kat?"
"What? You think I could call you Kathryn and they won't figure out who you are?" He asked with a half cocked grin after closing the door. He took a seat on the edge of the bed, and began to work off unlacing his boots.
"Why don't you have a seat. Looks like you could stand to get off your feet."
"I wasn't Kathryn when we met," she answered, simply remaining where she stood and watching him.
Because, now that the danger had passed, she was at a bit of a loss... She had never expected to be rescued by the King of Thieves -- nor brought to a whorehouse, for that matter. She needed to make a plan, to find her guards and get home...
Or did she?
One boot dropped to the floor, then another as he offered her a smirk.
"You just going to stand there? The bed won't bite."
And the as he moved down to pull off his socks, he tossed those aside as well before peering back over at the Grand Duchess and... noting her expression, he laughed.
"Is a whore house to uncouth for the Grand Duchess?"
A light blush spread over her cheeks, and she peered back at him with a slight smile. "To be honest, Dekka, I'm not sure what to do with myself. I can't say I've ever visited a whorehouse before." Obviously.
Delicately, she moved closer to him and ran a hand along the bedframe. It looked so...used, she supposed was the correct term. It made her miss her comfortable bed at home...
Dekka's eyes followed hers as she studied the bed.
"It ain't no royal mattress but it'll do in a pinch. And since it's been worn in with use, it's got a few comfy spots on it. Come here, let me show you,"a nd he captured his arms around her waist and pulled her in.
Kathryn fell into his arms all-too-willingly, allowing him to sweep her away for just a moment. There was safety here...which was not something to be cast off so quickly. And, besides, it was Dekka -- he always possessed a unique knack for making her feel better.
"I suppose you've heard what happened..."
"Heard what happened?" he asked, his lips suddenly finding her neck and kissing it all over.
"You...don't think it's unusual for me to be wandering about without guards, dressed like a commoner?"
Surely, that should ring some alarm bells...
Not that she expected him to be looking for her, but it must have surely gotten around town by now: the Grand Duchess had been attacked.
"Of course I'm curious, but I'm sure you've got your reasons," he asked, peering up at her and studying her in her clothes. "Dressing like you used to dress around me... when you were younger." His hands moved up her sides before he peered up into her face. "Maybe it's an ego thing, but it seemed almost as if you wanted to call me out."
"Dekka..." How could she tell him that this wasn't for him? That he had never entered her mind?
Half-sitting, she studied his face with a sad expression on her own. "You really don't know?" How could he not? Surely, even Calent knew by now...
"The priests at Saint Solee..." There was a slight waver in her eyes, though the tears refused to fall. "They killed Molly. And they poisoned me. And if it weren't for my guards... They would have killed me too."
Dekka's face fell at such a comment, eyes sparkling with a hardened concern as he peer into her eyes.
"What?" he breathed, taken back by what she said. He forced a smile, trying to keep his suave air about him, but it was more than evident even he was rattled by this. "By who? Why?"
He supposed he should have been paying more attention, but he was watching out for his own ass again, he didn't have a lot of time to to play catch up on what was all going around. Things seemed to move rather fast here since the war...
"I don't know," Kathryn answered honestly as she settled down onto the bed beside him, her body pressed up against his. "Calent's enemies, I'm sure. There was a mob outside... But it was a church, so I thought..." What kind of terrible person killed inside a church?
"I have no idea if my guards are still alive. Or if they're looking for me..." Reaching out, her hand squeezed his gently...and then, with a soft laugh, she confessed, "They won't look for me here..."
Dekka's gaze hardened. It made sense there would still be tensions. Her husband was waging a war he could not win. And the population was angry. But at her last comment, he found himself smirking.
"Or course not. Your lover's the whore, not you." And he turned to her and kissed her on the mouth, hands smoothing down her arms. "You're safe now. Don't worry about your guards."
Yes, that was all she wanted to hear... That she was safe now...
Although, most of those in her social circle might think differently of her habits... Sleeping with a man who was not her husband...and doing things that might not be appropriate...
Still, she looked up at him with a smile. "Good." So it all had just been good timing and luck...but, those were the very things, she supposed, gave Dekka his success...
"So, I suppose... You have me completely at your mercy."
Dekka had moved on to nurse at her neck. At her words, he breathed a soft, hot laugh against her throat.
"Of course I do. I always do." And he went back to nursing at her neck.
