Dark Connections (Keating Pls)

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A city floating in the center of a lake, Ravok is a place of dark beauty, romance and culture. Behind it all though is the presence of Rhysol, God of Evil and Betrayal. The city is controlled by The Black Sun, a religious organization devoted to Rhysol. [Lore]

Dark Connections (Keating Pls)

Postby Cassandra Coven on November 24th, 2010, 5:00 am

Timestamp: 5th of Fall, 510 AV
Place: Streets of Ravok
Continued from Self-Service
R-18 Warning: Some portions may contain adult-themed contents. Nothing explicit, however. Sorry fanboys and fangirls.

Cassandra hugged her arms as the cool night air stole caresses on her smooth skin. She was walking beside the man Keating under the moonlight, just as she had promised to earlier that evening. The brief altercation in the tavern had left her somewhat rattled, and Cassandra felt responsible for the injuries inflicted on Keating by the strange masked man. As an apology, she agreed to a stroll with the man. Perhaps they could pick off where they started before they were rudely interrupted.

She stole a sidelong glance at the man. He stood tall, much taller than her anyway, and she had to crane her neck up a bit to see his face. He was still brooding, or she thought he was, with his knotted eyebrows and everything, though she had the impression earlier that having alcohol running in his system would improve his mood somewhat. Maybe she should have given him a free Silver Sliver, on the house, before she had closed the tavern down for the night and went along with him for their walk.

"It's a cold night, isn't it?" Cassandra said conversationally, trying to break the tension. Keating's silence made her nervous. While she had found the man attractive earlier and would have liked nothing better than to get to know him, she also did not know anything about him and this wall he put up around him made her wonder if his temper had yet to cool. He might lash out again like he did to that masked man, and it would be an understatement to say that Cassandra would not find that pleasant. Strangely, the idea of not knowing what would happen next excited that barmaid. She talked more to try to get him to open up, however, put him more at ease.

"I'm not used to this kind of weather, so far up north. I'm from Syliras - but please don't tell anyone that, I don't think they really like that place. I'm really not from there anyway. We - I - migrated from somewhere else initially," she gushed. "What about you?"

She looked up at Keating straight then, before blinking to bat her eyelashes and turning away as soon as he met her gaze, timing it perfectly to make the man get the impression that she was still uncomfortable underneath the scrutiny of his dark eyes..
there is something
i have to say to you
if you promise you'll understand
i cannot contain myself
when in your presence
i'm so humble
touch me
don't hide our love
woman to man

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Cassandra Coven
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Dark Connections (Keating Pls)

Postby Keating Ash on November 28th, 2010, 5:38 am

Keating’s left shoulder and arm ached, and he held it stiffly at his side. Without mentioning the throbbing pain of it, he tried stoically not to jar the appendage. A proud man, he saw no need to whine about what was already done; he would look at it later to see the extent of the damage. His temper lay under the surface, smoldering. With his night interrupted at the tavern as it had been, he had been unable to reach the desired inebriation point to quell the already strong emotions running through him. And though Cassandra walked at his side, the altercation with the masked man had left him testy in the cool, moon lit night.

She talked on, as women were wont to do. At first he simply nodded, and made short comments. But her small frame and glowing, dark hair reminded him of Rose; no doubt, the reason why he was attracted to her in the first place. Small and petite, and pretty, he liked having her at his side, at least as much as any woman and more so than some. And from the coy, uncomfortable looks that she gave him, he thought she might be persuaded to pass the night with him.

A grimace crossed his face as Keating rubbed his shoulder briefly. “I know Syliras,” was all Keating said initially. “I’ve been there many times,” though he did not add that he had been looking for Rose during those visits. Tonight he needed to forget her and the things she did in that brothel, if that was even possible. Turning his head, he watched the girl’s lips as she asked him about himself. Keating had no desire for idle chatter, or for revealing the skeletons of his past. He abruptly stopped walking then, and wrapped his large hand over the girl’s arm gently. “Cassandra,” he said, “I don’t think it matters where I’m from.” He continued to look down at her, big and dark, and powerful, “Why don’t you instead tell me what it is you’d really like to do?” Keating waited, uncharacteristically patient, it was apparent in his gaze that he fully expected an honest answer.
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Dark Connections (Keating Pls)

Postby Cassandra Coven on December 4th, 2010, 9:03 am

Cassandra could immediately tell, with just the few short and clipped answers Keating gave her, that the man really wasn't in the mood to speak with her. Not yet at least. Was he irritated with her chatter perhaps? She didn't think so, but his stoic mien was hard to read, even for her. That fact only made her more intrigued of him. What was going on behind those dark, brooding eyes?

