Fable - Ask A Familiar Face

[Wren Kingsley]

Wren had laughed at his comment about the tree. It'd been the first time she'd genuinely smiled in days, and she felt a little warmth in her cheeks too. It wasn't a night she'd easily forget. Her muscles eased, and she gripped his hand back, allowing him to lead her out of the Shallows and back to the city.

She would be able to keep her face hidden on the walk there, it was obvious that she had people looking for her, and so that was a reasonable excuse, but when they reached their destination? She frowned, and subconsciously gave his hand another firm squeeze. A subtle apology in advance, perhaps, or a quiet hope that he wouldn't shrink away from her even if she expected worse.

Her stomach flipped as they approached the gates and her lips twisted with a nasal huff as her head shook. "Of course your family has an estate here." her eyes rolled, and she cast a quick glance around as he lead her inside. It felt strange to be surrounded by fine furniture and opulent decor again, having spent so many months in the safe house, and sleeping on forest floors.

"Nice place." she commented, her fingertips trailing across the mantle that surrounded the hearth.

 

[Val]

"Well of course. Only the finest from Dear Old Dad." He commented dryly.

Val had enjoyed the spoils of his father's work, there was no denying it, but he held a certain disdain for it all. Wren knew that better than most, given that she had managed to peek behind the mask that he wore for everyone else.

Most in Oban thought he was a simpleton playboy, a fool who spent money and chased nobleman's daughters. An image that couldn't be further from the true him. The door closed behind him, and his gaze followed Wren as she walked around the foyer. "So."

He said with a smile.

"What trouble have you gotten yourself Into now?" Val asked. "It's gotta be bad if you can't show your face in half of Alliria."

It was more than obvious someone was after her, he just wondered who. His assumption being the hood had been to hide her identity, not her face.

 

[Wren Kingsley]

She let out a dry, husky laugh, keeping her back to him, her fingers now stroking over the stem of a silver candlestick.

"Hm, no more than usual.." she shrugged. Her hand fell with a quiet huff and she bowed her head to rub at her brow. What was she doing?

"I shouldn't be here, Val. A lot has changed since I saw you last.." she told him quietly, panic stirring in her chest. She turned to move toward the door. "I have to go. Work to do." she told him quickly.

 

[Val]

"What?" Confusion flickered over his features, half stepping to the side and moving after her.

Something was wrong.

What could possibly have changed so much in the last few months? She still seemed herself, except...instead of getting angry at him she was just trying to avoid him. Lips thinned for a moment and he reached out to softly grab her arm.

"Hold on." He demanded as he caught her. "Where could you possibly need to go? It's two in the morning."

A hint of that familiar passion entered his tone, that spark that always flickered between the two of them.

 

[Wren Kingsley]

She looked down at his hand as he caught hold of her, her jaw clenching tightly at the demand. He'd always been able to bot infuriate and infatuate her all at once, the pitch in her pulse caused by both simultaneously. "It doesn't matter where I need to go the point is that I need to go." she answered sharply, stubbornly.

There was that smell again as he stood close to her. She remembered it, but not this strongly. Now it was like a tendril tugging at her senses and causing the back of her neck to tingle and a shudder to roll it's way up her spine. "Let me go, Val." she growled quietly, and shoved at him.

Though of course, she was still massively unaware of her own strength.

 

[Val]

"No." Val said Indignantly, pushing the same button again.

It was like a wall. The sharpness in her tone, the stab of emotion that struck out other than the bits of laughter he'd evoked from her lips. Val picked at it, as he always did, as only he could. His lips thinned as he half moved to turn her back to him.

"Not until you tell m-" Val found himself cut off as she pressed her hands against his chest and practically threw him back. He stumbled a few steps, crashing into a small shelf behind him and knocking over a few ornaments.

There was a clatter as they fell to the ground and smashed to bit.

Shock decorated Val's face. Not because she's pushed him, that was pretty typical, but because of how far he'd been forced back. Had she been working out?

