Work Text:
I hummed in appreciation as I looked around the current camp set up we had. We had found a secluded little part on the road to Baldur’s Gate, a small haven that provided ample cover and security so we could, hopefully, rest peacefully.
My companions all seemed in good enough spirits. Although our quest was far from over, and although we still had what were certain to be tough battles ahead of us, we had survived thus far, and that — more than anything — gave me hope.
I felt someone’s gaze on me and I looked across the camp to find who was observing me. I smiled when I discovered it was Halsin.
Of course my lover would be tracking my every movement.
I met his eyes and nodded my head, acknowledging his attention, and he returned the gesture.
But then he tilted his head inquisitively, as if he wanted to tell me something, so I made my way over to him.
“Halsin,” I called when I was within earshot. “Is everything all right?”
“Everything is fine, my heart,” he said, eyes roving over me in that way that made my pulse quicken.
Oh. That was what he wanted. Well then. I definitely wasn’t opposed.
“Everybody seems to be settling in nicely,” I said, glancing around me. “Would you like to explore a bit? I had the desire to perhaps take a walk, see what’s around?”
Halsin’s eyes darkened and I knew he had picked up on my meaning.
“It would give me no greater pleasure than to accompany you. Lead on,” he said, and I had to suppress a laugh.
I bet it would give him no greater pleasure…
But instead I just smiled at him again, and turned on my heel, leading out one of the sides of the camp we hadn’t really delved into yet.
My objective was twofold, of course. I did want to get a bit better lay of the land, but I also wanted to spend some time with Halsin out in the wilderness. We were going to be heading into the city proper soon. I knew for someone who was as attuned to nature as Halsin, being in such a location would be difficult.
I picked up a stick I found along the side of the not-quite path, and began using it to poke into the underbrush, looking for what, I didn’t know. But the thought of Halsin cooped up in the stone and wood walls of the city had made me feel quite melancholic, and I needed a way to work off that feeling.
“Something has changed,” Halsin said, narrowing his eyes as he turned to me. “You are bothered.”
I opened my mouth, ready to deny everything, but I knew that was a mistake. If there was anything I had figured out about Halsin in these weeks of travelling together, it was that he valued honesty over anything else. Being coy or deflective wasn’t his way. And I liked to try to honour that aspect of him.
“I’m just second-guessing everything,” I said instead.
Halsin tilted his head as he appraised me. “About our plan to fight the elder brain?”
I shrugged. “Sort of. More about … your involvement in the fight against the elder brain.”
A look of hurt briefly flashed across his face, and I felt my heart lurch.
I didn’t want to cause him pain. But I also knew he would probably feel even worse in the city. I needed to give him the out. Let him know he could take it if he wanted.
To his credit, he remained silent, giving me the time to explain my statement.
“I’m just concerned that you’re only following me because you feel some obligation to do so after I saved Thaniel. That you will end up hating Baldur’s Gate, and, as an extension, end up hating me too. I understand your nature, your need to be free. City life is so at odds with who you are. The last thing I want to do is be the cause of your discomfort. I don’t think I could stand it.”
Halsin stopped walking then, and I matched him, halting my steps and turning to face him more fully. I searched his expression, but it was so blank, I couldn’t get a read on him. I felt my heart pick up speed as nervousness overtook me.
I had no idea what his reaction would be. But I also knew that those concerns had been brewing in my mind ever since I realized our path would take us to Baldur’s Gate. I had to voice them.
He sighed, and the sound was so long-suffering that I steeled myself for the acceptance of my words, the agreement that he would hate the city, and his relief that he no longer had to face the burden of accompanying me.
“You’re right,” he said, and I felt the disappointment rush through my veins. “I don’t like the city. I’ve been to Baldur’s Gate before, of course, but it’s been…” he trailed off, as if he was counting the years, “almost a century since I’ve stepped foot in that city. They’re close, dirty. Abominations to nature. They subjugate nature’s bounty instead of living in balance with her. I don’t appreciate the noise, the congestion, the cramped closeness of the buildings. The struggle sometimes to see the sky or smell the fresh air.
“But,” he continued, stepping closer to me, “I made you a vow. And I do not break those. You helped me with Thaniel, and I will repay you by helping you with this. After all, this threat affects all of us. I don’t want a nature infested with mindflayers any more than you do.” He paused, searching my face. “Of course, those were my thoughts before I got to know you better. Before I felt my heart stir at the thought of you. Before you so generously returned my affections and understood who I was, at my core. If anything, this conversation solidifies the idea that you are so perfect for me. Not a day goes by that I don’t thank the Oak Father for bringing you into my life. Not because of how you helped heal the shadow-cursed lands, which I am forever grateful for, of course, but of how you’ve healed me. The lands might have been swathed in darkness, but I didn’t realise just how much my soul was shadowed as well. There was a darkness inside me that I didn’t even understand until you showed me the light.