And then from out of the blue, he asked her a direct question: what did she want to do? That left her just a little bit confused. Wasn't he the one who had asked her to take a walk with him? And now he looked as if he didn't know what to do with her. A little frown creased Cassandra's features. What was Keating playing at?

"I do enjoy long walks under the stars," the dark-haired woman started tentatively. "But I thought you..."

Her voice drifted off into silence as she lowered her eyes to stare at the ground. She wanted to say that she thought he had something planned, but she thought such words would be too leading, too presumptuous. If he wasn't really all that into her she would look like a fool for saying such. And while she hardly knew him, Cassandra didn't want his first impression of her to be like that. Returning her gaze back at the man, she smiled at him, her eyes apologetic.

"I'm sorry," she said, switching tact. Drawing closer, she reached a gloved hand up to touch him gingerly on his injured arm. "I'm being unmindful of you with all my talking. We should...we should have that looked at. There could be splinters..."

Cassandra paused once more, turning her head this way and that as if looking for a particular establishment among the ones along the street. "Would you know if there are any places for healing about? I'm afraid I haven't been in this city long enough to know what's where."
there is something
i have to say to you
if you promise you'll understand
i cannot contain myself
when in your presence
i'm so humble
touch me
don't hide our love
woman to man

User avatar
Cassandra Coven
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Posts: 235
Words: 205763
Joined roleplay: June 24th, 2010, 8:21 am
Location: Ravok - Fall 511 AV
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Dark Connections (Keating Pls)

Postby Keating Ash on December 10th, 2010, 6:10 am

“Splinters!” Surprised, Keating laughed aloud, the sudden smile transforming and softening his features. Shrugging his shoulders, he immediately regretted it, wincing through the pain of his battered appendage. “Splinters are the least of my troubles! No.” he stated, ending the short lived topic quickly. “I will not see a healer tonight.” Though he knew it was a decision he would regret later, after the adrenaline from the fight wore off. “That is not who I wish to spend my night with,” and he looked knowingly at the barmaid. “I want to spend it with you.” His torso bent closer and he leaned down almost to her eye level. It seemed he might kiss her, but he didn’t. He was only gauging her reaction to him, for something in Cassandra’s demeanor made Keating want to push her comfort level as far as it would willing go.

Standing straight again, an amused expression highlighted Keating’s face. Was Cassandra playing the innocent? Or was she honestly naive? The girl had not given him a direct answer to his question, but it was obvious; whatever feelings or desires she had, she could not admit them out loud, not yet anyway. The pretty barmaid had skirted around things for now, but Keating was confidant that there was still time this night for confessions. Towering over Cassandra where they stood, Keating’s large hand moved to slide past the girl’s ear to settle with care at the base of her skull. His pressure was gentle, yet controlled, as he consciously held back the strength that lay in his hand. Strands of Cassandra’s black hair were hopelessly intertwined around his fingers as he cradled her head.

“Cassandra, I didn’t ask what you enjoy – I asked what you wanted.” And his fingers tightened just a hair’s breath, but enough for Cassandra to notice. “Would a walk under the stars and a chaste kiss on the cheek satisfy you?” It was a dark dare of a question, and his hand fell away, releasing her. “Somehow, I doubt that it would…”
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Dark Connections (Keating Pls)

Postby Cassandra Coven on December 17th, 2010, 9:34 am

Cassandra loved Keating’s laugh, how it boomed with confidence as if he was not afraid to be heard in a crowd, or in their case, in the quiet of the night, as well as how it softened his usual brooding features and smoothened the creases on his knotted brows. She beamed back at him tentatively, reflecting his mirth as her own as she tried to figure out what it was that was so amusing. The bold admission that soon followed rocked her to her heels however.

I want to spend the night with you.

