Completed Here in Our Quiet Retreat

Alistair was struggling to listen to Kristen's words partially from the loud thumping in his ear that he was confident was his heartbeat, and also from his desire to go back to what they had previously been doing.

Still, slowly he managed to bring his pulse back under control and he just nodded. His mind taking back control, and now his worry that he had stepped too far was the most apparent.

However, as Kristen continued to talk more, he could not help but be a little confused. In the Academy, initiates had slept around all the time. With other initiates, or people they met on missions. Alistair did not consider himself a casanova, but even he partook in this practice.

But what Kristen was talking about now...Was she suggesting that he marry her? Just out of the blue like this? He would need to think about that. He needed to speak with his family, and then...He'd only ever spoken with her dad when he woke him up in the middle of the night to talk through a mirror at him.

Alistair realized he had been silent for several moments, and probably looked a little dumbfounded before he quickly began nodding his head.

"No, no offense taken. I was just worried I had hurt you."

Kristen Pirian
 
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What a powerful relief! Aionus bless Alistair for understanding. Her virginity was something she could only give once, and to her it was no trifling matter. She wanted to ensure she gave it to—

(Alistair)

—her husband. Celestialism had no strict prescription in this regard, and so upon her Mother's word and advice would she proceed, and yes, in accordance with such guidance Kristen too believed it virtuous indeed for a woman to be diligent, patient, and modest in these matters.

"Hurt me? Oh certainly not, and far from it." She smiled warmly, an earnest gesture which helped shoo away that nervousness from before, and one which she again hoped would allay Alistair's concern. Gods! For him to speak of it, for her to feel it, his concern for her, his care for her! If her brief interruption to speak on limits had in its way dampened the intensity of the passionate fire, then this, oh gods, this from Alistair set it to rekindle anew.

"Shall we say that anything..." she thought of a way to phrase it clearly and concisely, "...below the waist should be left alone, and all else," she blushed heavily at the thought, the possibilities, "may remain free to explore? Shall we say this, and then let our lips, our hands, do much of the talking?"

Alistair Krixus
 
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Alistair continued to struggle to focus on Kristen's speech. Kristen's words could often be advanced during the best of times, and it did not help that Alistair's brain felt like a horse that had just been struck by a bolt of lightning...extra crispy.

However, some of humanity's most basic instincts reared their heads in their hours of need. Hence, Alistair nodded dumbly when Kristen offered for them to continue. His hands quickly pulled away from any part of Kristen that would be considered below the waist.

Alistair confirmed the idea in a breathy voice close to Kristen's ear, as he pulled her in close,

"Agreed."

Without needing any more urging, Alistair started where they had just left off. Hungrily trailing kisses along her collarbone until he once again found her lips.

Kristen Pirian
 
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There was a brief fear in Kristen's mind prior to her necessary interruption. A fear which suggested that the impassioned force of the moment would be lost, or would not be able to reach the same burning intensity as it had just moments before.

This fear vanished immediately once Alistair kissed her collarbone. Ohhh! Exquisitely new and instantly delightful, never had she been kissed there. Nor on her neck as he trailed his way up. Gods! She shivered with uncontainable pleasure and a sigh of satisfaction rushed from her lips...before once again their embrace was sealed with a long and electrifying kiss.

Time seemed to fall away as they lay there together. The soft crackle of the magical fireplace, the heady pounding of their hearts, and the sound of ceaseless kisses powerless to quench their wondrously insatiable urges for more, these filled the private hideaway with a gentle ambience. Seldom could the real world surpass the mystique of dreams, yet what dream could compare to this night here and now?

At last came a moment of separation, of mutual breaths taken, and Kristen took this opportunity to whisper to Alistair, "I want to feel you. I want to run my hand along your face, your neck, your arms, your back...your chest. And after..."

Her heart pounded tremendously. All her face was aflame with a flush of both shyness and anticipatory passion. Her smile was small, demure, yet with a longing hitherto unseen.

"...I would like you to feel me too."

Alistair Krixus
 
Alistair hungrily peppered kisses all along Kristen's collarbone before periodically returning to her lips. He lost himself in the primal acts, but his mind cleared enough to hear her request. A grin pulled at the corner of his lips as he looked into her eyes before he returned to his actions.

As he made his way along her collarbone, he whispered in her ear. "I couldn't agree more."

This time, as he spoke, his one free hand slowly trailed up to her shoulder where he gave a slight tug at her dress, not wanting to pull it away. Instead, he wants to let gravity and Kristen let it drop free.

