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His heart filled near to bursting when he glanced up at the sound of his office door opening and was met with two toned blue eyes. Aymeric felt the smile stretch across his lips, his hand moving instinctually to set down his quill. “I was not expecting you for another day yet, my love,” he greeted, his tone leaving no doubt he was pleased by the surprised development.
“You know I slip away early whenever I can,” Rana replied, her own lips stretching into a smile.
Aymeric’s heart could not help doing that funny little flip flop maneuver it always pulled whenever his eyes were graced with the sight. “And glad am I you manage to do so.”
“Have you eaten yet?” Rana asked, the viera easily slipping around the side of his desk to stand next to him. The warmth of her hand rested against his shoulder, creating a calmness within him that thrived beneath her gentle touch. “I know Handeloup reminds you, but he does not have the heart to reprimand you like Lucina did.”
There was a part of Aymeric that missed his former right hand, but he could not deny her the chance to rebuild her former homeland. “Handeloup does a fine job,” Aymeric assured Rana, tilting his head to access the inside of her wrist. He savored the shiver he felt run through her when his lips brushed against her warm skin. “And while I have not yet eaten, I assure you that I was just about to do so. For once I shall be glad my work has taken so long, for it means we may go together.”
“Go?” Rana asked. Her hand traveled down the back of his shoulder, Rana applying just the right amount of pressure for him to feel her fingertips smooth down his back through the many layers of cloth he wore. “Where are we going?”
“The weather is nice for a change,” Aymeric began, needing to take a shaking breath to regain his words when he felt Rana’s fingers traveling back up. “I had planned on taking a walk to the Jeweled Couriser. There is a new food stall there selling baked popotoes. They really are quite excellent." Fury take him, those gentle fingers were resting against his neck now.
Rana frowned, thoughtful of the situation before she spoke again in careful measures. "Should you really be going out alone like that? I know things have been better since the reforms you took to work with the Church, but there are still dissenters who would see you harmed.”
Aymeric leaned into her touch, taking a breath to hold onto that sense of calm. He was no stranger to the disdain of his fellow Ishgaridians, even before his father's downfall, but he knew where Rana's thoughts lingered. The phantom itch of the knife in his gut twinged, memories of her worried face flashing through his thoughts. All of it lay there juxtaposed by his desire to walk the city as he once did, to see and hear the changes made after a thousand years walked upon a path of war.
“I assure you, my love,” Aymeric spoke, voice barely above a whisper, “Handeloup would have come with me.”
Rana leaned down, lips brushing against his temple. Reassured, he felt her fingers begin to dance once more, playing absentmindedly to tangle within the hair at the base of his neck. “I know I worry overmuch,” Rana admitted, leaning down to rest her head against his. The scent of lilacs mixed with honey and vanilla filled Aymeric’s scenes. He could imagine her in the Rising Stones or her secret home in Empyreum, baking snacks and sweets before she came to visit him. His mouth watered, knowing he would find some of those treats when he returned to Borel Manor.
Aymeric reached up to wrap his hand around hers, leaning into the contact of her warmth. “Perhaps your worry makes me more cautious,” Aymeric pointed out, the barest hint of a tease in his tone. He lifted her hand to his lips, placing kisses against her knuckles. He watched Rana’s lip twitch, the only hint he had affected her, but glad he could push back on her little game all the same.
The feel of her cheek against his had Aymeric’s breath catching in his throat. He was used to the gesture by now, a sign of affection amongst the viera rarely shown to outsiders, but the pure warmth of her caught him off guard every time. Fury, he had missed the closeness of her. His heart practically ached with the contentment she brought.
Just when he felt his thoughts falling back into a line of semi coherence, Rana turned her head, her breath brushing over his temple. Aymeric locked up all over again, acutely aware of her traveling further back with each gesture. He had a good idea where her true target was, and already could feel the heat burning along his ears.
“Well?” Rana asked as she pulled away, fingers still entwined with his and the beginnings of that mischievous smirk sitting upon the corners of her lips. “Shall we? You know I am ever eager to experience some good cuisine.”
Aymeric cleared his throat and broke his eyes away from her. He used the moment he needed to sign off on the report and file it away to catch his breath, something he could never do if he had to watch that smile grow across her lips.
Fury, he was so in love with her.
“Let us go,” Aymeric declared once finished, perhaps standing a bit too quickly if the way Rana hid her mouth behind her free hand was any indication. Not that it did anything to stifle the giggle that escaped her.
He shook his head but allowed himself to fall into step behind Rana as she all but danced her way across his office. They were only a few strides short of the door when Rana spun, twirling herself into his arms. With ease Aymeric caught her in time to stop them both from falling to the ground in a heap, the curl of Rana’s smile indicating she had no doubt he would manage to do so. Her hands rested against his biceps, weight settling easily within his arms. Warm, warm, everything about her was so warm. It was so easy to love her.
“Unless,” Rana whispered, head tilted back so that her breath was brushing against his jaw. She let the word linger, allowing Aymeric to shiver against her as her hands reached up, fingers tangling at the base of his neck all over again. Her lips brushed against the edge of his jaw, whisper soft in the destruction they wrought. “Is there something else you would rather have right now?” The viera’s voice was heavy with intent, and even though he knew it was coming, Aymeric could do nothing when her lips teased over the tip of his ear. Every defense fell so readily in her wake one could almost mistake Aymeric for a willing sacrifice bowed before her alter.
Teeth scraped across skin and every nerve within him flared with heat strong enough to rival dragon fire itself.
Rana gasped, the hint of delight hidden within that note betraying her. The ‘thump’ of her back hitting the door rang within his ears, now burning with crimson. Her back arched, pressing more of herself against him, two toned blue eyes flaring with desire as the success of her plan found her pressed between Aymeric’s weight and the door. Aymeric was all too aware of the leg propped up and wrapped around the back of his knee, her breasts pressed against his chest, head tilted back to allow him easy access to her neck. In one single move their positions had switched, Rana offering every bit of herself to him.
With shaking breath Aymeric lowered his head to rest against the crook of her neck, inhaling deeply that lilac scent. His hand wandered up the inside of her leg, composure fighting his own smirk at the mewling noise that escaped her throat. As needy as she could make him, Aymeric could all too easily do the same to her. Every teaching drilled into him since his youth would disapprove, and yet Aymeric found these shackles one of the easier restraints to slip free.
Rana trembled beneath him as Aymeric’s hand wandered higher, all too slowly if her squirming was any indication. Fury, he had to remind himself to breathe when he felt the heat between her legs. She needed him.
And that alone was perhaps the thing that made pulling away so hard. Yet they each knew how this game would end. Aymeric could not help but smile at the pout transforming Rana’s face when he stepped back, releasing her.
“As very tempted as I am,” Aymeric somehow managed smoothly despite his heart pounding so hard against his ribs he felt one might very well break, “you are the one who constantly reminds me that food is a necessity. And I would hate to disappoint you.”
Rana slumped for a split second before transforming the motion into sweeping her skirts back into place. “I highly doubt you could, Aymeric,” she assured him, swelling his heart all over again when she offered him her gentle smile. “Lunch first then. Sex later.”
He was absolutely not blushing again at Rana’s declaration. The room was just unreasonably hot. Yes, that was all. Aymeric cleared his throat and offered his arm for Rana, attempting to achieve some level of dignity.
This time he was the one to lean down and brush lips against her temple, relishing the shiver that ran through her. “Yes, lunch first,” he assured her. “And then I will need to teach you a lesson on decorum it seems.”