A frown touched his lips and he stood back up, ready to chase after her if she tried to walk away. "Not until you tell me what the fuck is going on
"

Val insisted as he once again stepped towards her.

 

[Wren Kingsley]

Wren winced as he stumbled back into the shelves, a gasp tumbling from her lips. She'd reached out to catch him a little too late. "Fuck." she muttered under her breath and rubbed at her brow. Her shoulders slumped, and she stepped back from him as he moved toward her, her hand thrown up in warning.

"Don't, just.. don't." her head shook. if he decided to ignore her again he'd find a wall of solid air, forming a barrier around her.

Now she owed him an explanation. He was just as stubborn as she was and he'd only chase her to find out, but she dreaded the way he'd look at her when he saw her face. A sigh fell from her lips in frustration and she reached hesitantly to curl her gloved fingers around the rim of her hood, lowering it slowly before finally looking up at him.

Her green eyes teared up as she stared at him for only a moment and dropped her gaze, unable to hold his.

 

[Val]

Val ran into the wall of air. His hand reaching out to strike against it in frustration.

A growl escaped his throat, and he was about to open his mouth to rebuke her when he noticed that she wasn't moving to run away. His lips thinned for a moment, and he watched quietly as Wren reached up and pulled the hood back from her face.

The expression he wore as she revealed her scars was unreadable.

For a few moments the only sound that hung within the room was the quiet wisping of the wind that was keeping him from stepping over to her. "That's it?"

He sounded incredulous.

Val tried to step forward, pushing against the wall. His lips turning to a scowl as he found his path impeded by the magic that had always given her the edge over him.

"You think you have to run from me because of some scars?" Wren had always been beautiful, gorgeous even. No one could deny that, Val wouldn't have even tried. Whatever claws that had raked her flesh hadn't plucked that away from her, not for him.

It was that spark. That passion. That fire and ice that seemed to constantly whirl between them.

The same that seemed to almost pour from him now as he pushed against the wall. It was like a tidal wave, a burst of anger, desire, and strange affection. "Get rid of this fucking thing."

He barked as he began to force his way against the wall and to her.

 

[Wren Kingsley]

The silence was deafening. Her hands balled into tight fists by her sides as she waited for whatever he had to say to her. Val liked the finer things, he had pretty women flocking to him wherever he went and Wren fully expected him to sneer in disgust.

She judged wrong, and her chest ached as she looked up to see him fight against her wall to get to her.

That's it? No. It wasn't it, yes the scars were ugly but it ran deeper than that. But maybe, for today, yes. It could be it, just scars. Maybe she didn't have to explain any more than that and just accept that he didn't care. She'd been hiding from everyone she knew, and in the past few days she'd felt lonelier than she had all those months in that cell.

She let out a quiet breath at his anger, and eventually she relented, dropping that shield and letting him reach her.

 

[Val]

Val almost went stumbling forward onto the ground as the wall snapped out of existence.

Before he fell onto his face however he quickly caught himself, taking three rushed steps forward before Wren could object or speak up. His arms suddenly wrapped around her, biceps tensing as he pulled her from her feet and practically tossed her onto another of the shelves.

More baubles went crashing to the ground, a vase smashing onto the ground. Val ignored it.

His hands came down on her hips, pinning her in place and holding her there. If she wanted to shove him again, he would make damn sure that she was going with him. "You are the most infuriating..."

Val looked at her, staring into her eyes.

"...obstreperous..." Passion ran through his tone as he continued. "...captivating, and utterly irresistible woman I have ever known."

He was drawn to her. For better or for worse. Whether she was screaming or holding a blade to his ribs. "I don't care what happens. I'll chase you down to the end of this fucking continent."