There it was then, stated before her plain as day despite her pretenses to be innocent about where their late night stroll would lead. Briefly, the dark-haired barmaid wondered how she should react. It wasn't like it was the first time she'd received such offers from men she hardly knew - working at a bar meant she had them extended to her almost nightly - but none have been so blatantly bold in saying it as Keating just did. She didn't have much time to consider it any further as the man leaned in towards her. Was he going to kiss her? Just the thought of it excited her, made her heart do little somersaults in her chest. Cassandra tilted her head up ever so slightly, ready to meet his lips once they came close enough to her. But Keating had paused midway and Cassandra covered up her initial movement by bringing a hand up to muffle a fake cough and then looked away, rubbing her arms as she did so as if she were cold. Was he toying with her?

She was about to say another of her misdirecting comments as she turned towards him when she felt Keating cradle the back of her head, posing another his questions at her. As he did so, his fingers tightened by just a fraction, enough for Cassandra to feel the slightly uncomfortable sensation of having her hair pulled from the roots. Her eyes widened, and she was almost about to protest his treatment of her, but Keating released his hold even before the pain could register. Cassandra was left to answer the lingering challenge the man left hanging between them. Her large eyes were kept locked against his.

"I-no...no," she replied haltingly. The rapid beating of her heart made speaking difficult and she had to swallow several times to push back the large lump of nervousness that seemed to stem from her chest. Keating felt dangerous to her - he was dangerous, the way he handled the situation back in the tavern with the masked man. He was a man comfortable in his own skin, confident in his bearing, a shaper of his own path in life. Cassandra could clearly see it from the cocksure way he delivered his offer to her: uncaring whether he got rejected or not yet with an almost smug certainty about him as if her knew nothing could go wrong because he was in control. That Cassandra was attracted to him because of this quality was an understatement. Keating excited her, woke some primal yet unknowable desire within her breast that made her want to explore the dark hint of an invitation he dangled teasingly before her.

Cassandra cleared her throat.

"No," she said once more, her voice steady now. "Of course not."

Her eyes matched the man's intense gaze, unwavering. The coyness was gone, the tentativeness. There was no point playing her little game of contrived innocence after Keating's laid all the cards on the table. He had her cornered and she wasn't about to embarrass herself by continuing to pretend cluelessness.

"What did you have in mind?" she asked evenly.

They were still standing close to each other and, despite the poise she displayed outwardly, she hoped that Keating could not hear the pounding of her heart. Excitement and fear swirled within her. Excitement, for the intriguing unknown she faced with this man before her. Fear, for her doubt that she'd be able control herself when she's finally alone with him - would what happened in Syliras happen here too?

With Keating...?
Last edited by Cassandra Coven on December 20th, 2010, 4:19 am, edited 1 time in total.
there is something
i have to say to you
if you promise you'll understand
i cannot contain myself
when in your presence
i'm so humble
touch me
don't hide our love
woman to man

User avatar
Cassandra Coven
Tortured Soul
 
Posts: 235
Words: 205763
Joined roleplay: June 24th, 2010, 8:21 am
Location: Ravok - Fall 511 AV
Race: Human
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Dark Connections (Keating Pls)

Postby Keating Ash on December 19th, 2010, 4:07 am

Silently Keating listened to Cassandra speak. He watched the line of her mouth and the expression her face made as she answered, this time with alluringly honesty. As his eyes studied her, he gave her words an importance that other men might not have done. Speaking her mind appeared to be a departure for the barmaid, and that both interested and excited him. It remained to be seen just how much she would be willing to admit, his eyes glinted at the thought. When she was done, he nodded, and with the voice he used to soothe wayward animals on the farm, he praised her, “You are a good girl, Cassandra.” Picking up a thick strand of her black hair, Keating toyed with it, winding it around his large index finger as its glossy sheen captured his dark gaze. “No,” he answered agreeing, “You deserve better attentions than that, brave, little mouse.”

He leaned in once again, his narrowed eyes focused on Cassandra. And this time his lips did caress hers in a kiss. Soft to start, Keating was gentle and searching, but a hunger filled him and the press of his kiss became deeper, and filled with urgency. The dark stubble of his face scratched her lips and cheeks without his knowing. Sliding his good arm around her, he cradled her lower back, and pulled her towards him. So small and fragile did she appear as he pressed a warm hand along the base of her spine. His other arm hung down useless at his side, for Keating had no wish to jar it.

