"A Bottle of Time"

Writers: AL, Heather
Date Posted: 13th August 2014

Characters: Barenziah, Zathris
Description: The two make the most of a long night together.
Location: Amber Hills Hold
Date: month 8, day 20 of Turn 7
Notes: Mentioned: Benani, Wirnan

Barenziah

Zathris

"Meet me after the halls are empty, my quarters."

There was no name attached to the note, a little bit of caution on his
part. He'd managed to gain access to her quarters with little trouble
- he was, after all, the Lord Holder, and when she arrived, it was
folded in half and waiting for her upon her dresser.

After reading the note she tossed it into the fire, an excited flutter
in her stomach. His room? The forbiddeness of it made it that much
more appealing. She waited anxiously until the halls were empty and
then slipped into his room.

He was there, waiting, a few tidbits of food available. Fruit was
always kept in his room to partake at his leisure, but he'd had a
couple of rolls and cheese brought as well. Normally it would not be
enough for two, but since dinner had only been a few hours prior and
there was fruit as well, it would be plenty. Most likely they
wouldn't even touch the stuff. A fire had been started and coaxed to
a gentle roar, its dance casting gentle shadows about the room.
Zathris himself sat upon the thick, fur rug, a wine glass in his hand
that was almost empty. His gaze turned toward her as she entered and
he lifted that glass to indicate the door behind her. "Lock it."

Barenziah did not have to be told twice. Her hand slid around behind
her and slid the lock into place. This was different than any of the
other times they had been together. Before he was just Zathris, the
man in the grove whom she could talk to about anything, but now, in
his rooms, he was Lord Zathris.

The mood in the room was cozy and romantic. The pull of attraction was
there as usual, drawing her toward him like a dragon to the sky. She
crossed the room, popping a piece of fruit into her mouth on the way
over.

"And how was your day, Berry?" Zathris drained the dregs of his wine
and stretched to set the glass on a small table before he refocused
upon the woman who had entered his domain.

"It was good until I got this mysterious note." Her eyes sparkled as
she grinned and sat down beside him on the thick fur, "And then it
seemed as if it would never end so that I could get here."

"Did time slow down?" A sparkle danced in his eyes as they watched
her every move. "Did it creep along at an unbearable pace?"

Barenziah reached up and freed her hair from the clip that had held it
up in a twisted bun. The loose, fiery curls cascaded down over her
shoulders. The glint of the firelight made the tresses seem impossibly
red. "You have no idea. I wasn't sure if time was moving at all."

"If only we could bottle time. What could we do with it?" Zathris
smirked a little and leaned forward, one arm hooked over his knee.
"Today was annoying. I had all these petty disputes coming to me.
Unfortunately, they were situations that I had to deal with rather
than Wirnan."

"That must have been tedious for you." Barenziah agreed, knowing that
Zathris already had a lot on his plate with Benani. "I could give you
a neck and back rub to help ease some of that tension." She winked.

"Madam, how can I resist such an offer?" Zathris was more than happy
to let Berry touch him, even if it wasn't in a sexual fashion. He
shifted and turned his back to her. "So tell me about your day.
Hopefully it was a bit more interesting than mine."

Barenziah moved behind Zathris, her hands reaching around him to
unbutton his shirt. She pulled the fabric over his shoulders,
admiring, not for the first time, his muscular build. Her hands began
gently kneading and rubbing the tense muscles of his neck and
shoulders. "I am afraid not. You know what my day usually consists
of." Barenziah did not like to talk about Benani when she was with
Zathris. She couldn't bear the guilt.

"Do anything interesting after?" Zathris instinctively understood her
desire to avoid that topic as did he. Throughout the day guilt would
assault him and on more than one occasion he'd had a thought to end it
all. Then all he had to do was to remember how easy it was to talk to
her, how enjoyable he found her company, how beautiful she was, and
how her body felt beneath his touch and he couldn't go through with
it.

"Well," Barenziah said, her voice much lighter as they steered away
from the taboo topic of the Amber Hill's Lady, "I soundly trounced
Rynthian in a few hands of dragonpoker. I even managed to earn a few
marks in the process." There was a grin in her voice as she lightly
slid her fingernails across his back.

"Perhaps we should play a game of that, see if I can beat you." He
wanted her there all night, wanted to stay awake all night just to
spend the time with her. Something within him was unsettled and he felt
an intense desire to soak her in as much as possible. The next day
was a rest day. They could splurge. "After all, you couldn't beat me
at chess, but maybe you'd have better luck with this."

Barenziah chuckled, and leaned forward to speak into his ear,
effectively pressing her chest against his back, "I believe I let you
win, milord, just to get your clothes off faster."

"You _let_ me win? That's a laugh." Zathris eased back a little so
that he could feel more of her. "You just don't want to admit to a
bruised ego."

"If I admit to a bruised ego, will you kiss it and make it better?"
Her voice had become a smokey purr as she ran her hands down the front
of his chest, still pressing against him from behind.

"If you ask politely, perhaps I will." Zathris reached behind him a
little where his hand found her knee and he massaged it gently.
"Madam, you are making it difficult to keep my mind on conversation."
He did actually enjoy more about Barenziah besides her body.

Barenziah's lips brushed against his ear as she spoke, "Do you want me to stop?"

"No, not really." He supposed they could have conversation later -
after all, they had all night.

"Good, because I can't think when you are around. Especially like
this." She admitted.

"See, the problem is I can't think either when you're around. At
least not when you're doing stuff like this." Zathris relaxed further
into her, welcoming the sensations that her touch spurred. "Or
rather, there's only one thing I can think about."

Barenziah trailed her fingers across his skin, "We have all night.
Let's make it count."

"Then keep doing what you're doing." Zathris grinned. Thus far he'd
taken the lead - and he was more than happy to allow her the chance to
do so.

"My pleasure." Her teeth nipped lightly at his shoulder as her hands
skimmed down over her torso and dived toward the waistband of his
pants....

Last updated on the September 17th 2014

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"A Bottle of Time"