Unfamiliar Territory, Part 1

Ari made a small sound as she was drawn against him without warning, the cocoon of his arms wrapping around her back delicately and holding her to him. For a moment, the girl was at a loss of what to do, how to respond, where to touch him-- her arms hung by her sides, fingers limp and nerveless until they clenched fistfuls of the robe against her thighs and at last she lifted them, little by little, until she could lay her palms on his chest between their bodies and smooth them over the hard plane of collarbone prominent from beneath the clothes.

Her senses were engulfed by him until the Lord seemed to swallow her mind wholly and utterly, scouring her very being away until she was nothing only to fill the void up with everything that was him. The masculine scent of him beneath the crisp aroma of the fine linen of his raiment. The satin feel of his dark hair where it brushed her face. The power she felt in his arms alone, knowing that although they could not have touched her more gently, he possessed the ability to crush her in the next heartbeat if the man so desired.

Ari lifted her head up to place her chin just beneath his shoulder, burying her nose as close to his hair as she could reach, inhaling deeply, exploring down the curve of his throat just inside the collar until the buttons thwarted her. She was overcome with maddening curiosity to know if he had hair on his chest or not, the sight her imagination treated her to making her face flare scalding in a dark blush; prying the fastening apart and parting the halves of the blouse to trace lower with the swell of her bottom lip.

He shuddered, she felt the tremor ripple through him, as if Lord Adrian too, shared the vision in that moment and her fingers curled on his chest, bunching the cloth there in her grip to hold him tighter.

This was madness. Complete madness. She shouldn't be doing this to him. He shouldn't be doing this to her. They couldn't.. They weren't supposed to..

She heard him breathe her name into the crown of her hair, feeling more then hearing his voice reverberate from within his chest next to her ear, the stirring of strands of dark amethyst making a illicit shiver climb her spine. When she heard him ask her to go, a choked murmur of protest started from her throat, until his words of 'before it is too late' stopped her into silence.

Too late for what? In her opinion they had already gone so far beyond the boundaries appropriate for a man and a woman on such casual terms that the taboo was lost on the horizon. And she suspected even if they tried to turn back and reach it once more, they would never be able to.

Her lips parted and she drew breath quietly to ask him why, what did he mean, but not before he forcibly pushed her back all too suddenly. She was thrust away at arm's length and he threw his head away from her, his long hair flying to obscure his features, the entire action startling Ari completely.

He let her go and his hands went to his sides; Ari did not notice their agonized fists, her eyes frozen on the curtain of his hair, trying to simply stare through it and find the features beneath.

Why?

Why do this to her now? Why did he first play with her, stoke her curiosity, desire and concern until the flames scorched her from the inside out and then turn her out and bare a shoulder colder then ice?

Her emotions were in a state of chaotic turmoil, riveting her to the spot. Although he had practically ordered her to go, and she knew she should obey him, she could not move to take a step away from him even if he threatened her life right then and there. She did not know how to react because she did not even know what the situation was in the first place to respond to it accordingly. Had she offended him? Had he done something to wrong her? She could not even begin to wonder who was at fault without an idea of what the crime had been.

Take advantage of her? How could he have possibly jeopardized his honor when he had been nothing but kind to her? How could he take advantage of her when a part of her soul was whispering in her ear that she wanted him to?

He had asked her to believe, and she should have. Instead the crimson line of blood creeping its way along the line of his jaw towards the strong chin mesmerized her gaze with fascinated horror. She did not understand it to be the tear it was, instead drawing the only conclusion that blood meant a wound and wound meant pain, no matter she could not fathom when and how it had happened.

Every muscle in her body wanted to touch him just to make sure he was alright, her heart breaking in her chest as fear of his wrath if she dared lay a finger on him caged the impulse with iron will. Her throat worked numbly and her lips moved, speech beyond her to say a single word for a moment until a small voice crept out of Ari:

"Sir, I.. believe you. I trust in your promise. but I.. I fail to see how. h-how." her lips pursed shut a moment while she tried to collect her swirling thoughts. ". Why will you not let me help you?" she begged at last as her eyes spilled the saltwater over her lashes, thin lines of tears traced their way down her pale cheek. Her voice became tight and shrill as she strained to keep sobs from her tone. ". Y-y-you have been nothing but generous and-and kind to me! .. I cannot." she gulped back a miserable sound. ".. Let me. help you."

Unfamiliar Territory, Part 2

His desperate mental pleas to Rein seemed to not be reaching her. Was she in danger? Had she blocked him out for fear of the child's safety? His mind was reeling, thinking was a near impossibility. Already he felt the burn upon his flesh from where the feather light caress of Ari's lips had brushed his chest. He was going to go mad.

Hearing her shaky voice Adrian's heart crumbled, breaking as she began to cry. Cry in concern for him. He of all people did not deserve to stand in her presence let alone touch her. It made him want to run, flee into the night and drown his anguish in blood. Eventually she would learn what he was and hate him… but in this moment she cared for him.

Yet he couldn't deny that she evoked in him something that he had never felt before, something that he couldn't explain nor understand. Forcing down the demon inside him with all his strength he managed to squelch it for at least a moment, so his mind could see through the red haze that seemed to seep in when her eyes bore into his. Wiping at the red streak on his face and wiping off on the bottom of his dark coat he slowly shifts his gaze towards Ari. "Would you care if you knew... what I was?" Adrian asked, trying to keep his voice calm and level.

Adrian slowly smiled at her, and closed the space between them. Touching her cheek gently with his hand he thumbed away the tear streaking down her left cheek. "Do not cry for me, little Ari." Adrian said gently, though his hand shook as it caressed her warm soft flesh. "I am not worthy of your tears." He choked; feeling tore up as her eyes delved into his insides, filling his soul with a fiery hot heat that radiated back out through his eyes.

"You... tempt me." Adrian said as he leaned in and gently brushed his lips below her right eye, kissing her tears away. The closeness made him want to howl and tear away the clothing inhibiting them, take her beauty and warmth and fill himself with it, to hear her call out his name as he carried them over the edge of sanity. It took every shred of morality he had left to not to.

Holding her face in his hand and looking so deeply into her eyes his lips move down the side of her cheek, brushing lightly against the corner of her mouth. Whispering softly against the corner of her mouth he slowly traced the side of her hip with his left hand, pulling her slender frame against his. "What have you done to me little Ari?" He asked, for these emotions and feelings were so foreign to him he didn't understand.

He touched her warm soft lips, and she was either too surprised or frightened to resist. He wouldn't let her and his mouth claimed hers fiercely, passionately at first, stealing her breath away. It sent sharp jolts of lightning sizzling down his spine, flaming his desire for her. Then he softened his kiss, tempting her lips with his to the brink of sanity, so that if she wanted to his kiss she had to lean closer to him…