Completed A cold companion

[Markus Andres]

The eagerness he felt in her as she started to undress him, metal piece by metal piece. Their lips and tongues softly and roughly brushing against each other as Markus felt himself get lighter and lighter for every loud clank against the Stallion's floor. Each piece removed he could feel her hands a little more as they moved over his body to reach the next leather strap. To unhook and untie that which kept him in his shell. Their kiss endured through this and the touch of her soft hand only deepened his lust for the temptress before him.

The outer shell was gone and she broke their kiss to lift the chain mail over his head and it too fell to the floor to join the rest. The padding under was also removed and Markus stood almost naked, only the undergarments remained on and a lustful smile appeared on his lips as she admired his body. Her admiration only heightened his lust for her, encouraged him. The way her hand gently slid over his hard six pack covered with a glistening layer. Her fingers found his neck, pulled him closer. He did not struggle, he welcomed the closer embrace. Her lips brushed his neck. It was intoxicating. The knight moaned softly as her tongue licked him. He relished the sensation that shivered through his body from her touch. He breathed warm air onto her bare shoulders as she removed her blouse. Revealing her firm breasts and body. Her smaller hand found his. Prompting him to explore her body. Hearing her words, spoken into his ears. The warmth of the breath against him. Without thought he did as she said. The hand brushed up against her body, feeling the softness of her breast and the erect centre, curling around and cupping them. It was not the only thing that was erect.

His lips pressed against her soft neck. Just where the pulse beat. Her neck warm and enticing. Inviting to his lips. But he left a trail of saliva as his tongue licked against her delicate and delicious neck. The knight barred his teeth with lust. The passionate smile as his tongue slowly trailed to her mouth. Tongue parting her mouth and seeking to enter. Find hers and taste her again as he would push down her undergarments. Stripping her bare before him. Markus would spread her legs and move up between her soft legs. Feeling her knees and thighs on either side of his hips as he pressed up the centre.

oocLet us let it fade to black here so it does not get too graphic? Do you not agree?

[Shiress]

As Markus took her, Shiress did little to suppress a deep groan of ecstasy. Moving her hands back against the bar, she leaned back, angling her body to move in contrast with his, her lips whispering sounds of pleasure and soft encouragement until the end.

When all was done, Shiress slid from the bar and quickly donned her clothes, guilt and embarrassment flooding in where want and desire once was.

Now what? she wondered, feeling awkward and unsure of what to say.

Shiress hopped to a near by chair, lowered herself down, and began pulling on her slippers. Glancing up, she smiled "Well, that escalated quickly" she blushed and lowered her eyes back to the slipper as it slipped over her foot "the bell is late" she added, lifting her gaze again "if you can see me home, I'd be most grateful"

Gods, she may as well have stuck her hand out and demanded her payment by her awkwardness. Realizing this, Shiress stood and limped forward a step toward Markus and leaned a hip against the bar, taking the weight off her injured ankle. Clasping her fingers together she frowned apologetically before she spoke "Look, Markus" she began, but sighed, running her fingers through her hair, irritated at the loss for words. With a breath, she began again "I'm not real sure what to say, or really, what to do now." she grinned "I'm not used to this...kind of thing. You are my..well, save for one other time, you are my.." she gave a hesitant, abashed chuckle "can we just - can you..UGH!" she puckered her lips and blew out a long breath "Just...where's Shadow?"

[Markus Andres]

The knight's knuckles were white as snow as they held the bartable in a vice grip to keep him steady as he worked furiously. Her moans of pleasure driving him forward. Their pleasure mixing, euphoria and sweet ecstasy as the knight finished.

The knight pulled up his undergarments and sat back on the chair, drained and out of breath. He really should work on his endurance. He looked to Shiress, her naked body before him. He would not mind training his endurance with her, more often. Watching her silently as she donned her dress again, covering up the goods. Would be a while before he could go again and it appeared she did not wish to wait around for his youthful body to recover. He slowly started to put back on his many layers of clothing. It was a long and arduous process. But it had to be done, for he had no interest in carrying the armour in his arms. A smirk appeared on his lips when she spoke about it having escalated, no point in denying that simple truth. The temptation had shown itself and they had both fallen for it instantly. Sought the comfort of the other.

