Private Tales There Are Worse Poisons That Exist

[Saffia]

Saffia blushed, the softest pink colouring her cheeks as Aerium pressed those featherlight kisses to her knuckles. It made her want to laugh, shy and startled by how proper, how gentlemanly he could be. He was so... fancy. She managed a curtsy with a quiet chuckle.

But then he looked at her.

Gods. That look. The kind of look that stripped her bare without ever touching her, that made her feel beautiful in a way no mirror had ever managed.

"You are very sweet." she answered when he complimented her. Her heart stumbled, and tripped entirely when he said he may have been falling for her.

Saffia stopped walking. Her hand was still caught in his, her fingers small and warm in his larger palm, and for a beat she said nothing. Her gaze flicked up to his face, and though there was a flicker of worry in her eyes, uncertainty, hesitation, though it softened into something fond. Something aching.

“You shouldn’t say things like that, Aer...” she murmured, voice low and touched with a rueful kind of smile. One hand rose to tuck a dark curl behind her ear, a motion she often did when flustered. “Those kinds of words are dangerous.."

She didn’t pull away though. No, she held his hand tighter and fell back into step beside him, brushing her shoulder gently against his as they walked.

When he mentioned food and sweets, she huffed a small laugh, eyes lighting again.

“You’re going to fatten me up,” she teased, grinning now as the mood lightened. “Is that the plan? Woo me with sugar and charm and compliments until I can’t run away anymore?”

She bumped his hip with hers, playful now, despite the storm still quietly spinning in her chest. “Because it might just work.”

 

[Aerium]

Aerium laughed aloud, the sound traveling through the area heartily as if it were part of the nature residing here. That this day was already picturesque, that the weather was so blessed, Aer could not contain the mirth sitting with him. For that was the effect Saffia had on him. She already had made a home in his heart and mind, even if she was unaware of it yet, but Aerium was sure to leave that space there for her.

It warmed him, that her presence could have the effect of the sun upon him.

"Aye, that it precisely what I am doing to you." He grinned, toothily, widely. "And perhaps the fact that I think of only sweets when I think of you... must be because of that Daylily cupcake you got that night we met."

Daylillies. He had taken the time to find some this morning to no avail, but the bread he had baked had the flower carved upon it. Not his best, but he was pleased enough to pack it into the basket he had brought with him.

 

[Saffia]

Saffia couldn’t help but laugh along with him, his joy infectious, rolling through her like the warm breeze that rustled the canopy above. His laughter felt like something sacred. She wanted to bottle it, carry it with her when they inevitably had to part ways. She sighed at the thought, her smile faltering.

She gave him a sideways look, feigning suspicion. “You’re a romantic, aren’t you? Hiding behind that Inquisitor training and that ‘proper’ attitude. But really, deep down, you’re soft as bread and twice as warm.”

Her hand squeezed his, her thumb brushing across his knuckles in a quiet, absentminded gesture of affection as they walked. A part of her still didn’t know how to hold all of this, the attention, the warmth, the promises he kept slipping between his words. But gods, it was sweet, and he was beautiful.

 

[Aerium]

Aerium could not help but pull her to a stop. His hand pulled her further in, until she stood against him. His free hand came up to smooth away her hair from her face. "I guess I am a romantic. No other girl has made me do all of this."

His hand traveled down, the back of his fingers brushing down her arm before snaking to press his palm flat at her lower back. Aerium leaned, slowly guiding her to tilt back with the help of his sturdy hold on her. "Have I said it enough times yet? That I fell moments before you called me over to dance. From the moment you indulged me in a kiss. Gods, Saffia, I wanted to be yours then, as I do now."

His hand released her hand. Forefinger tucked beneath her chin, his thumb pressing at the skin below her lip and dragging it down to watch her lips part. "Would you indulge me again?" Aerium's deep voice was a rumble than a soft murmur. Despite his softness, the goodness, it was clear her had undergone training to become an Imperial. It was that strength he held her with, but it was his love for her, longing for her, that kept him kind.

 

[Saffia]

Gods. What was she doing here?

Saffia could almost hear the voices of her elders hissing in her ears, warning her to turn back, to guard her heart, to think. But thinking had never made her feel this alive.

Her heart thundered in her chest as he held her, as he looked at her that way. As he spoke to her like he meant every syllable, like he’d carved them from truth just for her.

And she, usually so quick with wit or deflection, found herself wordless. All she could do was stare up at him, her wide, dark eyes brimming with wonder and something dangerously close to hope. “I told you…” she breathed eventually, her voice quiet, trembling. “Words like those are dangerous.”

Her gaze dropped to his lips. She shouldn’t. She knew she shouldn’t. But gods, she wanted to.

She believed that he meant every world, that he truly believed that he was falling. And she wanted to believe that he wouldn’t break her heart.

