Intimatacy of the two

He was hiding behind the canopy curtains, waiting to snatch her and drag her into his bed. She knew it.

It was a huge bed on a wooden platform. Stairs were on each side. Heavy, dark curtains hid most of the bed, but Liliana understood it was basically a rectangle with posts and curtains.

She went over to the steps and went up. The last step was the platform's floor, where little rugs on each side had been placed to keep bare feet from touching cold stone in the morning. She pinched a bit of a curtain.

Even though she'd expected it, her heart still fluttered, and her breath was still caught up in the moment.

A long arm appeared. The hand seized a good palm's worth of her cloak. She was indeed dragged in.

She was held close to a large, apparently naked body, and they tumbled together until Liliana was on her back and on what she assumed was roughly the centre of the mattress. Secretly, she was impressed with herself for not yelping or thrashing about.

The man's arm slipped out from under her body, and then his weight shifted. Liliana could see a little light through the curtains, but not much. She thought he was crouching over her, but she could barely even see an outline representing him.

Lorryll's voice sounded disappointed. "Weren't you surprised?"

Simple, quiet, soft. "No."

A pause.

She heard his breath hiss out. Then she heard and felt him laugh. His thighs trembled against her, and his breath spread over her face. He even said, "I might do something else to you soon."

"I'm too old for mischief," Liliana whispered up to him. "Please have mercy on me."

He actually hummed down at her as if he were seriously considering her words. "Hmmmmmm."

Then Liliana heard his lips smack open, and he said, "No."

He gripped her arm and pulled her up to a kneeling position. Liliana shrugged and moved to undress in the dark. She didn't really need to, though.

Lorryll yanked and tore everything away from her, throwing every piece off to some far off part of the mattress. She had to get out of the kneeling position at some points, but she was back in it soon.

Some of Liliana's hair was pulled too. When she was finally nude, not even wearing a stocking, she knew her hair was wild. Even though it was so dark, she tried to smooth it all down with her palms.

That was a pointless thing to do.

He grabbed most of her hair and wrapped it around his hand. Within a breath, he had her head tilted back. His other hand dug under her backside and seemed to push on her, leading her up. He was over her.

Mouth to mouth.

Her fingertips pressed down on her own bare thighs.

It changed again.

He released her hair, but he was hugging her again, and there was more tumbling.

Between his kisses, there were small laughs. She could feel him trying not to smile.

Liliana wondered if he thought he'd won something, which would be odd. She hadn't fought him in a long time. There was no winning without conflict.