"It was unexpected, but very good. Yes Shiress, I can bring you home." Markus said, the warmth in his voice still there, before pulling his chain mail over his head. She were a gorgeous woman and she had distracted him from the many things that kept ailing his mind. But he did not know if it would be more than just a one time thing. He was not sure if he wanted anything more than that for the time being. Markus decided not to think of such matters now, his mind was too much in a turmoil and chaotic. Postpone the decisions to later.

He fastened the chest piece again and leant back as he looked at his gardbrace on the ground. He could hear something purr underneath it, either he was going insane or Shadow was hiding inside the gardbrace. He looked to Shiress when she spoke and it might be the ale in his belly or the fact that he was tired that he did not understand what she were on about. He was her except one other time. Tick. Tick. Tick. Oh? Tick. Ooooh!. The knight looked to her and was a bit surprised. A gorgeous woman like her and how relatively easy it had been for him, to only have been seduced once before. She kept rambling for several seconds before she finished with a deflective question. Markus was not sure what to say or do then. He was not particularly proud of his decision, but he got up and reached in under his gardbrace through the only opening. His massive hand closing around the cat.

"Here he is." Markus said with a warm smile as he reached Shadow over to Shiress as he held the gardbrace in his hand. "And you ready to go?" Markus asked as he looked to the ground. Only his weapons still lay there. He looked to the bar when he was reminded he had placed his gauntlets there, best remember them as well. He rubbed his tired eyes before picking up his sword and fastening it by his side. He looked to the ground again. The guilt and shame well up in him as he noticed the sheathed dagger on ground. Cold iron. The frown on his face hardened.

Hide it. The knight took a deep breath as he pushed all complicated thoughts aside and focused on the simpler tasks. It was just a dagger. He fastened it to his belt and swung the shield across his back. He could feel the weariness as it crept up on him and he yawned. As he reached for his gauntlets and attached them to his belt as well. "You want to be carried or do you just need someone to lean against as we walk?"

[Shiress]

Shiress watched dreamily as Markus slowly transformed into a knight once again, unable to decide what she liked better, the hard bodied, naked man or the metal clad, brave warrior. Smiling, the girl brushed back hair from her face and decided that it was somewhere in between.

Shiress received her new, furry friend with a soft smile and buried her nose into his little face, before cuddling him up against her chest. Stroking Shadow's back, she lifted her eyes to Markus as he spoke. "I am" she answered, watching as he secured his sword to his side, and wondering why the hesitation and sour look before doing the same with his dagger. She didn't inquire about it, though, and dismissed the curiosity; it was best not to ask questions lest they be turned on her.

The knight's wide-mouthed yawn, coupled with his now leveled, hard tone as he spoke, gave the girl her answer to his question. He was tired and she had noted that an uneasiness had crept over the knight, along with his armor. "I can walk, I think" she answered, not wanting to add to the man's already tense demeanor.

Twisting around, she pulled her bag from the bar, slung it around her shoulder, and secured the little kitten in the bend of one arm, and with the other, she pushed herself from the chair and stood. Taking a hesitant step, she allowed a little weight to shift to her injured ankle. Other than being a bit stiff, it felt decent enough to encourage another step, this time with a little more weight. It proved a bad idea. Her knee buckled as pain shot up the side of her leg. She stumbled forward attempting to regain her balance, Shadow leaping from her arms, as she reached and grabbed for any part of Markus she could catch.

With one hand on the knights arm, the other along his waist, she straightened, surprised embarrassment forming an awkward grin on her lips as she lifted her face "Sorry" she said, peering around Markus's metal clad body to her now stinging hand at his waist. "Maybe you should carry me" she offered, glaring disbelievingly at the crimson liquid now seeping from a fresh cut along the palm of her hand, where, evidently, she had caught the sharp spikes of the knights gauntlet before she had caught him. With a long sigh, she slumped "I'm such a klutz!" she admitted and then let her head fall against his chest- his metal covered chest-

"Ow!"

[Markus Andres]

I must seem like a cold bastard.

Markus noted as he saw the expression on her face as his tiredness washed in over him like a tidal wave and brought out the side of him that was often hidden behind walls of discipline. Though her cute and warm way of greeting the kitten put a small soft smile on his lips. The confirmation that she were ready to go, he prepared himself for the last act of the night before he would head for bed. It was sorely needed. He put a hand around her back to support he weight as they prepared to move. But they did not make it far before they had their first accident. She tried to put weight on her bad ankle and that alone was enough to make her stumble. His eyes went wide with surprise as the woman he had just petched almost fell over. One hand shot out trying to catch her, her hand grabbed onto him first and Markus worked as the counter weight for her to pull herself back up.

