Coming to Roost

The first light of new dawn arched over the hills beyond The Castle as they wheeled their horses and the pack burrow around the winding path. Balor drew her heavy war stallion to a halt near a gathering of stones and waited for Gavyn to stride up beside her. He pulled the reins of his smaller mare as the two wanderers peered at the dark monument of stone and mortar and . . . magic.

Gavyn shifted uneasily in his saddle, and busied himself adjusting the tether between his mare and the burrow. The pack animal carried almost all of their food and belongings; it would not suffice to lose it all now.

He closed his eyes and focused his breathing while his heart beat relentlessly against the walls of his chest. He could already sense the tendrils of magic coaxing him toward The Castle, like a lover’s finger stroking him under the chin. Gavyn sighed to himself and tightened his fingers on the saddle, gathering every ounce of his strength to resist the urge to turn and bask in the rainbow of colors that only he would see.

He opened his eyes when he felt her fingers curl around the base of his chin, while her thumb stroked the soft line of his cheek. “Is everything alright, my darling?” She queried in the deep, husky tone of her ancestry.

Gavyn turned and met the intense concern in her sparkling green eyes, the sun glinting against the tiny gold specks littered throughout her pupils. Her thumb never stopped stroking his face as she gazed into his dark brown pools, like saucers of hot chocolate, and she smiled lovingly as he nodded into her fingers.

“Yes. Thank you. It just takes some getting used to . . . visiting a new domain. And this one seems to pulse with it . . . the life-force of the Old Ones.”

Balor nodded as she gathered her reins once more and set Toras into a slow-paced trot. She worried deeply about Gavyn during these pivotal moments, when he felt the pull so strongly. But she also knew that his control was beyond question.

She would have it no other way.



* * * * *



Balor followed the tall, handsome elven man that had greeted them at the front door, tipping her head to the side to ensure that Gavyn was following close by. She could practically hear his thoughts spilling over across the bond and she realized that he was truly struggling to maintain himself in this new place. Shifting the belt of daggers around her waist, Balor balanced the short sword onto her left hip and extended her hand out to the side.

She smiled warmly as Gavyn quickly caught up to her and twined his fingers into hers. With a heartfelt sigh, Gavyn visibly calmed as he felt the heat of her fingers against his palm. She squeezed his hand and felt his reassurance surge across the bridge between their minds; understanding suddenly that he might require extra . . . attention until they became settled.

Drawing his fingers up, Balor kissed the tops of his knuckles tenderly, chuckling in that low, sultry purr as he lowered his eyes and blushed.

Balor looked up in time to meet the doorman’s respectful bow as he lowered his face and gestured them inside. The solid black door swung inward on well-oiled hinges without the slightest complaint, as Balor strode through with Gavyn’s hand in her own, and she gasped in shock.

Balor walked several feet forward on the bare stone floor and smiled inwardly at the presence of a thick shag bearskin rug on the floor before a simple cobblestone fireplace recessed into one of the walls. She felt Gavyn’s pulse quicken as her mind toyed with thoughts of him splayed across the soft fibers of the rug and she stroked her thumb across the back of his hand.

There was a bold black curtain that separated one full quarter of the room and Balor instantly recognized the secluded bathing corner for what it was. Her free hand wandered to her chin while she toyed with the thought of having their own washing tub.

The bed however was her primary concern. Balor let her fingers slip from Gavyn’s grasp, subtly leaving him to stand nearby while she approached the black lacquered four-poster hesitantly. Balor had always ensured that their life together wanted for nothing, but they had never possessed anything as openly extravagant as the bed before her. The solid black frame came to her knees and the double mattresses and pillow soft top brought it even with her waist. But the finishing touch that really curled her lips into a smile was the leopard print spread that covered the mattress from baseboard to headboard.

Running her fingers along the thin shag throw cover, Balor tipped her chin low and smiled mischievously as she patted the mattress next to her. “Come and tell me what you think, my darling.”

Hearing the playfulness in her voice, Gavyn wasted no time in settling himself onto the bed where she had indicated. It gave beneath his weight very mildly, and he pressed his palm into the spongy surface. It was a good balance of firmness and softness, and he nodded to her with his opinion.

With a knowing smirk, she leaned back against the headboard and pressed the heel of her boot against his chest. Gavyn ground his teeth behind the serene exterior of his lips as she twisted the sole of her boot slowly and the chain beneath his robe pulled gingerly on his right nipple.

Extending her leg, Balor again pushed against his chest, this time gauging the give of the bedframe under the strain. No creek or protest assaulted her ears and Balor stood suddenly with a satisfied smile.

“We gladly accept the room. Perhaps one of The Castle’s servants might bring up our effects after a while. We would like some time to get accustomed to our new accommodations.”

She waited as the elf tipped his head with a smile and quietly slipped out into the hall, turning once the door had shut behind him. Raising her arms above her head, she pulled half a dozen pins from her hair and ran her fingers through her dark brown mane as it fell across her back and shoulders in a thick cascade.

Curling her finger into an obvious summons, Balor motioned for Gavyn to come to her and she smiled when he eagerly crossed the suite to her. Curling her arm around his waist, Balor drew her loving husband into her embrace with shocking speed and strength, purring into his lips as she curled her other hand around the back of his neck and pulled him into a soft, pressing kiss.

Gavyn’s head spun with the dizzying effect of being so close to the woman he loved after such a long road of separation, and he quelled the urge to moan into her mouth. Regardless of his weakened state, Gavyn refused to allow himself to succumb to the hunger that was swelling in the base of his groin.

