air lain viscous with treacle-dark tension, two predators circling, torchlight guttered to aid their stealth. fate in thunder's guise had first crossed their unlikely paths & now willingly they meet 'neath the stronghold's shadow & dim stars, in rain-slick courtyard washed pale grey. smoke-stained fingers flex as he holds forth a brawny arm, adjusts leather bracer to caress tighter his wrist, steel taken to hand by a clever trick of the foot. one ought to begin with dull blades ... but what's a little blood ? enclosed walls are a familiar cage & he lacks patience to remain idle here. ❝ do try to hold your ground, ❞ hazel gaze agleam with challenge, a purr rattles handsome throat. ❝ they'll hang me for slaying the lord's precious sister. ❞ if the lord paramount caught wind of this ? he, another obstinate stag, upholding his feudal customs & traditions ... what tarnish the craftsman would bring upon his prestige! the sordid wall of expectation placed like castle's battlement around lynorra's gilded shoulders : halbrand tempts its fall. would that he could tear it down with his own calloused hands. ( impatient now ) he prowls, arches broad shoulder-blades with languid grace, a shadowcat awakening from his doze ... then sudden as hunter's pounce brandishes high arc of steel towards her. how she moves to the din of her own tempest! but nary is the rogue a fool, for buried deep within confines of her chest is a DEER'S HEART. to only prise open the cage of her ribs & wrest it free ... triumph tempts a smile to suffuse across raffish cheeks as he revels in her first fault. ❝ again. ❞ enthralling tone chides. & so he serves blood-sport with his discordance, hoping to sate the hunger he bears. for the fawn's knack at blocking his deft blows only spurs the fox. shipbreaker bay toils & heaves below, laps lustful at keep's walls, cuts sword-chimed air of courtyard with forged song & suddenly ... the remnants of storm betray him. for driven back, so slips his leather heel on wet stone. stars reel 'neath his chin & the jewel-adorned stormlander leers above, greets him with a kiss of steel betwixt chiselled line where jaw meets throat. the heap of limbs, pools of umber hair, a whisper'd scent of jasmine. every inch of her triumphant fury atop him, lit fiery between her spray of dark lashes. she would not dare. a serpent-slip of arrogance streaks beneath his rough charm. nostrils flare & the man swallows thickly, huffs out a breath to move his own unruly tangle of locks aside his sight, furious at his own betrayal. ❝ there she is. ❞ so close to expose every thrum of her torrid heart. & vulnerable, still he brandishes his vainglory, offers naught but a winded rasp, a flicker of insolent russet lashes. ❝ i'd started to worry you were using your manners. ❞ ... the downed rogue bucks under her, torn knuckles clench at shapely flank to thrust the doe now down upon the stony darkness aside him. ( two can play at that game ) a pivot of trim waist & he rises, but prey does not lay pliant for she too is poised once more with deft prowess, fawn-hilt steel wily retrieved ( object of his ire, for it keeps him at bay. ) silent seeps his knavish grin, top row of ivories bare at the sheer discordance of the two curls 'pon her forehead, perfection marred, tangled. hot-blooded he pads, tousles falling wild upon sticky brow frame a taunting verdant-flecked glare. sword lifts once more. ❝ again. ❞
⊱ starter a gift for @sigilstag ┊
