Sinister Intentions?

Writers: Heather
Date Posted: 9th March 2019

Characters: Ranni, R'nar
Description: Ranni believes that all men have sinister intentions and R'nar isn't proving her wrong.
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 9, day 20 of Turn 9

Ranni

Laundry. Now that was a chore that Ranni could get behind. She'd done plenty of laundry when she had lived at Sunstone. It also didn't require her to interact with any of the male dragonriders. She simply collected the bags that had been placed out for cleaning, carried them to the laundry room, dumped and sorted the clothing, and then went back for more bags.

Despite her slender frame, Ranni had no trouble hefting two bags of laundry, one over each shoulder, and hauling it down the long corridors. Except that some riders, it seemed, packed their laundry bags until the seems were nearly splitting.

"Clearly never done their own laundry before," she grumbled as she dragged one such bag down the hallway.

"Ranni, there you are," a voice called down the corridor.

She paused and straightened to look behind her at the voice. Her mouth immediately tipped down into a frown.

"Oh, it's you."

R'nar winced and pressed a hand to his chest as he neared. "Ouch. I deserve that. Look, you didn't give me a chance to apologize the other day."

Ranni didn't even blink. "You're forgiven. Now, go away. I have chores to do." A sevenday ago she would never have dreamed of speaking to a _bronze_rider in such a surly tone, but since her Candidate lessons had begun she had learned that the color of a dragon didn't necessarily equate rank. This one, she judged by his shoulder knots, was just a wingrider, which meant he had no authority over her.

"Oh, come on," R'nar stepped forward, blocking her path down the hall.

The Candidate's stance immediately became defensive. "Let me pass."

**Shaffit.** R'nar held up both hands, hoping to look less imposing. "Look. Just let me apologize properly, please? I honestly just wanted to get to know you a bit, that's why I asked you to help with washing Iorath. There were no sinister intentions behind it."

An eyebrow arched. "Where I come from, men always have sinister intentions"

"Well, it's not always like that. Not here. Just think. My mother is the Weyrwoman, the most powerful person in the Weyr. If I even thought about treating a woman poorly she would rip off my..." R'nar trailed off, figuring that probably wasn't the best direction to go. "Well, let's just say, she'd put a stop to that real quick."

Ranni studied his face and found what she believed to be a genuine look in his dark brown eyes. That still didn't mean she was just going to trust him.

"At least let me help you carry that bag." R'nar offered.

"It's my chore," Ranni said with a lift of her chin.

"You would argue with a wall, wouldn't you?" he asked with an incredulous grin.

Ranni sniffed. "Fine, you carry it then. I've put two others down in the closet at the end of the hall." She tried to collect them all in one place before walking them down to the laundresses.

"Lead the way, milady," R'nar said as he hefted the bag up into his arms.

Huffing out a little sigh, Ranni led him down to the closet at the end of the hallway. Swinging the door open, she stepped inside and grabbed one of the bags to set aside.

"Okay, you can put the bag beside of this one. I still have a few more to collect from the weyrs," she said.

As she turned, she suddenly found herself trapped against the bronzerider's chest. Alarm bells went off in her brain as her hands came up automatically to push him away. How could she have been so stupid as to walk into an enclosed space with him?!

"No. No. It's not what you think," R'nar had turned loose of the laundry bag and taken a staggering step forward. Both of his hands were braced against the wall of the small space on either side of her head, effectively pinning Ranni between him and the wall.

How could this be happening _now_? He wondered. A wave of lust washed through him strong enough to make him feel lightheaded. He could see the moment it hit Ranni because her face lost some of its stiffness, and a new light seemed to come into her eyes.

**Iorath. You are _not_ chasing, are you?** R'nar could feel his bronze's desire, which was turning his blood quickly to flames.

}:But Panitath rises.:{ The young bronze complained, eager to prove himself against the other bronze dragons in the Weyr.