The faintest smell of alcohol hung upon his breath and slowly he pulled back from her sweet mouth. Still his lips brushed feather-soft against hers and he said quietly, “There is no call for game playing,” and added, “with me.” Keating had told other women this over the course of years, but he’d always meant it, even if it was just for a night. “I want you to be honest Cassandra, as…” His words halted abruptly, he’d almost said, as Rose was honest… And his expression took on an inward quality, as if just for a moment he was elsewhere far away.
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Dark Connections (Keating Pls)

Postby Cassandra Coven on December 21st, 2010, 9:58 am

A small frown creased Cassandra's forehead as Keating referred to her as a 'little mouse'. The dark-haired barmaid had no idea how he got that inference. She certainly wasn't mousy! She opened her mouth in reproof, to tell the man that she did not appreciate the comparison. But before she could speak, his lips were upon her own, stealing, no, taking a kiss from her as if such a thing rightly belonged to him alone. It started out slow, gentle, as if Keating was afraid that he might break her if he handled her differently, but it eventually progressed to such an intensity that Cassandra felt she might melt from the sheer fire of the man's passion.

As Keating pressed against her - or pressed her against his own body, Cassandra wasn't sure - a tight ball of emotion welled up from her chest, gripping her heart and pumping it up with so much excitement as she had never known before. It burned her, filled her insides and constricted her breathing that she feared she would pass out from the pressure of it. But then it exploding into a wave of desire that crashed against every inch of her being. Cassandra gave in, surrendering to her own yearnings of finding such intimacy as the one she was sharing with Keating right now. One arm snaked up at the man's neck, fingers running through his short hair trying to find purchase as she clenched her hand, as if looking to secure a handhold to claim a part of him for herself. Her other hand pressed against his muscular chest, feeling the beat of his heart, looking to find some sort of rhythm against the thumping of her own.

Cassandra was lost in that briefest of moments, taking in the taste of the man, feeling the shape and contour of his mouth as it roamed over hers. So much so that she was slightly disoriented when Keating finally pulled back. Her lips followed his retreating ones, not wanting to be deprived of its newly discovered sustenance. She opened her eyes when she realized that no second kiss was forthcoming. He was chiding her for her little game of coyness earlier, and was asking for her honesty. He trailed off in mid-sentence however, as look of distraction on his face.

No! Was he losing interest already?

She didn't want that. Briefly, Cassandra wondering if she wasn't so great a kisser that Keating had been turned off. She reached up, gently turning his head so that he faced her once more.

"I...I will," she promised. She wasn't sure if she meant it, but there was something about this man that made her want him, made her say things that would placate his needs, keep his undivided attention. For the present, the fate of her last lover lay forgotten in the face of her longing for the man before her.

"I-we don't have to stay out here," she continued, retracting her earlier statement about enjoying long walks. "It's getting chilly and I'm...cold."

The last line was delivered perfectly: suggestive, yet with the right inflection to make it sound matter-of-factly. Cassandra had learned long ago that her words, when spoken in the right tone and accompanied by the appropriate facial expression, had power over men. And it surprised her that she did not even hesitate at using such on Keating.

She wasn't about to let this man go.
there is something
i have to say to you
if you promise you'll understand
i cannot contain myself
when in your presence
i'm so humble
touch me
don't hide our love
woman to man

User avatar
Cassandra Coven
Tortured Soul
 
Posts: 235
Words: 205763
Joined roleplay: June 24th, 2010, 8:21 am
Location: Ravok - Fall 511 AV
Race: Human
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Dark Connections (Keating Pls)

Postby Keating Ash on December 24th, 2010, 4:31 am

Cassandra’s hand touched his cheek, turning his head back towards her and the present, and away from Rose and his sordid past. It was a light touch, with a feminine hand and he wanted more of it against his skin unencumbered by clothes. His nostrils flared. That she was willing now, there was no doubt. At her reply, a deep throated sound of pleasure rumbled in Keating’s throat and he nodded slowly, understanding the implied meaning of her words, even if she did not. Her words though had a magical effect on him, and thoughts of other women were banished for the present. His warmer hands trailed along her arms in suggestion, and his strong fingers gave a small squeeze when he reached her elbows. There was a chill to her skin, and his presence offered the promise of warmth and more. Keating stared at her, her face and figure, and the way her hair hung about her shoulders. Cassandra’s pale skin glowed in the moonlight, enticing him.

