[center][h2]DEFIANCE[/h2]
[i]a sizzling and chilling production by [@Stormflyx] and [@Father Hank][/i][/center]

[i]Late Evening, 30th of Second Seed, 4E208
The Three Crowns Hotel, Gilane, Hammerfell[/i]

If she had felt unnerved in the daylight, she felt even more so now. It was dark, and a cold breeze ran through the narrow streets. It was a wonder she could find her way back to the [i]Three Crowns[/i]. But she had already ventured a little through Gilane earlier in the day, to pick up supplies and visit the bath house. She could still feel dampness in her hair, and she was wearing it differently too, high on her head in a two braid twist. A handmaid at the house had threaded through a thin gold coloured rope. The same style of rope which was acting as a waist belt around her dress. Everything else had been too heavy to wear, and the dress was cheap - it pained her to think of it, but she had more important things to do than to go perusing for an entirely new outfit so soon. She was looking forward to the morning coming back around to allow her to fully explore, while rested. 

As she made her way through the streets, she finally saw in her vision the recognisable [i]Three Crowns[/i]. The lights were still on, it couldn’t have been that late. It just felt like she had spent forever with her father and with Daro’Vasora. She was still angry about it all, a bitter feeling resting in her stomach. She could barely manage a neutral expression, she was showing her feelings on her face entirely. Narrowed eyes and pursed lips, arms folded over her chest - partly to stop from shivering too much in the breeze, and partly as a warning to those who may approach her, she was in a hurry to get to her destination. She eased up a little at the thought of her opulent dwellings. Even if she had to share it with Judena, Rhona, and… Daro’Vasora. It was a beautiful room with privacy. She could shut them out if she really needed to, the same couldn’t be said for the Argonian’s offensive snoring. 

She came into the clearing from the market stalls and out into the open, just a short walk more until she could get inside, and to bed. She hoped [i]not[/i] to see Daro’Vasora there so soon…

High above her, Gregor had finished his seafood dinner in grim silence after Alim’s departure. It had taken a lot of willpower not to drink the entire bottle of wine. Now he stood at the railing of the balcony, staring out over the city, going over the things he’d said to Alim. He sighed. An apology to Alim would probably be necessary, even though he was still angry with Alim’s insolent prying. It was then that his eyes caught a glint of gold walking through the streets and he looked closer. Could it be? Her hair was styled differently and she was wearing new clothes, but after a few seconds Gregor was sure of it. That was Raelynn. Something inside of him immediately tensed up at the sight, but in a good way. He watched her for a while as she approached the hotel, taking note of the way she’d crossed her arms and, once she was close enough to tell, the sour look on her face. He took a deep breath and when he exhaled, he could hear a low growl in the back of his throat. It had been a long week. He was [i]hungry.[/i]. 

Suddenly, like a predator emerging from the underbrush, Gregor turned on sharply on his heel and marched out of the room, past the still-sleeping Calen, and down the stairs. He was intent on intercepting Raelynn before she got to her room, as he was still hesitant to come knocking when the other women were present. 

If she hadn’t been so determined to get to the room, she might have felt the presence of someone watching her, but really everything felt slightly tense here, she was wound up and ready to leave the day behind her. For once, she wasn’t paying attention, and she got quite a ways into the hotel before she noticed [i]him[/i]. She had been so distracted that she couldn’t help but yell out at him in fright “Shit!” she gasped, stopping in her tracks before him. “Gregor,” she began, her voice wavering vaguely “you scared me, I didn’t see you…”. She had been wanting to see him again, she really had. Even now she felt a knot in her stomach, a rush of arousal. But she wasn’t sure if she should, or even could. She began walking again, slower now. She knew already that he wasn’t going to let her just walk past him. She gave him a look up and down as she got closer to him, and she realised he was dressed differently. She hadn’t known him all that long, but she knew enough about him to know that his signature look was the black. Now, he was dressed in light garments. It gave her another surprise, enough of one to cause her to stop once more.