 

[Wren Kingsley]

Wren let out a startled breath as he grabbed hold of her, her senses flaring and muscles tensed to fight. She grimaced and let out a growl as she was slammed into the shelf, her chest heaving with each panicked breath as she glared at him. "What the f--"

He cut her off, and she was about to bark out a warning and call him a prick before he said what he said. Irresistible? Her mouth went dry, and she swallowed an ache in her throat. He had come to the Shallows looking for her. The anger on her face slowly melted, the angry little huffs easing slightly.

He was the only one who didn't cower from her. She was the way she was to keep people at arms length, but he'd been brave enough to match her, brave enough to fight her off and break down those walls. The only one who'd looked past her thorny exterior and wanted her. He was a smug prick and he riled her like nobody else could, but she had to respect his persistence.

Her legs wrapped around his waist and squeezed, hard, a reprimand for slamming her into the shelf and a not so subtle reminder that she could hurt him too. Though her fingers curled into his shirt and dragged his mouth to hers, and claimed it with a growl.

 

[Val]

He grimaced for only a brief moment as her legs curled around him, her thighs pressing on his side with strength enough to drag him forward.

Val opened his mouth to speak, but before he could her lips claimed his.

There it was. That spark between them. That rush of anger, attraction, infatuation and perhaps even more. It was always there. The moment he saw her, the second that he could feel her in the room. It wasn't desperate lust or wanton desire.

It was magnetic, a pull that he constantly felt within her presence. He had been willing to die for her in that prison. To stay behind and make sure she got out.

He hadn't known why then, and he still did not know now, but he would do it a thousand times.

Val's fingers dug into her hips, slipping beneath the hem of her tunic and tearing at the fabric as he kissed her. His lips parted, drawing her in as if in fierce competition of who was in charge.

 

[Wren Kingsley]

It was a reunion she had thought about often, happening exactly as she'd imagined it would, with the two of them desperately tearing at one another's clothes, their bruising touches and breathless passion. They were well matched competition, their desire each as tenacious as the other as they lost themselves in sheer, carnal fervour.

Together, they were pure, wanton aggression. It surpassed the simplicity of simply wanting him, it was a need, an absolute urgency.

By the time they were through, the room was half ruined and not a single ornament remained on the shelves, the floors now littered with the debris of smashed vases and whatever other valuables his parents had decorated with. Her heart pounded and sweat drenched her, and tumbling down from the heady heights the pair had driven one another to would take her some time.

For now, she laughed, and buried her face in the crook of his neck with a gentle bite at his skin.

"I missed you."

 

[Val]

It honestly felt as though he had run a mile, fought a battle, and then been thrown into the fighting pits of Beleth.

He could already feel bruises forming on his skin, scratch marks lining his arms and back as though he'd been mauled by a tiger. Heart thundered in his chest as Wren lay atop him, his head spinning so much that he barely recognized she spoke.

What the hell just happened?

It felt like she had quite literally fucked him senseless.

Their first encounter felt like a shade of this one, and Val felt the pleasant ache thrum through him as his fingers slowly flowed over her bare form. A pleasant sigh escaped him as her teeth grazed against his neck. "I missed you."

He told her quietly, taking in a shuddering breath. "I don't remember it being so..."

Val trailed off in wonderment, his mind churning for the right word.

 

[Wren Kingsley]

She let out a husky laugh amidst her panted breaths, her hand sailing the ripples and panes of his chest as she kissed at his neck and jaw.. "Fervid?...Dissolute?...Sensational?" she rumbled between each kiss and graze of her teeth, grinning against his skin with amusement. She was both numb and tingling at once, her mind dizzy with blissful delirium, a bone deep hunger sated.

Her muscles tensed as she felt his hands run over her scars, and she took hold of his wrists to pin them at either side of his head as she looked down at him, a deep sigh tumbling free as she smirked at him. "It is good to see you, Val.." As much as he enraged her, he was familiar, he was home, and she'd been so very far from it for so long, left to wonder.

"What are you doing here?" she asked as she leaned to press a kiss against his lips.