Keating’s body remembered how Cassandra’s had softened easily against his as their kiss had progressed just moments before. The feel of her fingers searching for purchase in his cropped hair had enticed him, even though she had found nothing there to cling to. Long ago he had shaved his black and curling locks out of spite for things that could not be. Neither the man nor his hair could offer the woman much support beyond rough physicality. Keating suggested, still cradling one elbow in his hand possessively, “We’d best get you indoors. If you want, my room is near. We could warm you up until you were ready… to go back to the tavern.”
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Keating Ash
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Dark Connections (Keating Pls)

Postby Cassandra Coven on December 29th, 2010, 8:58 pm

She had goose-flesh from his touch, electricity running up her spine and making blood rush to her ears. Her cheeks burned, and the tightness in her chest returned. Cassandra had only felt such yearning for a man once, one whom she thought could give her a better future. One look at the hunger in Keating's eyes and she knew she could expect no such promise from him, however. Not that she minded at all, not tonight. Perhaps the man's passion was infectious for her, and she was willing - very willing! - to let him lead her to wherever he wanted to take her. Or perhaps it was her own desires that were pulling his strings, her voice, now husky, and every sinuous movement hypnotic for him, like a snake charmer's music to a snake.

It didn't matter for she didn't care.

She leaned in close to him, pressing herself against his chest as she stood on tiptoes. "Take me..." she began, whispering her blatant suggestion in his ear. "...there." She ended her words by nipping at his earlobe before she twirled away. Her dark locks spun with her before settling on her shoulders, framing her face as she turned back to him. One eyebrow was raised, beckoning.
Cassandra, waiting... :
Image
there is something
i have to say to you
if you promise you'll understand
i cannot contain myself
when in your presence
i'm so humble
touch me
don't hide our love
woman to man

User avatar
Cassandra Coven
Tortured Soul
 
Posts: 235
Words: 205763
Joined roleplay: June 24th, 2010, 8:21 am
Location: Ravok - Fall 511 AV
Race: Human
Character sheet
Storyteller secrets

Dark Connections (Keating Pls)

Postby Keating Ash on December 31st, 2010, 4:51 am

Her voice had lowered, husky and suggestive, and with each word she spoke, his hunger grew. Cassandra had changed; no longer was she the nervous barmaid he had thought her to be. A woman now stood before him, her wants visible in the way her lips moved and her body spoke. Keating responded, an experienced partner in this age old dance. The steps often varied between women, but the heady outcome was typically the same.

Temptation filled him then, and his eyes flashed with all manner of things he wished to do with her. He briefly contemplated taking her right there in the alley, in the midst of the filth and refuse, but decided against it for the time being. Still toying with the idea, he stood straighter and watched the gentle swirl of her hair as it rested about her shoulders, “Have no doubt that I will, Cassandra,” he responded, “…many times.”

She stood over an arm’s length away from him, but Keating covered the short distance in two quick steps. Grabbing her hand, he enfolded it within both of his larger hands, and hurried her off towards his rented room. How she looked at him! Gods! He wanted her! Their steps were fast, and perhaps Keating pushed her too quickly for the shorter length of her legs, but excitement surrounded them and he was caught in the moment of her. Once outside his door, he pushed it open. And for all his earlier rush, his strong arm barred Cassandra from entering the room.

From the doorway it was easy to see the space was small and sparsely furnished. A narrow bed, a small table with one chair, a battered chest of drawers that doubled as a sideboard, holding liquor bottles of varying degrees of emptiness, and a worn rug graced the room. Keating looked down at her thoughtfully, almost kindly, “You’d best make sure this is what you really want, before you go through the door…” Keating offered Cassandra this kindness, a chance to back out; it was the only one she was likely to get. And it was a rare offer. He didn’t say it, but it was easy to see in his demeanor that once things began between the two dark haired strangers, the night was likely to take on a life of its own.
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Keating Ash
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