Her people were dreamers and romantics. They believed in fate and signs and stolen kisses. And how wild, how free, could she truly claim to be if she didn’t throw herself headfirst into a whirlwind romance like this?

She was done being careful.

The kiss came hard and fast, a reckless crash of lips that left no room for doubt or regret. She surged into him, arms flung around his neck, holding him like she meant to make the world stop spinning.

 

[Aerium]

Aerium welcomed her into his arms, his lips catching the kiss as if it was the only way he knew to breath.

He closed his eyes, but his steps knew where to go. He guided her, lazily, for his efforts were put to use elsewhere as he steered her against a tree. The Inquisitor snaked his arms around her knee, a hand going to her waist so that he could lift her to a height more accommodating to his height.

She was an answer to her soul. She was what he wanted to feast upon in hopes that his hunger was quelled, but Aerium was a fool in love. Saffia was an addiction he will never learn to abstain from. From the moment she had danced with him and kissed him, he had been chasing for her lips since. Now, she was here, indulging him.

"You set my world on fire, Daylily." He breathed, tearing himself from the kiss. Aerium wanted to taste her. His lips trailed along her jaw and down her neck. Her hair, saints, he inhaled her intoxication of a scent and groaned.

He should take this slow. It was the kind thing to do, to not scare her off. Aerium paused, panting for air, and rested his forehead upon her collarbone. "I... apologise." He struggled to say. Did he regret it? No. Saints, no.

 

[Saffia]

Saffia let out a breathless sound of surprise, half laugh, half gasp, as he lifted her with maddening ease and pressed her back against the nearest tree.

Gods.

He kissed her like a man starved of love and drowning in it all at once. Like she was the only thing anchoring him to this world and he was desperate to be consumed.

They were getting carried away, her logical mind tried to remind her. This was too fast. Too soon. But then his lips found the hollow of her neck and all thought scattered like dandelions in the wind.

Her fingers tangled into his hair, nails grazing his scalp, her head tilting instinctively to bare more of her throat to him. Her breath hitched; her body responded like it already knew him, already trusted him.

“Don’t,” she whispered, her voice sharp with want. A warning, a command, a plea. Don’t apologise. Don’t pull away. Don’t ruin this moment.

Her chest rose and fell with the urgency of her breath, her heart hammering against his. Her mind was lost, adrift somewhere in the heat between them.

She was his. In this moment. Wholly, fiercely, recklessly his.

“This is madness,” she murmured, mouth brushing his ear as her grip on him tightened. “But I don’t care. I want it. I want you.”

 

[Aerium]

There was no need for him to be told twice.

He lips burrowed into the neckline of her blouse, inching the cloth away so that he could begin a new trail from collarbone to collarbone. Kisses then hungrily searched up her throat, a smile breaking his face as he felt her breath hitch. It made his teeth graze her skin, and Aerium found that he liked the feel of that. He raked the touch of his teeth along the side of her neck before his lips took in the lobe of her ear.

"Say that again, Daylily." His deep voice rumbled whenever he whispered, but he was soon becoming aware that he could not be blamed for drinking her like water. "And the moment you wish for me to stop... tell me, and I will listen to your word."

His hands moved her legs to curl around his hips, feeling the barest touch of her skin before his hands went to cradle her head. His fingers loved the feel of her hair, and as Aerium brought his head to meet her gaze, he smiled. "You have a power over me. I will do what you will me to do..."

 

[Saffia]

A soft, shuddering breath slipped past her lips as his mouth chased heat along her skin, and her fingers clutched tighter at his shoulders, anchoring herself in the wildfire he’d lit within her. The scrape of his teeth dragged another whimper from her throat, her thighs tightening instinctively around his hips as her back pressed harder into the tree.

Her eyes fluttered open as his voice coiled around her ear, low and hungry. Say that again, Daylily…

She could barely breathe, let alone speak, but she managed.

“I want you,” she whispered again, the words trembling through the heat rushing in her veins. Her gaze lifted to meet his, wide and fierce and impossibly raw, like she couldn’t quite believe the truth she was speaking aloud.

Her hand slid up to cup his jaw, thumb brushing tenderly across his cheekbone as he declared that he’d stop if she asked him to, her eyes softening. She has not doubted that..

At his next words, a laugh, quiet and breathless, left her lips just before she kissed him fiercely again.

She leaned in close to his ear, her voice velvety smooth with promise.

“You should be careful, Inquisitor… I might take everything.. I just hope you can keep up with me.” she grinned. She was a gypsy, after all.

 

[Aerium]

Hearing her challenge only made him chuckle, but her kiss was the prize he was after.

He began anew, kissing her softly and tenderly. Aerium wanted to memorise the velvet of her lips as they brushed against his whenever they drew apart, only to meet again in another kiss to seal. Loved, that was what he wanted her to feel as he stole those kisses from her.

