f the village, the horizon g

turned the sky that terrifying hue were far away, and yet also too close. She knew that

ht, holding the intoxicating scent of summer bu

ats of primitive creatures and drive them to seek a mate. There

to do the most wicked things, and brought to mind stolen moments in

s she sank o

rself, her parents having never been blessed with more than one living child. The bassinets ha

only her maids attended her in the echoing chamber,

of hip bone and beyond. She had learnt this sinful path long before, the passage mapped by

ifted her hips, writhing beneath the silvery moonlight as she imagined him where her own hands

crawling across the mattress to the window, and easing open

y of knights dismounted

from above. Her fingertips gripped the sill and she bellied

ift it, but she could see the glimmer of silver threa

here was a flurry of activity as the horses were led away by stable hands, and her father’s men-at-ar

ed to look towards

reathing heavily, each breath feeling as if she dragged it through sodden woo

ll, thinking over what she had s

e... Could

ut for herself, pulling over her shift an over-gown that buttoned tightly

open, spilling golden

n beneath her hand, her eyes heavy with sleep. “

de her way swiftly down the winding stairca

study was bright from the beeswax candles that he preferred t

he keep’s priest, and… Her eyes immediately went to Sylvin's, the meeting of their gazes sending

if the epitome of artistry had sculpted the utter perfection of man and laid it before her for her admiration. But the lay of bone, of muscle, the silk of skin, of hair, the

the animalistic nature of him, the strength that coiled muscle, the awareness

, along with sweat and smoke, see the tide of filth on his skin and armour. He did no

on. “Sylvin,” he looked at the silver haired man.

er heart leaping. Lord Sylvin

times,” her father referred to her human mother who had passed many years before. “The Lord’s name and favour w

nd the table, the wooden leg that replaced his own clumping heavily on

den in from the war that burnt the horizon red and purple in orde

rrowfully, her silver-haired lover slipping into

yes shifted, the slightest smile lifting his cheeks. "But you k

was heavy. He gestured the priest forward.

d gazes, what passed between them far beyond the religious intonati

wife, in the eyes of the

ash-water, the closest to a pre-marital bath as they would be afforded, with the fires of battle

tching with the rise of desire burning bright within her. Had there ever been a m

er to stare at him, as caught by his beauty as she was. They respo

d shoved his trousers down his

efore releasing it, as s

y which she stood and lifted the

thed the word as she

t which had not been there when last she had s

t to him. "Sylvin." It had been so long since the

lowly slipping by them, his tongue stroking over their surface, before deepening his k

as the heated silk of hi

e wildness that raced thr

s following the lines across his back, evide

weight onto his arms, so that the strength of the muscles stoo

hed the word. “P

him, as he adjusted against her, and sank into her with the thrust of hips, and

his body, his skin to her, as she worked her hips to reward the thrust of his c-k, until they were both breathless, their moans grated through teeth clenched for control t

of his hair between her fingers. “I love you,” she barely put breath behind the sounds, fragile

was bare, and the room empty. He had not woken her to say goodbye, and the ache in her chest was a raw pa

gers clenched in the pillowcas