Truer words, she supposed, had never been spoken, because it was true... She always seemed to be at his mercy...and she loved every second of it. Her eyes fluttered closed, and she murmured, breathily, "Then help me forget about it."
For a little while, anyway...
Dekka growled against her throat.
"What do you think I'm workin' on?" And this teeth raked up the side of her neck to where they landed, nibbling on her ear. "It's an art form to seduce the Grand Duchess," he purred, hands grazing down her body cupping her breasts as he fondled them hungrily through her clothes.
A chill traveled through her as she felt his teeth against her skin. A heated blush was making itself known across her body, and she leaned up into his hands. There was no complicated outfit to remove this time -- nor was there a fear of being discovered at any moment...and that felt odd, somehow. But nice.
"An art form?" she repeated with a grin. If it were an art form, he was the one who invented it...
"Are there rules here?"
"Tear off her clothes and fuck?" And a single sweeping heft of her skirts had her legs fully exposed while his hands began to roam down south, up her thighs, between her thighs before a few fingers moved to stroke at her sex.
(OOC: Maturity happens.)
He would say something like that, wouldn't he? Kathryn smirked as her body opened for him, already wet, thanks to the sounds, smells, and sights of the whorehouse below. It certainly wouldn't take much to coax her into forgetting her fear and sadness with Dekka...
"I meant," she said, turning her head to catch his lips with her own. "Is it your name I scream out to the heavens, or are you hiding?"
"What doe it matter what you call me? So long as I know you're screaming, I've done my fucking job," he said, growling playfully as he kissed her lips, biting at them and pulling lightly as his fingers teased the moistness between her legs. He could feel she was ready for it, but he loved to hear her beg, so deft fingers stroked her, playing not only with your clit, but the soft folds of her sex when he would, on occasion, let just the tips of his fingers dive in before pulling out and running their slick tips across her most sensitive flesh.
Kathryn's laugh was a little breathless as her body moved against his, seeking more of that wonderful contact that always kept her squirming. "Then scream I shall," she answered with a smirk as she reached out to pull him closer to her. Of course, she knew what he was doing and why he was doing it...but she liked the teasing, liked feeling as though she were perched on the edge of pleasure...
"Help me with this stupid thing..." By which she meant her corset, of course, as she half sat-up to provide the thief access to the laces.
Dekka smirked before cramming his fingers into her and letting them feel around inside her soft, hot body, before slipping those fingers out and glancing at her laces.
"I don't know what you trust me with this," he half growled. "Shouldn't you be afraid I'd tear them off?" But with the laces coming loose, he wasted no time in pulling down her dress in the front, lips seeking to nurse at her soft chest.
Already, her moans and gasps were filling the small room, for she had no reason to contain them here.
"You're a thief, not a brute," she answered him with a laugh as she settled back against the pillows. With her corset loosened and pulled free -- and, particularly, given the attentions he was showing her body -- he would soon enough see the evidence of her pregnancy in her swollen stomach...but that was something she had all-but forgotten about as fire raced through her body from his every touch.
As he nursed against her, she squirmed beneath him, working deftly to remove her clothing so that it would no longer be in the way.
Once her clothing was removed, he paused a moment in it's kissing to smooth a hand over the bump on her belly.
"How far along are you?" he asked, kissing at her shoulder.
"Somewhere around four months." Her own hand reached up to touch her stomach, an expression of awe on her face. "The baby was strong enough to survive the poison...and the treatment. He's going to be strong." And that meant he was going to live...
Lifting her eyes to her lover's, she gave him a smile. "It will still be a few months before I'm miserable and as big as a whale." And those last few months were miserable ones... But, of course, things were different this time -- a bit, anyway.
"Hrm.. I never fucked a whale before," he murmured through kisses at her throat.
That brought out a laugh. "Why would you want to?"
Yes, Dekka was, most certainly, an odd one... Or, perhaps, he just liked sex that much... Probably the latter.
"I wish I had something to give you to thank you for your timely rescue earlier... I guess I'll have to find another way to show you how grateful I am, hm?"
They were both on the bed naked now- a used bed, a dirty bed; but perhaps it was the most fitting place two 'fugatives' could be-
For both lives were at stake, both living a dangerous life in the moment, yet here they were- poised to make love. And at Kathryn's comment to his, he only smirked. And then at the latter...
"I can think of a few things you could do to owe me," he murmured, and gave her sex a prod with his eager and swollen member.