“I’m sorry, I… really must get to my room.” It was futile, a lie. Raelynn already knew it. It was now just her saying something that she could use later, in her defense perhaps; [i]I did try to get to my room[/i] - but she knew she wouldn’t be back in the shared room this evening. The two of them had unfinished business. 

The dim lighting of the hotel’s corridors at night cast long shadows over Gregor’s face, his dark eyes invisible in the gloom, and his expression was unreadable. He allowed her to come to a halt, to speak, but he barely heard what she said. He moved closer, one step at a time, his boots heavy on the polished floors, his posture languid, arms by his side. It was the gait of a man that knew that Raelynn was not going anywhere. And he was right; she did not back away from him. Gregor stepped right up to her until they were only inches apart, his face hovering over hers -- now she could see his eyes, and the cloying desire that burned there. His hands moved over her hips, fingers gently brushing against her skin through the fabric of her dress, until he wrapped his right arm around her waist and pulled her against him. He cupped her chin with his left hand and tilted her head back, forcefully but not brusquely. “Raelynn,” he said quietly, his voice barely more than a whisper, before he leaned in and kissed her. 

In the murkiness of the room, Raelynn followed Gregor’s lead. She let him pull her close, her arms dropped to her sides -- bodies suddenly pressed together, lips touching. She moved her tongue over his lips softly, reminding herself of his taste. As she did, she could hear in the back of her mind, the voice of her father [i]”Acting like a common tart is not looked upon highly.”[/i] It replayed a number of times as she reciprocated her lover’s kiss. 

When it got too much, when she reached the point of pulling away and taking her father’s advice, or defying them she paused. She moved out of the kiss and looked into Gregor’s eyes - they were so beautiful, so enticing, so [i]bewitching[/i]. “Fuck it…” she whispered against his lips, before returning to kissing him, this time she wanted him to feel it, and so she bit down gently on his lower lip. Her hands working their way up from her sides to the back of his neck. “Take me somewhere else. Not here, away from here. Away from… [i]them[/i].” There was demand in her low voice. Being here wasn’t right - not just because they were forbidden from sharing a room, but because of Daro’Vasora. Because of what she had said. She wanted to be alone with him, completely. 

“Your wish is my command,” Gregor murmured. He, too, wanted to be far away from judgemental and prying eyes. With his arm still around her waist, Gregor led her back the way she came. 

[hr]

She found herself on the floor of their room surrounded by sheets and pillows, staring up at the ceiling, catching her breath. A thin sheen of sweat covered her body and her legs were trembling almost uncontrollably. She rubbed a hand across her brow, before laughing softly and rolling onto her side to look at Gregor, and then she looked back at the bed -- at the wooden slats that had broken, lying in a splintered mess underneath it. She took the sheet from beside her and began to wrap it around herself. Why she felt the need to cover herself after [i]that[/i] was unknown. There was just a niceness to it, to wrap up and come back together in an embrace.

She couldn’t speak, she was still busy fighting for breath - partly from exhaustion, and partly from the violence of it. She reached a hand out, stroking her fingers softly across his wrist, to bring him back around from his own state of bliss. 

“Huh?” he asked and turned his head aside to look at Raelynn. His breathing came slow and deep, like a crocodile. “Oh, hey,” he mumbled, eyelids fluttering. “You come here often?”

“Not often enough…” her voice came out hoarse, and she moved over in his direction, nestling herself beside him with her head resting on his chest. She took some of her sheet to cover him from the waist down - but the rest she wanted to see - to feel. To feel his skin against hers. “I hope I was worth the wait,” Raelynn said in a breathy voice, her fingertips now caressing his torso, drawing across the outline of his tattoos. 