“So yes, while I might loathe the idea of going into the city, I will gladly do so, if only so I can remain by your side.”
He finished his speech and I stood there, shock written on my face, I was sure. I had … no idea he felt that way.
“There’s a reason I call you ‘my heart,’ Caoimhe. You are such a thing for me. I don’t think I could survive without you. Please don’t do me the disservice of asking me to stay behind.”
“I’m sorry,” I said, shaking my head. “I just didn’t want you to feel like I was forcing you to do anything you didn’t want to do.”
He had the audacity to laugh. “I’m sorry, but I must tell you that I will never do something I’m not willing to do. Please understand, anything I aim to do, I do with the full confidence of my spirit.”
“Anything?” I asked, letting a teasing tone enter into my voice. I had already planned to seduce him on our walk, but his declaration made a fire flow through my veins in a way I had never felt before. And after his assurances about me and travelling together … well. My need for him had just increased beyond anything I had felt before, if I was being honest.
Halsin seemed to sense the change in me, and he smiled, a wickedness entering his eyes. “Yes. Anything.”
“Do you trust me?” he asked after a moment, stepping so close to me I had to crane my neck to continue to meet his gaze.
“You know I do,” I murmured, and he grunted.
“There’s been something I’ve been wanting to try with you. I’ve withheld asking because I’ve been driven to undeniable need any time we’ve had the chance to be together. But knowing we’re nearing the city, and privacy might be at a premium … well. There’s no time like the present. And with the passion that I can tell is brewing under your skin…” he trailed off and ghosted his fingers up the sides of my arms, causing a shiver to run through me.
“What’s on your mind?” I asked, and my voice was much more breathless than I had intended. Damn, he really did know exactly what I needed.
“Have you ever practised the art of denial?”
“Denial?” I asked, furrowing my brow. “Like … celibacy?” That was the last thing I had expected him to suggest.
“No, nothing like that. More like … I bring you right to the edge, right to the precipice of your pleasure, and then don’t let you break. It’s a way of ramping up the satisfaction even more, so that when you do finally come for me, it feels a hundred times better.”
I felt myself pulse at the thought. Well. Clearly it was something I was interested in, even if I had never considered it before.
“That sounds … intriguing,” I said, not wanting to give away just how eager I was at the suggestion. “I’d be willing to try.”
“Oh my heart,” Halsin sighed, and he swept me up into his arms, hugging me to him tightly. “You will not be disappointed.”
“I could never be disappointed with you,” I murmured into his chest, and his arms tightened around me.
“You are too kind. But come. Such an endeavor should be practised a bit farther away from camp. If the ending is how I envisage…”
He stopped speaking then, but the promise of what was to come was enough to make me flush with desire.
He took my hand then and stepped off the path that wasn’t really a path, heading deeper into the trees, his nature sense apparently leading him exactly where we needed to go.
Eventually we came upon a small clearing, the undergrowth and detritus from the trees enough to form a soft mat on the ground. The canopy was thick, allowing the light of Selûne only the thinnest ability to breach the darkness of the space.
It was nature, for sure, but it had a sense of coziness to it that took me by surprise.
Halsin stopped walking in the center of the clearing and turned to face me, his hand still holding mine.
“Is this all right?” he asked, and I nodded.
“Seems perfect,” I said, and he just smiled.
“Good.” Then he pulled me against him with a solid tug on my hand, and I gasped as I crashed into his chest, his arm not holding my hand snaking around my waist to hold me steady. He bent his head and his lips crashed against mine, claiming me with an aggression I hadn’t really felt from him before.
His tongue swept against mine, his efforts rewarded as I felt myself opening up more for him, allowing him to go where he pleased, to take what he wanted.
I was his, and he was ensuring I knew that.
He hummed his appreciation as he felt my response to him, and he continued kissing me, only breaking apart after I felt like I wouldn’t be able to breathe. He didn’t stop completely though, instead he began trailing his lips and tongue across my jaw, pulling at the sensitive skin behind my ear, and then travelling down my neck, spending significant time tonguing my pulse point.
He paid equal attention to my other side, driving my need for him so much that I began squirming against him.
But he was a solid block of muscle, holding firm as I tried to find any sort of relief.
I tossed my head back as his mouth began its descent down my chest, finding the exposed skin of my collarbone and against the hollow of my throat.
“Gods, Halsin, yes,” I breathed, anxious to urge him on. He grunted and I grasped at him, trying to keep myself still as he mouthed at my breast over my clothes.
I dug my nails into his shoulders and he growled softly, before shifting his weight forward. Before I even realised we were moving, he had slammed me against a tree, pressing his thigh between my legs and holding me steady.