His other hand also began to explore across Kristen's body. A few times, his hand threatened to wander lower, but his mind quickly took control and reigned his desires in.

The near sound of silence in the room, all except the crackling of the fire, was only ever drowned out by Alistair and Kristen's own passion. It was an atmosphere that fed back into itself.

Kristen Pirian
 
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Though the wonders of passion had Kristen enraptured, an undeniable shyness came forth like a persistent supplicant on the ground, beseeching her attention, calling her down from the heady heights of the clouds. The little tug at her dress, the loosening of it from her shoulders, brought to bear the sheer nervousness, the sheer bashfulness, of never having been witnessed in such a manner before. Vigilantly had she guarded this, the sight of her natural body! If she had been forced into those communal baths and showers of the old Academy, she would have refused and accepted punishment. If she during Everleigh's Punishment Game had landed on any of the particularly sordid squares, ones that prompted stripping down even just to one's undergarments, say, she would have refused and taken an alternate dare.

But now, as she and Alistair lay upon those soft furs on this comfortable couch before that cozy fireplace, all this in the middle of a room sealed tight with privacy, she felt the sole means by which to overcome that strict modesty, and simply put, this could be summed up in a word, a name:

Alistair. For his eyes alone would she allow the most sensual forms of her femininity to be seen.

Kristen had enjoyed the thrill of having her wrists pinned, but that was something which they could come around to again...in various other forms as well. Now there was this and all the giddy anticipation for it, the longing desire for it, this mutual journey of their hands across one another's bodies, this invitation to a wondrous exploration of touch and of being touched.

She withdrew her arms from the sleeves of her dress, a task which took a little time and some minorly frustrating effort; all the while that push and pull: Gods, keep it on! No, take it off! Across her chest now she had her arms crossed, for this was the final threshold. What burning heat there was in her cheeks, in her forehead and in her ears and in her neck even, all her face seemed aflame!

"I've...never shown anyone...before," Kristen said softly, her smile like a perfectly balanced scale of adorable bashfulness and poised exhilaration. For the places Alistair's hands had yet touched, what she presently guarded she knew would be the most exciting of all tonight.

Alistair Krixus
 
Alistair made no move to move her arms, simply continuing his trek of trailing kisses down her shoulder and across those very same arms. His hands gently trailed along her soft skin as he whispered in her ear.

"It is your choice, but know that you are perfection from head to toe."

While not the same as her undressing, Alistair did want to move along with her so he began his own process of unbuttoning his shirt and upper clothing, moving to expose his bare chest.

Kristen's arms shyly covered up her body which excited Alistair as much as any other woman baring her chest to him. There was something about her beautiful body holding back just at the edge that made him anticipate the next part like an adrenaline junky seconds from leaping off of a cliff.

"Every day you find a way to stun me more than you already have."

Kristen Pirian
 
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Kristen felt like she might melt from affection. His compliments deftly made her feel more at ease, what bashfulness and nervousness she had politely giving way to the procession of anticipation and pure, simple elation. Could her smile even grow any larger?

Alistair worked on his coat, his shirt, and once his chest had been freed from the garments which constrained it and Kristen drew in a small breath, the tiniest of gasps. Goodness, even her dreams did not venture this far—could not venture this far, for first the eyes needed to see the form of what the sleeping mind wished to conjure. And here it was, hers to behold, the view of Alistair's toned arms and chest, honed to a delightfully sculpted example of a man's physical prowess. Warmth of a most enthralling and demanding kind, kindled usually whilst reading particularly sensual passages in The Romance of House Black or other such tales of romance, overcame her at the sight.

Kristen had to remember to breathe! To take in another breath to follow that tiny gasp.

"Well," she said, a coy little flair in her tone as she beheld Alistair's bare chest while still covering her own, "...a gesture in kind seems only fair..."

Then, ever so slowly, she let her arms descend down and away. Reservation was gone, for it was no longer needed. She wanted Alistair to see them, her bare breasts; she wanted to share the sight of her body with him as he had with her. His eyes were the only eyes which she longed to see her so.

Kristen reached up then, placing her hands to Alistair's cheeks, caressing them lightly.

"How is it that such immaculate fortune can be mine? That I might be so blessed as to have you?"

Alistair Krixus
 
Alistair brought himself closer, passionately kissing her. There was no need to grab at her like some piece of meat. Instead, he continued their sensual interactions, letting their exposed chests meet and touch one another. Every sensitive moment that he felt her exposed body pressed against his own was like a soft shock of electricity.