The sudden jolt of action woke up his mind. Prepared him for action. Any sort of action. He looked at Shiress, eyes full of concern for her, both as he saw her cut palm and the fact that she had almost fallen over from walking a single step. He suspected it was more than just bruised - if sprained he would want her to get help. The knight reacted too slowly when he saw her head tilt towards his chest piece and the dull thud and consequent murmur of pain from Shiress managed to get him to chuckle. His right hand slid up her back and gently kneaded the back of her head.

"Only a small one." He said with the usual bad timing for honesty and humour. "And I see Shadow used the opportunity to hide again... Something tells me we will be spending the rest of the evening here." She had managed to give him back some energy through the mishap. Although the worry still lingered in his eyes. He knelt down with one knee, his other hand found the back of her legs and gently tipped her over as he lifted her from the ground. "There we go." He said before taking the short steps to the bar and put her down on top of it. "I will be back with the beast in a moment." Said beast stood licking his front paws and seemed not to have a care in the world for the two odd bi-pedals in the room. Markus took the necessary couple of steps over to the creature and gently tried to pick him up. But he graciously slipped through his extended fingers. Lazily the kitten sauntered away from him.

"Stay still Shadow!"

The kitten did not stay still. But at the pace it moved, Markus quickly scooped it up into his hand and gently pet the creature on the head as it meowed helplessly in his grip. That was the first and perhaps easiest of the tasks he had to do before he could sleep. The next was to carry Shiress to bed. The last... convince her to see a healer. He returned by her side and handed her the kitten once more.

"Try holding him still this time." The warm smile had returned to him. The hands slid in under her back and legs and he looked into her amazing eyes once more before nodding and then lifting her from the bar and left the stallion. She was quite easy to carry, but she might not like that she was lying directly on plate metal and chainmail armour. There was nothing, beyond stripping, the knight could do about that. Soon they were on the usually bustling streets of Syliras, but at this late bell none were about to witness them. "Well, a shame no one is around. We could've turned some heads marching down the street like this." Markus spoke plainly before the part of him that made terrible jokes kicked in. "You know, with that ferocious beast in your arms." The smile returned to his lips at his own terrible humour.

"Where did you live again?" Markus realized as he stood outside the stallion. Either she had not told him or he had forgotten in the following heated exchange between the two. When she gave a direction, he would simply walk as she directed, unless she mentioned the place, then he would find it with ease. A decade in the same city tended to give someone a pretty good idea of where everything was.

[Shiress]

Shiress waited patiently atop the bar as Markus, once again, wrangled the tiny kitten, receiving the hyper feline with a nod of understanding once handed to her. She wrapped her arm snugly around the knights neck as the other held Shadow safely in her lap, his ears now flattened against his head with uncertainty as they began to move.

"The tavern door will lock behind you" she assured, as they stepped outside, grinning at his remark at the empty streets. "They would surely step aside in fear" she chuckled. God's it felt good to be in his arms, held tight against his body, armored as it was. She tried to remember the last time she had felt so secure and protected in the arms of a man - she tried to remember the last time she was in the arms of a man.

"Travelers Row" she replied, motioning to the right "just that way, number 19" Plunging her hand inside the bag dangling by her side, she quickly pulled out the key to the door of her apartment and placed it in her lap, and quickly returned her calming hand against the kitten. Pressing her head against the man's shoulder, careful this time not to bang against the metal covering it, she pulled in several breaths, resisting the temptation to plant her lips against the sensitive skin of the knights neck, that was now a hair from her mouth.

She closed her eyes, yielding to the feeling of Markus's strong arms around her and his steady, deliberate steps swaying her body gently as she clung to him, wishing, for once, her apartment was miles away, instead of just around the corner.

Soft torch light passed over her closed lids, invading the unfamiliar serenity in which she had lost herself, and she opened her eyes, a pout washing over her face as she realized they had reached their destination so quickly. Reluctantly, Shiress wiggled herself free of the knights arms and, while securing the kitten against her side, she unlocked the door, watching as torchlight spilled across the floor as it swung open. She sat Shadow down and turned toward Markus, as the feline bounded away and disappeared into the darkened room, a soft smile playing at her lips.