The sensation of his hard cock, caressing and nudging against her warm, moist body was maddening. Her legs spread eagerly, knees lifting to either side as her body, naturally, pressed back against him, urging him to slip inside of her.
"Then stop thinking and just fuck me, Dekka." She quirked a grin up at him as her fingertips ran down the length of his braid. "Unless there's a different piece of furniture you'd like to break first?" Her bed back at the palace had been repaired, of course, but it had baffled the workmen...
That was all the words he needed her to say, and he wasted no time burying himself within her, gripping onto her thighs and hefting her as closely against him as he could, and used that momentum to rock himself into her with a deep throated moan.
Kathryn's eyes fluttered closed as he filled her. And it felt so wonderful, so familiar in this strange place after all the terrible things the last month had wrought. She wanted nothing more than to stay in this moment forever, with the man who had stolen her heart all those years ago...
Her hands smoothed down the skin of his back, feeling the way his muscles rippled beneath the skin. And even without his magic, his skin always seemed warm to the touch, even against her own sex-flushed skin.
Peering up at him through her eyelashes, she smiled her approval -- a radiant, beautiful smile, somehow both innocent and coy -- but, as always, wholly devoted.
"Gods.. Kathryn," he moaned against her throat, hips bucking in a steady rhythm. "Can you believe it?" And she'd be able to feel his lips curl against her throat. "We're fucking in a whore house..." And even saying it outloud made him moan all the louder.
Kathryn's soft cry was almost an echo of his, a sound driven by an indescribable rush of pleasure at the realization. There was something inherently dirty and naughty about the idea -- and should anyone from her world ever realize where she had been and the things she had done... The blush on her cheeks was no longer simply pleasure; there was a smug sense of shame there as well, which only served to arouse her further as her lips caressed his shoulder and his throat.
"Is this how you fuck a whore?"
"No," he told her with a grunt, whisking up her wrists within his grasp and pinning them into the section of the pillow above her head. "This.." he told her, his hips bucking into her sharprer. "Is a bit more like it." And he smiled down at her, red hair framing down around his face as it moved in a secondary motion as his body rocked and move, pumping powerfully into hers.
Kathryn's grin grew as she regarded him above her, her hips lifting to encourage him to move deeper into her waiting body. With her hands pinned above her head, it left her breasts to move freely, reacting to his thrusts. And it made her body feel taut, closer to reaching that peak her body so craved that would bring her release.
And the world would know it, too, as she gave voice to her pleasure. "Oh, God, yes, Dekka..."
The whore house was a busy establishment, but even Kathryn's cries could not be swallowed up in the lustful wails of others. And he made love to her several times, and in the most kinky of fashions to sate both his and hers most darkest desires. Pretending the Grand Duchess was a whore was more than he could bear- and he surprised even himself how many times he peaked.
But as it was, it was hours later and both would remain in a heap of exhaustion after such a trek, and he lay there, heavily breathing at her side as he smirked.
"We should do this more often," he purred, brushing some of her sweat slicked hair from her face. "I kind of like fucking you here."
OOC: Ever the gentleman >_>
"Just here?" she teased him with a wide, satisfied smirk that echoed his own. "From now on, Dekka, we can fuck wherever we like. Let them think I'm dead. I'm perfectly content staying here with you."
And as long as his eyes or his hands were upon her, it was a welcome distraction...but, as night fell and he slipped into a heavy slumber, she remained awake. And it was then that the tears welled up in her eyes and she cried silently into her pillow...
---
"All I wanted was cucumber, Dekka! Don't act like me buying a cucumber wrecked your entire heist!" Kathryn's eyes burned with fury as she spun to confront the master thief following in her wake. The last week -- a week that should have been wonderfully without constraints for Kathryn -- had been anything but pleasant. Dekka was insufferable -- and bossy! She seemed never able to do what she wanted to do when she wanted to do it -- and it wasn't her fault she had had an insatiable craving for cucumbers! He was so particular and peculiar -- except that, unlike with Calent, their frustration usually boiled over into arguments that then boiled over into sex...
Definitely not like her husband...except for that one time.
Much like Kathryn, Dekka was easily getting fed up with his pregnant companion as the week went on. Sure it was fun when he could seduce her, but she was becoming increasingly antsy and more demanding,a nd less reciprocating of his advances; which only seemed to stoke the flames of his temper when he finally went off on her about her damn cucumbers.