A perfect smile was beaming on his face, but it was a thinly held facade hiding the dangers of her words. If she only knew how ironic her words were. He should be saying that to her right now. What sort of gift had he been given to be with her, meanwhile she lovingly adored a murderer and a liar that had only hidden his sins away.

"The fact that you ask that question before I have the chance is a bewilderment to scholars everywhere."

He chuckled the last bit as he pushed away his negative thoughts and he went back to her beautiful, lush lips. His arms snaked around her wanting to meld as much of his bare skin with her own.

Kristen Pirian
 
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Kristen giggled after Alistair's response, knowing nothing of what transpired behind his own smile. Merely was she glad to have him, to hold him, to feel the pure sensation of their embrace, of her body pressed to his and his to hers, the flesh unconstrained by garments, touch unlike any ever before experienced allowed to reign.

Oh, maybe she would have had some witty, playful remark of her own, but how could that compare? How could that compare to the meeting of their lips, to the deep and blissful kiss which followed? Even the light feel of his breath, those thin wisps of exhalation from his nose upon her cheeks, was a thing to be savored and cherished.

Across his back her hands glided, the tips of her fingers sailing the sea of his muscle in a gentle caress. She longed for her right hand to be of flesh-and-blood, capable of touch and warmth, but she would have to be content with her left, and to trust in the smoothness of the porcelain which comprised her right. Her palms she allowed to descend and the whole of her hands now worked to softly trace each and every contour of Alistair's back.

"How does that feel?" she asked when the parting of their lips allowed, her delicate caress continuing all the while. "Does it feel nice for you?"

Alistair Krixus
 
Kristen's hands were a perfect dichotomy of sensation along his body. Her warm left hand that trailed along his body was sensitive, but also calming. Then the cold porcelain of her right sent little spikes of sensation across his body as it moved.

As they traveled over the various runes across his body, it felt so good. When she came to his back it was a new feeling, more sensitive than the front as her hands met more hard scars and protrusions. The rune work on his front had been done by himself or another trained rune smith, but his back was largely made of the rough and untrained rune work his father had pushed onto him as a child. Even with such negative memories, the feeling of her hands on those scars was oddly peaceful yet thrilling.

"It feels...incredible."

He quickly said in between his own gaps of exploration and meeting her lips. The pause game as her right hand trailed over one of the scars causing one of the icey sensations only to quickly be calmed by the arrival of her left hand.

Kristen Pirian
 
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A tapestry of such profound endurance, there upon Alistair's back. It was one thing to merely know that Alistair had been through the Academy of old, another thing entirely to feel it; and such was the nature of his runic magic that it gave cause for additional scarring upon his body, that act of etching runic symbols into his very flesh. He suffered so much and so greatly just to get to where he was now. He deserved some comfort, and Kristen was determined to give him all that she could provide.

Alistair's own hands in their mirrored journey up and down her back made her sigh with simple, joyful pleasure. Oh the magic of touch! Therein lay the whole of the world! Gone were the furs on the couch, the warmth of the fireplace, the feel of her dress's fabric below her waist, all that existed was Alistair.

She'd give a suggestion...after another long, passionate, euphoric kiss. Never would there be a moment where she felt she'd enough of those!

"Would you like...a back massage?" She smiled bashfully and admitted, "'Tis not to say that I am practiced in such, but certainly would it come from the heart."

Alistair Krixus
 
The moment was completely overtaken by the entanglement of limbs and sensual sensations that overtook him. His only focus was trying to give Kristen as much pleasure as he was experiencing, but it was difficult to pay attention.

It was like every brush of her fingertips along his skin sent overwhelming static through his brain. It was so hard to focus...so why should he?

He felt amazing. She was right there in front of him, and he was assuming that she felt great too. What more was there to think about?

The static immediately stopped when she asked her question. It just caught him off guard. That had not been what he was expecting, but...

"Uh, sure...I mean, yes. By all means."

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"Very well!" Kristen said, excited but also nervous—was it not just that particular mix of emotion which made for the most concise summary of the night? Tonight was a night of many such intimate first times, and oh this was to say nothing of the rarity of even being able to merely see Alistair! Kristen was keen to make the most of it.

"Here. Lay flat on your chest, oh, splendid, just like that, and I shall sit astride you..." Her dress needed some adjustment to make it work, but it proved easy enough. "Now you need but relax, and I shall do the rest."