**Well, in case you have forgotten... THAT'S MY MOTHER!**

Ranni felt as if she were paralyzed. What was going on? She felt so hot and... different. Like she had never felt before. Suddenly R'nar's proximity wasn't offending at all, but... nice. Solid. Safe. Her mind recalled the way he had looked when they'd been washing Iorath. His thighs had been corded with muscle, and she wondered how those thighs would feel under her hands....

**What are you thinking?** A small part of her brain seemed to ask. She had never wondered about a man. Ever. In her book they were all monsters, except for A'vel, he had been really sweet. Men used women as they needed and then cast them away when they no longer had a purpose. That was what she had witnessed her entire life at Sunstone.

"What is happening?" her voice wavered.

R'nar could barely formulate a reply. He had planned on leaving the Weyr when Panitath rose, and now here he was in a closet with an attractive girl, battling with his dragon's desire to chase.

"Panitath, the queen, she's rising to mate," he ground out between clenched teeth.

**A gold flight!** In an instant Meysa the healer's words came back to Ranni loud and clear. She had told her that the best thing to do when she experienced the effects of her first gold flight was to be alone somewhere.... But, her eyes trailed from R'nar's heated gaze down to his perfectly sculpted mouth. Wasn't this also a very nice place to be?

"Ranni... You should go." The words were painful to say. He could feel it. Iorath was going to chase, even though he had no shot of winning; the bronze wanted to test himself against the others.

**Aren't you a little curious?** Ranni's inner voice whispered. She'd watched other drudges "fall in love" or gossip about being with a man. And yet, she'd also watched Lady Xeladrie....

R'nar wasn't going down to the flight room. To see his mother that way, he shuddered. Still grappling with Iorath, he clenched his eyes shut. He wouldn't fully submit himself. He couldn't.

When he opened his eyes again, he was staring into Ranni's. "What are you still doing here?"

Her lips were suddenly pressed to his. **Whoa!** Everything in R'nar's body snapped to attention. That was the last thing he had expected. He corrected her fumbling attempt by framing her face with his hands and guiding her lips with his own.

So this was what kissing was like, Ranni thought. His lips were softer than she had imagined, almost silky. It was as if she could feel the touch of his lips all the way through her body. No wonder she had often stumbled across men and women in huddled corners around the Hold doing such things.

His hands stroked down her sides and curled around her hips bringing them forward against his own.

Oh! That felt nice, she thought.

As Iorath took to the skies, R'nar's kisses grew more aggressive. His hands left her hips and pulled at the front of her shirt, pulling the buttons roughly through their holes.

The feel of his calloused hands on her bare abdomen made her flinch. She'd never let anyone touch her intimately before. Her inhibitions broke through the haze that the flight lust had cast over her.

"I've never done this before," she blurted, grabbing the sides of her shirt to cover herself.

It was a jarring experience. R'nar could hear what Ranni said but he could also feel the wind in Iorath's wingsails.

"Wait," he pressed his hands to his temples, trying to concentrate. "_You_ are a virgin?"

Ranni's eyebrows shot up. "What is that supposed to mean?"

Shells, his head was pounding with the effort of remaining somewhat separated from Iorath. "Just that... you were a drudge, you said."

The words were like a slap in the face. "That means that I just spread my legs for whoever wanted it?"

R'nar winced. That wasn't what he'd meant.

"Get away from me." Ranni placed both hands firmly on the bronzerider's chest and gave him a hard shove.

He stumbled backward at the same moment that Iorath dropped out of the flight. The young bronze hadn't had a chance to begin with, but the struggle with his rider was making it impossible for him. Iorath dropped to the Weyrlake with a disgruntled sigh.

Ranni clutched her shirt together as she fled from the closet, cheeks flaming. She had been so stupid! She'd never been so careless before. Meysa had been right about gold flights. **And I was right about men!**

"Ranni!" R'nar called after her, but she was already gone. Shaffit. What had Ranni said about men earlier?

**"Men always have sinister intentions."**

Last updated on the March 11th 2019

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Sinister Intentions?