"And you're acting as if a cucumber would ruin your entire life!" he spat back, swearing up a storm as he felt his blood heat all over as he glared back at the woman as she stared up at him defiantly. "Did you forget we weren't inside your castle, princess?" he snapped. "This was never going to be a picnic. What did you expect when you left your walls of gold behind? I ain't no God damn fucking noble. I'm a fucking thief- the best god damn fucking thief there is. And all you think I'm good to do is get you some fucking cucumber!?" He was irritate, fuming mad as he made his way towards the door.
"I need to get out of here. Just... stay here and don't get into any fucking trouble." And he slammed the door behind him, leaving a trail of unease and anger behind him in his wake.
"It's a cucumber!" Kathryn snapped -- because, really, it was a cucumber! What the hell was wrong with getting her something to eat? Nothing -- absolutely nothing else -- seemed in the least bit appealing, and she had had to practically choke down her food from this morning...
Storming after him, she flung open the door (in the process, startling a passing whore) and darted forward to grab his arm. "Dekka, what am I supposed to do? I don't have any money, and I'm stuck inside your room all day! I don't really think a cucumber is so much to ask for, do you?"
Dekka let out a growl and yanked his arm away.
"What do you normally do all fucking day?!" he snapped.
A hundred things. A thousand things. Her glare darkened, and she opened her mouth to speak, to remind him of just who he was speaking to...
But, a figure wrapped in a sheet caught her attention in the corner of her eye. A whore, who was doing her best not to gape at the argument but was, instead, giving Kathryn the most profoundly sympathetic look...
No, this wasn't the time or the place for such an argument...though this was hardly the first they had had. It seemed to be all they did -- bicker back and forth. And she was only just beginning to realize... She needed someone to take care of her, and Dekka, well... He was just not that guy.
Instead of snapping at him, she lowered her gaze, and her bottom lip gave a little tremble. Softly, with all the anger drained out of her, she said, "I think we should talk. Not argue. Talk."
"Yeah? Well, I'm through with talking for the day. I ain't holding a fucking conversation with a woman who's unreasonable," he snapped.
A bit of anger flared up again, but she took a deep breath and counted to 10, refusing to let it take hold. Sure, she was the unreasonable one... But, nevermind.
Instead, she mustered up her courage and murmured, "This isn't working, is it? This... We...don't work."
Being with Dekka... It was all she had dreamed of for years. And now that she finally had it, how could it all be so wrong?
"I think it's best I go home."
Dekka continued to glare at her, and the more she spoke, the more angered he became. He didn't even justify that remark with a comment. He, being the 'level headed' man that he was, believed solely she was the only unreasonable one of the two of them and- when she'd calm down after this, perhaps itd go back to..
well, what they always shared.
But this?
This was driving him nuts, and was making his anger flare dangerously. He tried to keep his flames in check and didn't even bother to respond to her. He simply turned and stormed away.
He could't deal with this now. He couldn't deal with her right now,a nd as he dashed off, he et out an angered punch to the wall before storming off outside.
Go back where? To her plush palace where people will get her cucumbers whenever she wanted? Fuck that. What did she think this was? Or think he was. Pissed, he continued to stomr off, not even bothering to look back.
Kathryn stared after him in hurt silence, jumping a little bit when the heretofore silent whore wrapped a blanket over her shoulders. Kathryn's smile was timid and unsure, but the matronly woman seemed not to care. "Come on," she urged with a comforting smile of her own. "Let's go have a good cry, and we'll see what we can do for you."
Numbly, Kathryn nodded and allowed the other woman to lead her back towards the room.
"Men," the woman murmured sagely, "Are all assholes. And that one is no exception."
And by the time Dekka returned, his guest was gone, as good as her word. The room stood empty, with her meager belongings gone and no trace of the lady that had once been there. The whore -- Nyssa - offered Dekka little consolation. "She wanted to leave you a note, but she wasn't sure what to say."
Dekka stood there in complete disbelief. THough his expression show cased indifference. The empty room, however, was like a punch to the face, and he said nothing, disappearing inside with a soft click of the door, which was the only thing that needed to be done to seal the last stake into his heart, as it felt it shatter and his world, his reality, slip away through his fingers.
Kathryn was gone. He had scared her off. But perhaps it was better this way. What was he to do with a woman who was with the child of another man? The strongest and most powerful woman of all of Connlaoth. And though he did not cry over her loss, something inside him died that day and he found himself staring for hours into the waking night at the empty bed where her scent had long since faded, but her memories still burned him to the core.