Kristen reached down to begin, but then had an idea: she took a moment to rub her hands together, to press her porcelain hand to the heat of her own body, these to provide it with some warmth first before she began. A little touch, but one she hoped would be thoughtful, and better for him! She reached down, kneading lightly with her palms, her fingers, at first, gently tracing her hands over the course of his back as she moved from spot to spot.

All those scars, those runic inscriptions...seeing them now so clearly, feeling them...how could somberness not meet with her heart then?

"For so long has this poor back known nothing but pain," she said, her voice breathy in its hushed, empathetic tone. "I can only glimpse from afar what agony you have suffered so closely. And this is one of the many prices you pay for your magic."

She worked her thumbs in little circles in the small of Alistair's back, wishing that within her hands she'd the capacity to right all that had been twisted and marred.

"May you...speak of them, if such is your wish? I would hear all that you would tell, or none of it, if quiet and the simple touch of my hands is what soothes you best."

Alistair Krixus
 
Relax? How the hell did Kristen expect him to do that? He could feel her lightly atop his back, and then came her hands trailing along his scars, Alistair might as well have been as tense as any battle he had ever been in.

The warmth that came from both hands surprised him, but he was able to realize what she had done, and her thoughtfulness made his heart warm for her even more.

Kristen truly had a way with words, so much so that he found himself losing himself in them. He nearly found himself growing sad for his own condition, something that he had never stopped to consider before. As much as he loved this situation, Alistair quickly pushed those thoughts away. He had been taught growing up that feeling sorry for oneself was the first step in self-destruction for a Dreadlord.

He tried to lose himself in the feeling of Kristen's massage so that he could ignore the words he was about to speak.

"My father really wanted a Dreadlord in the family. He saw it as a quick way to rise in social standing, but our family had no history of magic. Father gave my mother various experimental herbs to improve the likelihood of arcane talent when I was born..." Those had been the herbs that would lead to his mother's drug addiction for such a long period of time.

"When I finally arrived, Father had me tested, probably by some hack but he told Father I had the talent. However, after three years, I still showed no signs of it. Growing frustrated, Father began to do his own research and he landed on runes...And with no real training, whatsoever, he carved my first set of runes into my back...The original runes were meant to improve magical control."

How ironic. The runes had allowed him to get into the Academy at the young age of 5, but the rune masters had laughed at the early set, saying that I was lucky the runes had not completely nullified any arcane abilities. Thankfully, they had been able to fix them...After that, well it did not get better.

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The story Alistair told matched well with the sight of the scars themselves. Indeed it was unseemly at best, vile at worst, the way Amadeus treated his son. His wife and his son, gods, the desperation of some men.

"And here you are," Kristen said, kneading now with the heels of her palms up and down the middle of his back, "having survived all that came before. You persevere. Even at so young an age, with crude runes scrawled upon your back, you have risen to every challenge the Academy presented to you. Higher still have you to go, and the name of Krixus carried upon your shoulders shall surpass your father's ambitions in substantial degree."

Kristen slowly came to rest flat upon Alistair's back, this so that she could nestle her head next to his and give him a kiss on his cheek as he lay there and whisper in his ear, "I believe in you, Alistair, for I have witnessed with great admiration your spirit and your deeds."

Alistair Krixus
 
Kristen could not possibly know how much Alistair needed to hear her say this. These very thoughts had driven him for years. He would be so great that the world would completely forget his father's very existence. He would not be able to have the one thing he wanted, a legacy.

The calming weight on his back shifted and then he felt the kiss on his cheek. No matter how much he had tried to relax, his body had remained tense, but when he felt the light kiss, it was like all the tension completely escaped his body.

A noticeable relaxation occurred throughout his body as he felt himself sink into the couch before sighing in satisfaction at Kristen's hands working along his body.

He whispered almost too quietly to be heard.

"You have no idea how much strength you give me."

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"I'm glad," came the reply, just as quiet. "I am so very glad."

And then for a time made indiscernible in duration through the unchanging environs, the constant crackle of the arcane fireplace, and Kristen's passionate persistence, she continued to tend to Alistair's back. What her hands lacked in professional expertise was made up for by the intimate sensuality expressed by her heart. Into her left hand particularly did she channel possible every infusion of tenderness, every part of that human hand used to knead, to caress, to rub, to touch and soothe the peaks and valleys of that solemn tapestry of Alistair's back. And oh the heights of her own joy! Simple and pure, she felt good because she was making Alistair feel good. What joy he had was hers as well—shared, and theirs exclusively to cherish. A treasure like none other. The greatest thing in all the world.

At last her gliding hands came to a stop, off from his back she went, and down beside him again she came to lay, looking into his eyes and smiling.

