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[Laufey]

This is really only a short story - but I stuck it in here anyway, since it ties in with the rest of this story universe.


The Ties That Bind

Her skin felt electrified tonight…alive with a myriad of tiny currents crawling across it. Alive with anticipation. Elvira Odesseiron sat before her elegant vanity with its large oval mirror, brushing her hair. The silky black strands ran easily through her fingers, slipping past them as water. She had been brushing for some time now, there were no snarls left, but she enjoyed the feel of it all the same. Although…having it done for me would be even better.

The wizardess smiled, a secret little eager smile, and cocked her head to one side, carefully observing her mirror image. Soft, creamy skin…nicely offset by the large ruby at her throat, as well as the ones decorating her long black hair. Just the tiniest bit of powder on the nose…she lightly applied it, and then nodded with satisfaction. Full, red lips…dark eyes flashing beneath long lashes. Perfect. As it should be. There was the scent of sweet perfume rising from her warm skin, intermingled with the scent that was all her.

The dress she was wearing tonight was made from dark red velvet, so dark that it was almost black, with delicate gold embroidery around the hem and wide sleeves. Golden roses, climbing vines, so masterfully made that they seemed almost alive. Elvira nodded with approval. Just one more thing to add. She murmured a quiet spell, and golden dust scattered across her bare shoulders, over her hair, and across her bosom, glittering in the light of the candles lighting her bedroom. Oh…that is lovely! As I should be, for him, always. Always, but on this night before all others.

“Lovely. As always.” A murmured echo of her thoughts, coming from directly behind her. As it always did, that smooth voice seemed to reach directly into the core of her, flipping some hidden switch that made her heart beat faster. She could feel the heat of the blood racing swifter through her veins, flushing her cheeks, tightening into a small and hard knot of hot desire. Small. Hard. And…hot.

Elvira forced herself to breathe, and raised her eyes to the mirror once again. He was lying nonchalantly stretched out across the broad bed behind her, watching her intently. And for all his airs of some indolent large predator, he was watching her very intently indeed. Her gaze slid along the familiar lines of his legs and hips, towards his face. Black eyes met hers in the mirror, amused with some private joke. Breathe! “I did not hear you come in,” she said, turning around at last. Calm. Dignified. That was it.

“Of course not, my Mistress,” he said, his voice utterly serious. Still, there was the faintest hint of a grin. “I did not wish you to.” He slid off the bed, and walked towards her. Crossing it as a cat walks along a fence, with perfect grace, so casual there is a certain arrogance to it. It was…mesmerizing. The heat was building, building inside her, in all the secret places the fires were being stoked, and she thought that watching the movement of his hips might well drive her into a frenzy. Ah, my Wolf, how I do love you. But we must take our time…and it will be all the better.

“How long were you watching me?” she demanded.

“Oh, for a while,” he said. There was definitely a grin now. “I enjoy watching you fuss and pamper yourself…you get entirely absorbed in it, did you know that? It makes me want to…share in the task.” His fingers touched a strand of her hair, toying with it. Standing directly behind her now. The light touch of his fingers on her shoulder, almost too light to be felt. Yet every touch was a burning brand setting her skin aflame.

“You wish to be my chambermaid?” Elvira teasingly asked her beloved. Breathe, damn you! If you pass out at his feet, he’ll never let you hear the end of it. “That could be amusing…I could find you a pretty dress to wear, and a lacy apron. Oh, and a nice velvet bow in your hair.” She leaned back against him, the low stool she was sitting on making it possible for her to press herself directly against his body. A knowing smile crossed her face. Oh yes, my love…you want what I want. And we shall both have it…soon. She sighed with pleasure and pressed a little harder, and was rewarded with the sensation of muscles tensing at her touch, and an almost inaudible gasp. Got you, my Wolf. “Or maybe just a velvet bow…gift wrapping you for me, so to speak. ”

He grasped her arms, swiftly pulling her to her feet, and she was looking up into those black eyes now, so close to her own. The candles were flickering, making the shadows dances across the sharp planes of his face. “A highly unorthodox dress code for an employer to suggest,” he said, his fingers tracing a line along her jaw, and then down her throat. “A very indecent proposal.”