“I would rip these clothes off of you if I didn’t think you would rather not walk back into camp naked,” he murmured against my neck, and I sighed.
“That’s probably for the best, yes,” I said, and he grabbed the collar of my shirt with his teeth, shaking his head slightly.
“Such a shame,” he said, and then he pulled the cloth up and over my head. “After this is over, I’ll have you as nature intended, naked and spread out under me for a tenday,” he promised, and I shuddered against him, the rough bark cutting into my back already.
“I’m going to hold you to that,” I said, and he just huffed against my skin.
He pulled my bra off quickly, and then descended on my breasts again, his large hands covering them completely, and with ease. I sighed against him, dropping my head back against the tree and giving myself over to his touch.
He massaged them deeply, pulling at my nipples between his fingers, the sensation overwhelming but also not enough.
“Halsin,” I gasped, and he immediately withdrew his hand. I whimpered, and grinded against his thigh, trying to get the relief I needed.
“That’s it,” he murmured against my skin, pressing soft kisses against the soft swell of my breasts, letting my overheated body calm down slightly.
I moaned but threaded my fingers into his hair, tangling them in his braids, hoping the connection would be enough to ground me and keep me from demanding more.
He moved down my body, kissing me as he went, trailing his tongue through the valley of my breasts as his fingers slipped underneath the waistband of my trousers. He teased my skin there, touching me lightly, running his fingers across the band of my underwear, my skin a scorched mess wherever he touched.
I groaned and grabbed at him tighter, bringing his mouth back up to mine for a kiss. He grinned against my mouth as he pressed his fingers further down my front, dragging them through my curls but avoiding where I wanted him to be.
“You’re doing well, my heart,” he said when he broke off our embrace. “Just a little while longer.”
I groaned again, but nodded all the same, trusting him to have my best interests in mind.
He untied my trousers and pulled them down, my underwear going with them. Lifting me in his arms, he let the cloth drop to the forest floor, then pivoted us so my back was toward the middle of the clearing again. He raised his head, as if he was looking for something, then I saw him nod, just slightly.
“Here,” he said, still carrying me, his arms wrapped around my waist and mine around his neck as my feet dangled a half a meter off the ground.
He really was so much taller than me.
After a few moments he seemed to have repositioned us to his liking, for he stopped walking. He shifted me up in his arms, so he was now holding me underneath my ass, and he pushed me a bit higher.
“Hold on,” he said, and I noticed his gaze had drifted above me. Following his line of sight I noticed there was a branch above my head.
I reached up and grabbed onto it.
“Pull yourself up,” he said, and I did, lifting up my body, though the effort was almost negligible on my part, as Halsin assisted my effort.
When my hips raised to be in line with his mouth, he pulled gently on my legs, and I stopped lifting myself up. His hands grasped the backs of my thighs and he pushed. I opened my legs immediately and he sighed as my center appeared, perfectly in line with his mouth.
He draped my legs over his shoulders, and he kept one arm securing my waist, while the other held me open for him.
“Don’t let go,” he said, looking up and meeting my eyes. I nodded. “If you feel yourself slipping, kick my back three times in quick succession, like this,” he said, and he tapped my thigh with his hand.
“Understood,” I said, and a look of pure want passed over his face.
“Excellent.” And then he dove into me, devouring me like he had never tasted me before. He licked me from back to front, his tongue only ever slightly ghosting over my clit, his efforts concentrating on everywhere except for where I wanted him. He lapped at my folds, drinking in my desire as it flowed freely from me, humming his pleasure as he pressed his tongue deep inside me, finding that perfect spot and tonguing against it.
I clenched around him, anxious and eager as he kept going, driving me closer and closer to completion —
When suddenly he pulled away, leaving me pulsing and needing, trying to grasp at something that wasn’t there.
I moaned, dropping my head against my back as he placed soft kisses on the inside of my thighs, waiting, it seemed, for me to relax.
When my heartbeat returned to close to normal, he breathed over my entrance again, the heat of him causing me to shudder. But the threat of my release, that edge that I was driving toward, was no longer there, and I relaxed against his soft tonguing of my folds.
Slowly he ramped up his licking again, pulling my arousal into his mouth, sucking on my folds slightly, nipping at my clit, but only just slightly, so lightly that I could barely feel him. He kept his efforts up, as if he was mapping my design with his tongue. No part was untouched, unexplored, as he kept dragging his tongue through me, the heat building in my core slowly but surely, my desire a coal that had been stoked over and over again.
It was slower this time, but I felt that tightening in my lower abdomen again, and I began moving my hips, begging him to touch me where I needed him to go, to let me fall over and feel that pleasure coursing through me.
But as my hips began to buck and swivel, he pulled away again, running the fingers that were holding me open for him through my curls. I met his gaze with a half-lidded one of my own, and I could barely manage my groan as he licked his lips clean of my arousal.