"Did that feel good?"

Alistair Krixus
 
The massage was so relaxing that Alistair became lost in its pleasure. It felt like only moments had passed when Kristen stopped, which he only knew because his muscles cried for more.

A soft delighted groan escaped his lips as Alistair turned to look at Kristen in her eyes.

"It was amazing." His voice with a hint of remaining longing.

"Would you like one?"

He had no idea how to give a massage, but he was pretty sure Kristen had not either. She had made up for it in passion, so he should be able to mimic that, at least in the slightest. For all the pleasure he had received, he did not want it to go unreciprocated.

Kristen Pirian
 
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Alistair just froze for a moment while his mind tried to kickstart him into motion. Eventually, something clicked and Alistair quickly sprung into action. He pushed himself to his knees and carefully moved himself atop Kristen, resting on his knees, not wanting to place too much weight on her.

Unbeknownst to Kristen, Alistair also rubbed his hands together, but that was because they felt so clammy. Taking another moment to take a deep breath, he began his massage. While Alistair may not have had Kristen's compassion or caring, he had spent a lot of his life studying, including the human body. He targeted those muscles now, but the pressure was pretty soft, as Alistair feared overdoing it.

"How is that?"

Kristen Pirian
 
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The steady and contented breaths from her nose gave quiet proof that Kristen was enjoying herself. And if such was too subtle alone, it was accompanied by the unbroken smile that was the centerpiece of her expression, plain to be seen on her side-turned head, resting there on folded arms.

The trail of Alistair's hands, moving with purpose and precision to this muscle, now here to this muscle, and now there that muscle, came with no small level of astonishment: my, did he seem practiced at this! Just beneath her shoulderblades, in the small of her back, off toward her sides, gods, it seemed as though Alistair's mere touch brought to life parts of her she hitherto did not know existed. And what was more? Oh how starved had she been for the simple delight of touch, any touch, ever since enrolling in the Academy! Tiny, precious scraps here and there, yes, but this was by comparison a sumptuous feast. And what was even more, this was not the genial affection of friends and family, but romantic touch. As Oraya had put plainly in the Dance Hall, the touch of a suitor. She could have melted into it, Alistair's touch, like willing clay beneath a potter's hands, for all its sublime pleasure.

She almost didn't hear his question, and her answer was a bit delayed.

"Mmmmmmm...I may need to beseech Aionus for a favor," said Kristen, "to rewind time as such to bring about this moment once more."

She giggled lightly.

"How are you so adept at this?"

Alistair Krixus
 
Oh no, that hesitation, did she hate this? No, her voice sounded like she was enjoying this. She was so relaxed underneath his touch. What if she was just a really good liar? No, this was Kristen so that could not be it.

Wait, what? Was he adept at this? That can't be right. He was just hitting the muscles that he knew were the most important. The ones he targets when recovering from sword practice. First, he went for her trapezius, the dorsi, and finally the serratus posterior. There were also the deep back muscles, but that would require a level of pressure that he wasn't comfortable with.

"Um, I'm just loosening the muscles that I know about...I'm glad you like it."

Kristen Pirian
 
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"I doooooo~...oh," Kristen said, her melodic drawing out of the vowel in "do" interrupted by Alistair touching just the right spot in the small of her back. "Oh...goodness."

Kristen had her forthcoming comment to make, but it could wait. Wait until she finished melting underneath Alistair's massaging hands. And it struck her, the one lucid thought she could maintain whilst wading in this sea of simple pleasure, that while other hands could go through all the same motions as Alistair's now, it truly was only Alistair's hands which could produce this sublime and lovely experience. His and his alone.

"Might I tempt your daring to loosen the muscles you don't know about?"

She gave her back a little wiggle.

"They must be in there. Somewhere. Hiding. Awfully shy of them, wouldn't you say?"

Alistair Krixus
 
One would think it was the moan of pleasure or even the fact that he was currently on top of her in a private setting by a warm fire with minimal clothing on, but none of those things made him blush like the last two sentences.

The muscles he didn't know about. They symbolized something mysterious. There would be no reasoning behind rubbing those muscles except...he wanted to.

Alistair said nothing as he did not necessarily trust his voice. He was thankful that Kristen was currently looking away from him so he could hide his red face. With a deep breath to control himself, his hand became less pointed and focused. They spread out as far as they could across her body, his fingers searching and lightly loosening every soft bit of flesh Alistair could find, all in the hopes of finding those right spots that Kristen wanted him to find.

Kristen Pirian
 
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