 

[Val]

"No I remember it being sensational." Val countered almost immediately.

With his muscles already sore and her newfound strength still somehow holding Val couldn't bring himself to resist the movement of his arms. He looked up at her for a brief moment, lips brushing against hers.

A breath filled his lungs. "I've been pushed to take a more active role in my families affairs."

He told her quietly, his gaze flickering over her form in rabid appreciation.

"My father has ties to one of the Merchant Councilors, there was an opportunity to come here..." It had seem the perfect opportunity. Gain more information on the trading vessels, see Wren, then take a ship on the way home. "So I thought Id come find you."

He kissed her, leaning his head up to catch her lips. "Then do what what I always do."

Steal from the rich, and give to the poor.

 

[Wren Kingsley]

Her lips twisted, suppressing a grin. It had been sensational, but his ego was already a little high in her opinion, she'd refrain from giving him too much praise, even if he had ruined her for other men. She would never resist this. Where their personalities clashed, their bodies were simply made for one another and there was little she could say in denial.

"Ah.." she sat up a little, straddling his waist with a coy smile as his eyes wandered over her, scars and all. It'd been the boost of confidence that she'd needed and that need to hide away was slowly dissolving. "And here was me thinking you might've just come all of this way for me." she smirked, dragging her nails gently over his chest.

"How long are you planning to stick around for?.." her brow quirked.

 

[Val]

Goosebumps rose over his flesh as she drew her nails over her skin.

It was a pleasant rush of sensation, a stark contrast to their bellicose embrace. He smiled at at her, watching the eyes as she spoke. His gaze couldn't have been forced away in that moment, eyes sailing down her body as she allowed him to revel in the sight.

"Oh." Val said as he slowly raised himself up, letting his hands drag slowly over her thighs as he reached up and kissed her ribs.

His lips trailed slowly over her scars, across the curve of her chest, and then to her neck. "Rest assured..."

Val breathed against his skin, teeth scraping softly against her.

"You were my ultimate prize." He had meant what he'd said. He would chase her down over the Spine and through the Wylds if he had to. "Everything else is just a bonus."

 

[Wren Kingsley]

She gave him a look of pure smug satisfaction at his words, her shoulder lifting in a shrug as though she'd been convinced to let it pass. And then he was kissing her again. She gave a rare, bright smile and let her eyes close and her head tilt as she savoured the affection, her fingers running into his hair as he helped himself to her skin.

"Hm." she smirked.. "You didn't answer my question.." she rumbled at him with a deep sigh. On one hand, she wanted him to stay, she wanted this whenever she could get it, but on the other hand the longer he stayed the more difficult it'd feel when he left, and the more likely he was to find out what she now was.

 

[Val]

His lips continued to softly trail against her neck. "A week, at least."

As he spoke Val let his fingers slowly run up her thighs, drifting in a soft rake of the back of his fingernails. He took a deep breath, taking in her scent and reveling in the moment.

"I have a meeting with the Councilor." He told her softly. "I have to figure out what my father wants from him, what he really wants."

He knew what was written on the documents, what his father had told him was being traded, but Val knew better than that. There was something else happening, something going on beneath the surface. He just didn't know what.

"But." Val said as he kissed up along her jaw, trailing slowly to her lips.

"I could stay longer." He whispered. "Very easily."

Is that what she wanted?

 

[Wren Kingsley]

Wren leaned into every touch with an answering breath or quiet groan, her cheeks dimpling with the grin that grew on her face. He knew well how wild he drove her, and she'd given up trying to resist a long time ago. "Hm.." she answered absently against his lips, having hardly heard a thing he'd said between those kisses.

Was he asking her if that's what she wanted?

She swallowed, lifting her hand to comb her fingers through his hair with a slight tug. "Oh I wouldn't want to keep you all to myself, I'm sure you have a whole harem of girls waiting at home for you." she smirked, but there was a hint of jealousy in her tone that echoed in her gaze as she looked over his face. She bit on his lip, perhaps a little harder than what could be considered affectionate.