Hesitant and tentative, Gavyn’s hands slid across her hips until they finally settled onto the tight orbs of her backside, flexing his fingers gently into the chain mail skirt that hung from her hips. Balor hissed against his mouth and nipped his bottom lip between her teeth.

“That’s my boy.” She purred as she pulled him in for another hard embrace, her hand around his hip wandering down the cleft of his buttocks where she ran her middle finger along the valley there, matting the thin silk robe against his skin as she kissed him more deeply, swirling her tongue around the inner lines of his mouth. Pulling her lips free with a loud smack, Balor pushed Gavyn to an arms length as she caught her breath in a deep-throated chuckle.

“All in due time, my darling.” She spoke both for his benefit and hers. “Perhaps our first order of business should be to get out of these sweaty garments and into a warm bath. Yes?”

Gavyn lowered his eyes in a subtle nod as he struggled to gain his composure, lowering himself to one knee as she drew one leather clad leg up and set her boot heel on his knee. She watched him diligently from her perched position as Gavyn meticulously unbuckled the leather straps that covered the side of her thigh-high boots.

Sliding his hands along the line of his wife’s leather-clad calves and thighs, Gavyn gasped as he brushed against the boots and felt his skin prickle at the contact. Closing his eyes, Gavyn sighed as his fingers curled around the tops of the boots and he slowly drew them down Balor’s muscular legs. Lining the boots neatly side-by-side, Gavyn looked up into Balor’s smiling eyes and he beamed at the approval in her gaze.

Extending his thighs, Gavyn raised his torso so that he could twine his fingers through the tiny clasp of Balor’s chain skirt, pulling the metal fasteners apart as the heavy mail slid down her legs and pooled at her feet. Picking up the intricate garment, Gavyn inspected it closely for marred or broken links.

His wife had wandered into her share of ‘misunderstandings’ along the Traveler’s Road and a damaged link could mean the difference between sore bruises and a deep cut. Setting the skirt flat beside the boots, Gavyn next rose to his feet and circled around behind Balor, as he gathered the lower edge of the chain shirt and pulled it up and over her head. The tiny chain links whistled against her skin as they slid from her arms, and Gavyn pulled the garment away carefully to avoid any chance of it snagging in her chocolate-colored hair.

Again he perused the shirt with the same intent dedication he had shown the skirt before he settled it flat across the skirt and brushed it lightly with the palm of his hand.

Rising once more to his feet, Gavyn paused for a split second as his eyes set upon the remainder of Balor’s uniform, set against her sun-kissed skin, and he sighed audibly. The chain mail was a first line of defense against an enemy’s blade, where the thick black leather kilt and bodice where her last and final means of protection.

Without the boots and the chain mail, the leather along her arms tortured Gavyn’s sense of arousal to an agonizing degree. Stepping close, Gavyn unfastened the buckles around Balor’s bicep, forearm, and wrist as he slowly slid the heavy leather bracers free of her arms. Setting them alongside his wife’s boots, Gavyn knew that the last remaining garments would be the most difficult to remove and still maintain his discipline.

Stepping up behind Balor, he took the leather buckles along her sides and slowly undid them one-by-one in succession, focusing his breath as he watched her almond-colored skin peak from behind the ever-expanding divides along her ribs. As his fingers traveled the course of the seam, separating the flaps, Gavyn tried desperately to calm the galvanized edge of need that was forming in the pit of his stomach.

He knew in the recesses of his mind that he was rapidly losing touch with his control and the thought frightened him suddenly, knowing what could result from the smallest slip. Tightening his fingers around the edges of her bodice, Gavyn recomposed himself as he slid the shoulder guards down her arms and leaned the armor piece against the wall.

When he turned, Gavyn was greeted once again with the overwhelming perfection of her body; his eyes devouring the hard lines of her collarbone and the plump, supple swell of her breasts, eventually plundering the hard muscles of her stomach before he realized she was waiting on him. Coughing nervously, Gavyn strode across the distance and knelt gently before her, looking up into the smile behind her eyes as his fingers tentatively touched her thighs.

Sighing internally, Gavyn’s fingers grazed the firm landscape of the back of her thighs, leaning forward to rest his cheek lightly against her skin as he breathed in the scent of her. He moaned despite his best efforts at control when her fingers slid into his dark curls.

Turning his eyes upward, Gavyn’s heart swelled at the love in her eyes and his resolve redoubled. Softly brushing his fingers up her thighs, Gavyn unbuckled the identical straps on either side of her hips and he slowly drew the thick soft leather down the hefty slope of her thighs, across her knees, and down her calves.

Tilting his head inward slightly, Gavyn kissed the tops of Balor’s thighs, barely allowing himself a view of her womanhood beyond the muscular swell of her legs. Leaning his torso forward slightly, Gavyn’s fingers crept along the back of her thighs like tiny feathers.

Closing his eyes, Gavyn let his senses roam free, absorbing the roaring scent of her female essence. His chest rubbed against the knob of her knee and Gavyn gasped suddenly as the chains attached to his nipples pulled at his erection, forcing a hard groan from his lips.

This time her fingers gripped his hair tightly, forcing Gavyn to exhale sharply as she drew his head back and away from her, before she knelt and pulled the base of his throat between her lips. Leaning close, she whispered against his ear in that low hum that made him weak all over.

“Fetch some hot water and soaps, my darling. I will be clean and crisp before we truly make this place our own.”

The shimmer behind her eyes and the smile on her lips set Gavyn’s heart on fire and gifted him with the speed of Mercury himself as he raced out into the hall.