Tazrae shivered, but then forced herself to hold very still. Duncan’s hands were rough and he was close enough there was very little water between them. They slid across her forehead, gently passed across her eyelids and traced the line of her jaw down. He ran his thumbs across the bridge of her nose and traced his index fingers across her lips. The Innkeeper was stunned by the man’s boldness, but not offended enough to object. There was a curiosity in her both about his blindness and his gentleness for all that he was larger and stronger than she was.
His hands continued down her chin, across her jawline and explored her ears. They tried to comb through her unruly hair and he chuckled as he found his digits captured in the wayward springy locks. The sound distracted her and she held still as he traced her throat, roamed out across her shoulders and then down her hands. Taz thought he’d stop there, but he did not. Instead, his hands trailed back up across her long arms where he seemed to examine the muscles in her forearms.
“You are stronger than I thought… and far more beautiful than I expected.” Duncan said softly. His hands didn’t stop roaming there though, and traced the line of her armpits which caused Taz to stiffen not in shyness but because she was ticklish. The motion wasn’t misunderstood by the mage either, for he smiled as if he recognized the reactive jerk for what it was. He leaned back slightly, bringing his arms down her chest to cup her breasts and passed his thumbs across her nipples. Tazrae froze in shock even as her flesh stiffened under his touch. Duncan made one more pass with his thumbs smiling, even as her hands came up to capture his wrists.
“You want me to stop?” He asked playfully, and Taz opened her mouth in indignation. Instead, he lifted a hand, found her chin even with her hand still restraining his wrist, and brought his fingers up to her lips to shush her. “I’m only looking, Tazrae… and teasing you shamelessly. It’s well known you don’t sleep around. I don’t think badly of you… but you can see all of me. I am hiding nothing, not even the scars around my eyes. Let me look, Innkeeper. And let me teach you a few things. If you learn Reimancy from me, you will be part of my bloodline, my djed daughter, and I will be protective of you like no other. Just let me know you first, okay?” He asked, even as the thumb still lingering on her breast passed over her peaked flesh again before drifting lower. The finger over her lip vanished and she felt him span her waist with his hands and run them over her hips. He had to lean forward to do so.
As he touched her legs, running his hands down them, he began to speak again. Tazrae was openly trembling now, but she didn’t restrain him. He was the first man to touch her intimately, and the sensation fascinated her. Her body reacted to his touch and caused her to realize that such things could be fun, recreational, without emotion involved. She barely knew Duncan. He certainly hadn’t stolen her heart. But what he was doing was as new as what he was teaching, and she thought perhaps because of the nature of their positions and the nature of their relationship, she’d never forget the lesson.
Word Count: 586