“You’re doing so well, my heart,” he said, placing a soft kiss on top of my curls, right above where I was begging for him to be.
I bucked against him a few times, and he pulled his face away, so I had nothing but air rushing over my overheated center.
“Soon, sweetheart, I promise,” he cooed, and when he felt my muscles unclench, and felt myself relax against his arms, he dove in again, the same tonguing driving me crazy as he tasted me. I was seemingly a feast for him, and he a starving traveller.
And on and on it went. Every time I got close, he pulled away, denying me what I was beginning to think would never come.
I was thankful for the branch I was holding on to, for it gave me something to squeeze in frustration whenever he pulled away. I dug my nails into the bark, grasping it tightly as my frustration threatened to boil over.
I became a begging mess, my words incomprehensible as I attempted to say anything that would convince him to allow me release. But he refused, and the small voice in the back of my mind reminded me of our earlier conversation, where Halsin had told me that I could never make him do anything he didn’t want to do.
I was a panting, writhing mess, and it eventually became where I couldn’t find that relief, couldn’t find a reprieve, even when he took his mouth away from me. I was in a constant state of almost there, just barely a step away from my release, and nothing anybody could do could give me relief, except for touching me where I needed to be touched most.
Halsin talked me through it, constantly praising me for my ability to take his ministrations, to deny myself, to follow his instructions as I held myself, allowing myself to be driven to that cliff over and over and over again, so many times that I lost count, but without ever going over.
I felt wetness on my cheeks and discovered I was crying. I needed, I needed, and nothing I could do could help and I was going to —
Halsin sucked my clit into his mouth, hard, while shoving two fingers inside of me and crooking them just so.
I screamed.
Pain and pleasure coursed through me as my body tensed, so tight I felt like any movement would break me into a thousand pieces. I had never felt a pleasure so intense. I was going to die. I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think, couldn’t move as spasm after spasm wracked my body, shaking me so hard that my fingers — somehow — released their death grip on the branch, and I felt myself falling…
But Halsin, it seemed, was prepared for me. And he caught me easily, wrapping my legs around his hips as he caught me in his arms. I threw my arms around his neck and then screamed again as I felt him breach me, his thick cock pushing into me as gravity did most of the work and he hilted himself inside me in one thrust, my clenching body pulsing against him as he filled me in such a perfect way.
He began moving inside me gently, and I wasn’t sure if a new orgasm washed over me, or if it was the same one going as I broke against him, over and over again.
I buried my head in his neck, squeezing my eyes shut as the feeling was too much, too overwhelming, and I could handle no other stimulation except the pleasure that was rushing through me.
I felt something cool against my back and realised that I had been laid out on the forest floor. Halsin wasn’t moving, I noticed suddenly, but I was thrusting myself on him, pumping myself against him as I ran through the feelings that kept shaking me to my core.
After some length of time, I settled, the aftershocks slowing down till they were just small shivers that ran through my body every so often. I felt myself unclench, finally, and my muscles relaxed as I flopped against the ground.
I opened my eyes and saw Halsin watching me with such reverence I shivered again.
“All right?” he asked softly.
“That was — I mean I can’t —” I shook my head, trying to clear it so I could form some sort of coherent thought.
But he just laughed again. “That horrible, huh?”
I chuckled. “I’m not sure I’m going to be able to walk again.”
Halsin hummed. “I’m sure you’ll be able to, but I wouldn’t mind carrying you back. Any chance to feel you against me.”
I shifted under him and hugged him to me. “Thank you,” I murmured into his chest.
“The pleasure was literally all mine,” he said, and I noticed he had slipped out of me, his cock soft against his thigh.
At my raised eyebrow he chuckled. “You have no idea how exquisite you look in the throes of passion. And when you rut against me like that,” he tutted, “there’s little a man can do to resist.”
I belatedly noticed the evidence of his own pleasure on my stomach. I hummed in appreciation.
“That was incredible. You were incredible.”
“As were you, my heart,” he said, gently stroking my hair. “Thank you for trusting me with it.”
“Always,” I said, and I reached up to kiss him. And the look on his face was enough to make me squirm again.
“My heart?” he asked, surprise on his face. “Surely…”
I shrugged and looked away from him. “I might need a few minutes, but I miss you inside me. I miss feeling you stretch me. And I doubt we need to be back just yet…”
“Oak Father preserve me,” he murmured, dragging his nose behind my ear. “You truly are my heart. My passion. My every desire incarnate. I don’t know how I ever lived without you.”
“Nor I you,” I admitted, meeting his gaze with a soft smile.
He growled and kissed me again, and I melted against him, thrilled that the Gods were at least kind enough to bring this man into my life.
And hopefully, keep him there for many, many years to come.