The sensation of her body pulling up close to his was enough to rouse Gregor from the depths of his post-coital oblivion. It had been such an intense release of tension and satisfaction of his carnal desires that he felt empty afterwards, and the total, deafening silence in his mind had been blissful. He propped up a pillow behind his head so that he could look at Raelynn as she lay on his chest. “Mhmm,” he hummed. “A torturous wait, but definitely worth it. The way you looked at me while we were caged up in that ship with no way to do anything about it… awful, you know. Just awful.” He didn’t mean that, of course. The boyish tone to his voice betrayed that he was teasing her. Gregor laughed softly and sighed. “What a day. I had a conversation with a Dwemer. Can you believe that?”

Raelynn moved her head only slightly, to where she could hear his heartbeat. It was only just slowing down. It was powerful though. She smiled as he spoke, his humour showing through as he relaxed and let the blissful feelings take over. “I can believe it. I have stayed away from them, I just….” she stopped, thinking back to what Daro’Vasora had told her. Something about Gregor and the Dwemer. [i]Well, if he was going to bring it up…[/i] “They distress me. I was taken aback to even see them here. I can’t imagine what I would even converse with them about.” Feeling at least settled enough to summon up some Magicka, she let the golden light pour in a precise manner from her fingers, and onto the scratches she had left on Gregor’s chest. “I dread to even imagine being alone with them…” 

“Oh, I would pay for the privilege,” Gregor replied. His voice was deep and husky after their rough session and Raelynn would be able to feel the reverberations of it echoing in his chest. “I’m not afraid of them. They should be afraid of me.” He let his hand wander over Raelynn’s back, slipping beneath the covers of the sheet as it traveled further down. “It was a short conversation. The situation was so absurd that I couldn’t stand it for much longer. She had the gall to welcome [i]me[/i] to ‘Volenfell’. Total disregard for the fact that this country is called Hammerfell and that the Redguards are supposed to rule it. Really, the things I would do to a Dwemer if I had one all to myself…”

It made sense, of course Gregor would be agitated with Dwemer, at the very least. He was allowed to have a vicious anger for them, to yearn to inflict pain. She didn't know what Daro’Vasora had been playing at. Should she press the issue more? She was unsure. She just knew she was enjoying his hands on her body again, even if she was beginning to feel sore now that the high was wearing off. “I think you're justified in feeling that way…” she began, her hands moving from his chest to his cheek and she looked up into his eyes. “Part of me wants to see you hurt them…” Immediately she knew that may be misinterpreted by him, it might elicit the response she wanted however, that there was something more sinister to his hatred. 

The look in her eyes, the words she said, her fingers on his cheek -- it was intoxicating. Gregor’s face was as hard as steel as the deepest, darkest side of him rose to the surface, coaxed out by Raelynn’s encouragement. “Oh, I will hurt them,” he said, his voice breathless and cold. “I will hurt them in ways that extend far beyond their mortal lives. I have… powers.” He paused and took a deep breath. “Powers that can send them to a place from where they can never return, a place that will deny them the sweet release of death for all eternity. A place that will make me stronger for every soul I condemn.” The fingers of his wandering hand dug deep into Raelynn’s flesh and his eyes flashed with a ravenous, unnatural hunger. “I want to you to see it.” 

His confession. The Khajiit was right to be scared. But Raelynn wasn't. She hung on each word, smiling at him, her own eyes burning with desire for it. The power. The more he said to her, the more he told her, she felt herself being worked into a frenzy. It was wrong, but so right. As Gregor’s hands worked their way across her already tender skin, a whimper of pleasure slipped from her lips and she couldn't stop herself anymore - she slid up on top of him, her face against his neck. “I want to see it too. I want you to show me.” She let her voice be soft, sultry - a coo of encouragement. Her hand moved to his chest to the place that she could feel his heartbeat. It was faster than before. He was excited or angry - or both. 

An indescribable, unidentifiable emotion surged through Gregor’s entire body. They had crossed an irrevocable boundary now. She was his, and his alone, bound together by the shared knowledge of his worst secret and her approval of it. The unyielding cruelty on his face made way for something far more tender, drinking in Raelynn’s sapphirine eyes as she straddled him. He opened his mouth to say something but closed it again, lost for words. 

Besides, they had more furniture to destroy.