"Thank you, Markus" she said "Thank you for everything" she added, then paused, gazing thoughtfully into his like colored eyes. Limping forward a step, she lifted herself to the tips of her toes and curled her fingers around the back of his neck and pulled him slightly forward, lingering with a smile a tick, before kissing him. Pulling away, she trailed her lips along his neck, letting her tongue slip out to taste the path of sensitive flesh to his ear, nipping the lobe gently. Her hand fell and she slid her slender fingers in between his and whispered "Please, will you stay with me tonight"

[Markus Andres]

Markus nodded when she informed him that the doors would lock automatically behind him when the door shut. Smart system but he bet that might give problems if someone left their keys inside and got shut out. Though he figured only a scatter brained person would leave his home without a key on him. The grin returned to his lips as they continued their little inside joke about Shadow. He chuckled lightly as she gave him directions. Although he felt a bit patronized when she told him the physical direction of the Traveler's Row. As a citizen in the city for over a decade, he knew where the Row was. Though it did not take the joy out of his chuckle. He heard the door shut behind him and knew now that if he had forgotten anything in there, he would have to return in the morning.

He turned to the right and felt Shiress stir in his arms. Watching her fish out a key from her bag. No doubt to her apartment. I suppose it is technically a room. Markus mused as he continued walking. Feeling her lean against his shoulder and feeling the arousal from before rise again. She did make it hard for him to keep his attention on the cobbled road in the darkness of the night. Luckily the fortress city and Leth did provide some like for him or else they surely would have fallen. He could feel her warm breath against his neck and it felt comfortable as well as distracting to the young knight. Into the Row he walked, armour slightly creaking for each step and the floor complained of his and Shiress' combined weight. He passed by several rows of numbers and finally found the elusive number 19. Shiress' room. He was about to speak when her eyes opened and once more those green eyes looked at him. The crooked smile on his lips as she wriggled free of his grip and landed on her good leg. Shadow moved into the shadows and Markus was just happy that the feline didn't use the opportunity to flee down the hallway. For Markus knew who was going to have to catch it again. His eyes found Shiress and he saw the soft smile on her lips. The words of gratitude that flowed from her tongue. She limped closer. Her delicate hands finding his neck and he felt goose bumps shiver down his spine. He would have responded, but her lips found his and ended that silly notion. She was a beautiful woman and he couldn't help returning the kiss. But she had different plans in mind, her lips and tongue placing fine, hunger-inducing kisses along his neck. He moaned softly. Wearing down any resistance that might've remained towards the seductive woman. Her hand found his, fingers sliding between one another.

Her sweet words whispered into his ear stunned him for a brief moment. Left him speechless. The offer of companionship. The knight was still recovering from gods know how many emotional blows in the past half season. A part of his rational mind told him it would be a bad idea, bring nothing but a temporary fix and make things worse. Would also be the first time he slept - slept slept - with someone since she had left him. All that rationality was drowned in a sea of lust. As the momentary stun wore off, the knight would step in and kiss the beautiful woman. His hand freeing itself from hers and both his would slide under her rump and lift her from the ground and carry her into the room. Without breaking the kiss, in fact deepening the it, as his tongue would part her lips for the second time that evening. An armoured foot would shut the door behind him and soon the woman in his arms would find herself lying in her bed again. Temptation and desire had overridden most of his thoughts processes. With a woman like Shiress in the bed before him, it was no wonder.

He was only human after all.

[Radiant]

Shiress :

Experience

Skill	XP Earned
Observation	+3 XP
Socialization	+5 XP
Rhetoric	+4 XP
Storytelling	+1 XP
Flirting	+3 XP
Seduction	+3 XP
Endurance	+1 XP
Animal Husbandry	+1 XP

Lores

Lore Earned

Markus: Syliran Knight

Markus Is From Zeltiva

Markus Worships Tyveth

Markus Likes Green Eyes

Markus: One Night Stand... Or Not

Kittens Are Skittish

Loots

Shadow, a black kitten

Markus :

Experience

Skill	XP Earned
Observation	+2 XP
Socialization	+5 XP
Rhetoric	+3 XP
Flirting	+2 XP
Seduction	+3 XP
Storytelling	+1 XP
Animal Husbandry	+1 XP

Lores

Lore Earned

Shiress: Barmaid

Shiress Is From Zeltiva

Shiress' Family

Zachiah: Shiress' Father

Shiress: One Night Stand... Or Not

Kittens Are Skittish

Loots

+2 Shield Points

Notes :

Mhm~ Enjoy your grades, guys! I know I do.

My radiance is not bright enough?

If you have any questions or concerns regarding your grade, beam me a PM and we can work it out.