Then, to her cheek and jaw, Aerium wished she would feel how steady he held her despite the rush of blood coursing inside him. He pushed her head to tilt to the side, so that he could apply chaste kissed down her throat once more. "I should take you to the picnic first. Show you the hidden hollow by the water."

His hands moved, dragging down the sides of her form. The attire she wore protested at his rough movement, but he soon rounded his hands against her backside. Fingers curled, savouring the feel of her, but held her in his grip. "It isn't far from here." He promised, carrying her down the path before moving into the trees.

Where a tree had fallen over another, their branches created privacy that reminded him of a weeping willow's shade. There, hidden inside, the picnic he had spoke of. Several blankets lined the forest floor, offering them the chance to laze about should they wish, but nonetheless had a private view of the stream going past.

"Daylily... would you like to eat first... or allow me to eat my fill?" He asked softly at her ear. Aerium chose not to show his face, nervous how much his hunger would show.

 

[Saffia]

Saffia’s breath caught at the softness of his kisses, the way his lips lingered and promised tenderness despite the fire between them. Her fingers curled into his hair, reluctant to pull away as he pressed kisses down her throat, heat pooling low in her belly.

When he spoke of the hidden hollow, a smile curved her lips, her heart fluttering with the thought of secret places and stolen moments.

As he lifted her, she relaxed into his arms. The strength in his arms and the warmth of his hands sent a thrill through her, the world narrowing down to just the two of them as he carried her beneath the leafy canopy.

The sight of the picnic hidden in the shade of fallen branches made her chest swell with affection and excitement. She let out a soft laugh at his teasing question, the intimacy of his whisper sending a flush to her cheeks.

Saffia’s smile deepened, her eyes sparkling with mischief. “Food can wait.”

Without another word, her mouth was on his in a kiss that left no doubt of exactly what she wanted.

 

[Aerium]

Aerium was a fool, for he was deeply in love with a girl that danced to songs that always struck him. He fell for a gypsy, fell for a young woman that held so much beauty, Aerium haunted her portrait as if she were hung up in his hall. Months had gone by, and even with his days were taken up with Inquisitor training, he also was high on another feeling.

Freedom.

Or what he liked to call it, for he was now required to live in the barracks to bond with his training class.

That left his evenings to seeing Saffia.

Aerium always tried to not become drunk on her love and laughter, but he could not help but feast on her. He loved hearing the way she breathed whenever he made her feel the same euphoria he had been feeling.

Tonight was like any other night. Beneath the cover of night, in that little hiding spot off the tracks near the creek, Aerium pulled a blanket over Saffia. He pressed a kiss to her forehead, arm snaking around her middle and pulled her closer to him. "I am dreading tomorrow. We have testings being conducted, and my mother is sitting on the panel." There was a weight to his voice, but he tried to smile it away. "I am confident that I will do well... but now knowing she will be there, I can't help but wonder what brick she will throw to see me dodge."

 

[Saffia]

Saffia’s lips curved faintly as she nestled closer against his chest, drawing the blanket tighter around them both. The warmth of him, the hush of the creek, had become her sanctuary, and each time she had to leave was more difficult than the last.

His words pulled her gaze upward, soft and thoughtful. "I doubt she can throw anything at you that you can't handle, Aer.." she assured him and reached up, brushing her thumb over the edge of his jaw as though she could ease the heaviness from him by touch alone.

"This time tomorrow, it'll be over, and we'll be back here together. Focus on that." she smiled lazily.

Her chest ached with the urge to say more, to tell him how much she wished she could be there in the crowd for him. But her people still thought she was only wandering the woods when she slipped away at night. They didn’t know she was here with him. They would never understand, and nor would his mother..

Her smile faltered, bittersweet. “It's getting late.." she sighed, turning his face gently to steal a soft kiss.

 

[Aerium]

Aerium could never keep a smile from widening at every praise she gave him. Her faith in him warmed him as much as his affection for her, and for that, she deserved another kiss after the one she stole. Arms tightened around her, holding her in place after she noted the hour. "One day, we should stay here all night. That way I don't have to see you leave right away."

He had a way of convincing her, but seeing as they had finished doing just that, Aerium was sure Daylily would refuse and insist on returning home. They already had stayed longer than they had planned, but Saffia had given him that look after he went into the creek for a quick dip. The last remnant of summer's warmth had left him sweating all day, training drills from sunrise to midday. Then after that? Walking the streets, patrolling.

"Seeing you tomorrow would make me happy." He chuckled. "I just need to pass tomorrow's tests and then I am a step closer to graduating." That scenario did not warrant a smile from him. Aerium did not wish to go through with it, but he could not shake the idea of making his mother proud. Of filling the space his older brother left in the wake of his death.