“You like ‘indecent’, my love.” Her arms wrapped around his waist now, sliding under his clothes. Skin as hot as her own…outlines of muscles, trembling at her touch. My one love. My very own.

“Well…” he said, bending a little closer. “Perhaps that is true…at the right time and in the right place, of course.” Closer, close enough that she could feel his breath against her skin. “When the time is…ripe.”

She reached up on her toes to meet him, but then, maddeningly, he pulled away again. “Wait…there is something I want you to have first. Something special.”

“Any night we share is special, my Wolf,” Elvira said, looking him straight in the eyes. “And…there are far too few.”

He nodded. “Yes…but tonight is even more special. This is the day…the same date as when we first met. Do you recall that?”

Elvira snorted. “Do I recall it? You were the rudest, most impossible and obnoxious individual I had ever met!”

“That’s a strange coincidence,” he said, and his hands were moving downward, little by little, easing her dress down inch by maddeningly slow inch. “I felt exactly the same way about you. A perfect match, in other words. And then you had the audacity to cast a spell on me.”

Elvira smiled, a long, slow smile. “You deserved it…impertinent as you were. And you were as impudent as to manhandle me.”

“Pure necessity. However, it relates to the gift I have brought you…in a sense. Do you still wish for vengeance upon me?”

“Of course!”

He reached into his pocket, and took something out. As Elvira stared at it in wide-eyed wonder, he held it out to her, and then closed her fingers over it. “Then take it, beloved. For this night, I am all yours.”

Shortly thereafter, Elvira was standing at the foot of the bed, looking down. “Beloved,” she said, “I hope you realize that it is far too late to back out of this now. Any second thoughts?” If so, she would let him go…she didn’t want to really hurt him after all. She would rather die. But oh, how disappointed she would be…

“No,” he calmly said. Frowning a little, he tested the strength of the ropes that had him firmly secured to the bedposts. “No, not really. And you want this, I know you do. You’ve wanted it for a long time, and so I want to give it to you.” A faint smirk. “I am at your complete mercy for the time being…try to leave me more or less intact afterwards, why don’t you?”

Elvira drew a little closer to the bed, looking down. She could feel the slow and appreciative smile creeping across her own face as she watched him and held his gaze with her own. “Maybe,” she said. “If you behave.”

“Ah. Then I am surely doomed.” He didn’t sound all that unhappy about it either.

The wizardess didn’t reply, instead contemplating how to proceed. She was tempted to simple slice the clothes off his body with a single spell…it was a favorite trick of hers. Unfortunately he would probably need them afterwards. She wished she had thought of making him undress before tying him up – but that was all part of the game. Of course he wouldn’t have reminded her.

“Forgot something?” he asked, putting on an innocent face that looked incredibly fake. He never had been any good at looking innocent.

“If I did, I’m sure you will remind me, my Wolf,” she replied, and she slid onto the bed beside him. And idea had come to her. Sure, he would need his clothes afterwards…but did they need to be entirely intact? Her hand slowly slid across his waist, towards his side…ah. There it was. “My,” Elvira said, smiling. “Isn’t this a fancy thing? Pretty as a picture.”

Now he was looking just a little bit annoyed. Good. He needs to be taken down a peg or two now and then or he’ll be unbearably smug. “You really shouldn’t talk about it that way,” he said.

Elvira chuckled. “I’ll talk about it any way I like, my love. It’s mine after all, as is all of you. Mine to treasure, and to use as I please. What do you call it? Sting? The Reaper?” Her smile turned positively wicked. “Or how about ‘Princess Sophia?’”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” he said, straining a little against the ropes again. They held though. She had tied the knots well and good. “Why would I do something as silly as to name it? And are you certain you know what you’re doing with it?”