Wren dragged her eyes from him to look around the large sitting room that they'd half destroyed. "I could've certainly used a place like this though, I've been living in a fucking hovel all this time whilst this place sits empty." her head shook and she sighed. "Filthy rich bastards." she grinned.

 

[Val]

A shudder ran through his body as her teeth sank into his lips.

It was a rolling tide that seemed to rush through him. His fingers tightened on her body, pressing into her skin and drawing her somehow closer to him. Val forced her attention back to him. His lips catching hers and his tongue slowly delved between her lips and danced over hers. It stayed for only a second before he drew back.

Val would have lied if he'd said he had not bedded anyone since her, that he had not continued his games. Yet it had only taken one to know, the first instance, that none were like her. It had been an echo, a pale flame, an empty gesture.

"There's no one waiting for me." He breathed against her lips, catching them in a fierce kiss. "No harem..."

Val's hand drew up her back and to her neck, softly grasping her to hold her still as he suddenly pushed her and forced her down onto her back. He crawled on top of her, his eyes remaining locked on hers. "...No harlots..."

He kissed her. "No Queens nor maids."

A few had tried, and he'd kept up his flirtations, but none had been worth pursuing. None had that same spark.

His teeth sank into her lip, almost as if in answer to her jealousy, biting down and drawing back.

"You can sleep in my bed any day." Val hissed as he drew back, that passionate desire practically pouring from him. "As long as you're the only one in it."

 

[Wren Kingsley]

Her jaw ached with the constant grin she wore in delectation whilst indulging in his kisses, nipping teeth and kneading hands, soft groans tumbling from her lips as she leaned into each one and writhed with the torment. She gave a breathy laugh as he shifted her to pin her, and her lips twisted in amusement as she met his gaze and quirked a brow at his words.

"Oh?.. My my your father must be vexed. You're getting on a bit, isn't it about time you found a suitor and settled down?" she smirked, wincing slightly at that bite on her lip. She growled quietly, both in response to the sharp pain and in prurience as she reached to drag her fingers over his stubbled cheek.

"Hm I can't promise that. A woman has needs, you know..." Of course he knew, and he knew precisely how to deal with them. On the contrary, Wren did not make a habit of sleeping with strange men, even those she knew well, if anything she worked to keep them at arms length. Valren, however.. Nobody had quite proved themselves to her like he had, no one had quite stirred the desire she now felt like he did, and she'd happily indulge whilst she could and without shame.

 

[Val]

Her jab of suitors was entirely ignored, forgotten. No woman in Oban had stoked the flames as she had. None brought his passion forth.

She knew it too.

The only response Wren received was a fierce bite to her throat.

Teeth sank into her skin as the weight of his body pressed into her, his muscles flexing as his hands drew over her arms and pinned her down against the ground. She would feel the scrape of his teeth as he offered his answer. "I'll fulfill every need you'll ever have."

Val's words spilled across her skin, the press of his bite nearly enough to draw blood.

One hand grasped at her wrists, holding them down as his lips pressed over the mark he had left upon her flesh. They trailed down over her jaw and up to her lips, catching them before she could offer any sort of argument.

His tongue invaded her mouth, drawing back only when their lungs began to burn.

 

[Wren Kingsley]

Gods help her.

"Will you n-aah.." The sound she made as his teeth bit down on her neck started a fire within her that no one else could ever ignite. There was no thought, no focus, only desire and the pain of waiting. Incapacitated. She hissed a quiet curse under her breath, but the words were cut short as his mouth collided with hers once more and she returned it with equal passion.

Her legs wrapped around him tightly and squeezed, and she grinned up at him with a mischievous glint in her green eyes that blinked with amber only briefly. Her breaths were ragged and half growled. "Do you intend on spending the entire day on this floor?.." she asked with a coy smirk and leaned up to bite at his lower lip.