“Oh, I rather think I do.” Elvira adjusted her hold a little, turning the point downwards. “It is only a dagger after all. How hard can it be? Now, try not to breathe…”

All in all, things went very well. She sliced through the cloth easily, being as delicate as she could, and she didn’t even nick him once. It was a little like opening a present, she reflected, and all of it was hers. Mine. Mine, alone. My very own. She paused in her task, bending over him, breathing in the scent of his skin. Clean, but somehow…wild. When her lips touched him, she could feel his pulse quickening in response. Sighing a little. She kissed her way along his throat, her tongue now and then delicately darting out, just for a moment. “Mine,” she murmured, claiming this enchanting territory for herself. Further down, along the planes of his chest, and her dark hair spread across it like a silky fan. “Mine.” And further down, towards the flat stomach. “And this is mine also.” Then she sat up again, and her free hand moved a little further down yet. “And this…this is mine as well, is it not?”

There was a faint look of alarm in his eyes by now. “Of course,” he agreed. “And please do try to be careful not to cause undue damage to it.”

“Naturally not,” Elvira said, slicing on. She was very careful though. “You have made such an appealing gift of yourself, and I wouldn’t want my beautiful present damaged in any way.” There. The final obstacle of clothing fell away, and Elvira looked admiringly at the result, as proud as if she had made him herself. Oh…oh that is very nice. And to think…he’s all mine. He loves me. That thought was enough to make her sigh briefly with pleasure, and she eased her dress down a little bit further even as she slowly eased herself on top of him. “I will drive you mad with pleasure,” she purred. “You will beg me to stop…but you will wish me to continue all the same. And I may…if you please me in return.” The blood was pounding in her ears by now, and it was hot, so hot. She could barely hear her own words, and her voice…it sounded so thick. Hot. Tight. Faster. Slower now.

His breath had quickened as well, she could feel it against her cheek as she bent forward to let their lips meet. “I…don’t…beg…” he said when she eventually allowed him some air. Defiant to the last. And that, of course, was part of the fun.

“No,” she agreed. “Not with anybody but me, at least.” She moved her hand downwards, until she found just the right spot. Cupped the fingers closely. And oh, how she adored the look in those black eyes right then, pleasure overriding his deep-seated need for control, making him move under her with helpless abandon. Her own pleasure was building too, building steadily, raging wildly throughout her entire body. She leaned back a little, her hair tickling her back as she pushed the dress down altogether. Then forward again, so that she could feel his skin properly against her own, his hardness against her softness. Perfect fit.

It was getting closer now, the first release, but there was one thing missing. The words. The special words. She looked him deep in the eyes, glorying in how open his face was for once, open to her. “My own Wolf…you do not fear me in the slightest…do you?”

“No,” he said, as she had thought he would, as she had hoped. Never even hesitating. All others. But not him. Never him. “No, of course I don’t.” Open to her, vulnerable to her alone. “Why would I…I trust you.”

And now the ties were binding her as well as him, ties of white hot lightning and tender fire, binding them together on a wave of pleasure, one heart, one soul, one body. “Love you…” She didn’t know if it was he saying it, or her. Perhaps both. “Love you forever,” came the reply, and that was true, true for both of them. Ties of the past, ties of the future, binding them for now and always. Ties of trust. Ties of love.

It was some time later, and they were resting together, regaining their breath. One of her legs was drawn up a bit, entwined with one of his, and her arm was resting possessively across his chest. Then, she thought of something. “That was a wonderful present, my Wolf,” she said. “And I know exactly how much it meant. But now, I think I should get you loose…I don’t want you get numb, after all.”

“Oh, I am fine,” he said. “But since I have your permission to move…” And the ropes suddenly slithered across the bed as he made some curious movement, all her careful knots coming undone. And now he was suddenly sitting up, looking very amused.

“Why…why, you sneak!” Elvira exclaimed. “You could have got loose at any time!”

He leaned forward then, and touched her cheek, as if it was the most precious thing in the world. “No,” he solemnly said. “I could not. Nor would I have wanted to. Because the ties that bind me, the important ones, those are always in place…and I would not have it otherwise.” His hand moved downwards, found her breast. “Besides,” he said, his eyes intent upon her face. “I thought you might enjoy it if I could move more freely for a while. I don’t think you will be disappointed.”

And Elvira Odesseiron wasn’t.