Ah, what unkind sentiments, [ Cardan protests, though his tone is markedly unconcerned. After all, right now Liem is correct: he is far more interested in the lean muscle of his back beneath his hand, in the way Liem feels when Cardan bends down to slide an arm under his knees and lift him against his own body. His tail curls in pleased little loops behind him. ]
Am I not permitted to take joy in being your gallant protector, for once? I so rarely get the chance.
[ Funny, how he had never really cared to gallantly protect anyone before Liem came along. He’d always thought it was because Nicasia didn’t need it — but neither does Liem, not really. Maybe that’s why it makes Cardan feel oddly powerful, even though the feat he’s performing is hardly heroic.
It takes but one step to come up to the forest stream, and another to cross over — though he doesn’t put Liem down, not immediately. ]
Besides, it is you who distracted me. [ By virtue of being wet and happy and thus particularly fuckable. Among other things. ] How am I to blame?
[Though the drenching downpour has made Cardan uncommonly cool to the touch, Liem nevertheless nestles happily against him when he is scooped up against his husband’s body. When he was younger, he never expected he might have a lover who could bear him over these tiny yet impassable barriers, rendering these previously unassailable obstacles suddenly toothless. For all that he is free enough to roam these woods in dry weather, or on horseback, he still feels a little less fettered with Cardan by his side—freer to go where he will and do as he likes.
Because he can, Liem buries his smile against Cardan’s throat.]
When did I level blame at you?
[With the stream behind them, Liem glances out into the dripping depths of the wood, wondering when he will be permitted again to stand. Considering previous occasions, and his proximity to his husband’s sensitive neck, he cannot imagine Cardan will have the patience to carry him for long.]
I was only making an observation. Your eyes have scarcely left me since we left the house.
[Though, Liem recognizes, this is hardly a departure from the norm.]
[ Liem is correct to assume that the proximity of his mouth will become a torment rather sooner than later. Already Cardan’s heart skips a beat when Liem tucks that smile against his neck.
When they’d first met, it was largely the danger that drove the allure — first the sharp fangs, and then, after Liem had bitten him the first time, the memory of what drinking blood had looked like on his husband. Cardan still wants this, wishes he could have it every night — but he also wants the thorough, deliberate caress of Liem’s kisses, the way he seems to delight in leaving marks on Cardan’s skin, the near-reverence with which he gravitates to his throat, regardless of whether he’s going to bite.
In the end, what he's come to want is simply Liem's desire.
But despite the way his husband's mouth makes heat dance down his spine and lust coil in his belly, Cardan will carry him a little longer. Somehow, the wood feels all the more magical like this -- with the ferocious sky and the trembling leaves above them, the wet roots and soil beneath his feet, and the most important thing in the world clutched in his arms. It makes him feel more alive, like he's part of the storm itself, windblown and full of ferocious possibility.
His arms tighten around Liem as he moves, sure-footed and silent except for his quick breaths. ]
Your joy is dazzling, husband. That is all.
[ And he sees so little of it, and is the cause of so much of the opposite. How could he be anything but greedy about watching it now?
Admittedly, the way Liem's wet shirt clings to his chest remains a factor also, but makes for a much poorer defense to his husband's charge. ]
[Liem is helplessly aware of the little squeeze he feels in his chest when Cardan tells him how happiness looks on him. His husband is so skilled at slipping past his reservations and rousing his sleeping heart, making it tremble and ache with foolish longing; even last fall, scarcely months after their wedding, Liem had already begun to succumb. He has only grown more infatuated with time, and Cardan’s penchant for expressing unexpectedly tender sentiments has not helped in the least.
One day, he will get his heart broken because of this. It’s simply that just now, while Cardan’s arms and scent are wrapped so contentingly around him, he cannot bring himself to care.]
You are the first and only person to tell me so.
[Because it seems right that Cardan know this, and know that Liem values the sentiment, he cradles his husband’s opposite jaw with his free hand, and leans up to brush a kiss against his rain-damp cheek. When he draws back, his gentle touch on Cardan’s jaw still lingers, but his voice is dry with amusement.]
You are also the only one I would trust to carry me off into the woods in the midst of a rainstorm.
[ Everyone else, he thinks, is perpetually foolish when it comes to his husband. He wonders how many people have had the privilege of seeing Liem's happiness at all. Surely no one who had experienced it could pretend it to be anything but breathtaking.
Anyone with taste, anyway, he appends snidely in Carissa Altieri's direction.
He doesn't expect the second pronouncement; it's all he can do to keep his expression steady, though his pleased flush will surely give him away regardless. It's strange -- he would have thought that proximity would have made it easier to control himself, but more and more of late, he finds that he is unable to hide his emotions from his husband as much as he'd like.
The grin he flashes at Liem is a little savage. ] Careful, husband. You'll inflame my fey appetite for kidnapping Ironsiders.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
Am I not permitted to take joy in being your gallant protector, for once? I so rarely get the chance.
[ Funny, how he had never really cared to gallantly protect anyone before Liem came along. He’d always thought it was because Nicasia didn’t need it — but neither does Liem, not really. Maybe that’s why it makes Cardan feel oddly powerful, even though the feat he’s performing is hardly heroic.
It takes but one step to come up to the forest stream, and another to cross over — though he doesn’t put Liem down, not immediately. ]
Besides, it is you who distracted me. [ By virtue of being wet and happy and thus particularly fuckable. Among other things. ] How am I to blame?
no subject
Because he can, Liem buries his smile against Cardan’s throat.]
When did I level blame at you?
[With the stream behind them, Liem glances out into the dripping depths of the wood, wondering when he will be permitted again to stand. Considering previous occasions, and his proximity to his husband’s sensitive neck, he cannot imagine Cardan will have the patience to carry him for long.]
I was only making an observation. Your eyes have scarcely left me since we left the house.
[Though, Liem recognizes, this is hardly a departure from the norm.]
no subject
[ Liem is correct to assume that the proximity of his mouth will become a torment rather sooner than later. Already Cardan’s heart skips a beat when Liem tucks that smile against his neck.
When they’d first met, it was largely the danger that drove the allure — first the sharp fangs, and then, after Liem had bitten him the first time, the memory of what drinking blood had looked like on his husband. Cardan still wants this, wishes he could have it every night — but he also wants the thorough, deliberate caress of Liem’s kisses, the way he seems to delight in leaving marks on Cardan’s skin, the near-reverence with which he gravitates to his throat, regardless of whether he’s going to bite.
In the end, what he's come to want is simply Liem's desire.
But despite the way his husband's mouth makes heat dance down his spine and lust coil in his belly, Cardan will carry him a little longer. Somehow, the wood feels all the more magical like this -- with the ferocious sky and the trembling leaves above them, the wet roots and soil beneath his feet, and the most important thing in the world clutched in his arms. It makes him feel more alive, like he's part of the storm itself, windblown and full of ferocious possibility.
His arms tighten around Liem as he moves, sure-footed and silent except for his quick breaths. ]
Your joy is dazzling, husband. That is all.
[ And he sees so little of it, and is the cause of so much of the opposite. How could he be anything but greedy about watching it now?
Admittedly, the way Liem's wet shirt clings to his chest remains a factor also, but makes for a much poorer defense to his husband's charge. ]
no subject
One day, he will get his heart broken because of this. It’s simply that just now, while Cardan’s arms and scent are wrapped so contentingly around him, he cannot bring himself to care.]
You are the first and only person to tell me so.
[Because it seems right that Cardan know this, and know that Liem values the sentiment, he cradles his husband’s opposite jaw with his free hand, and leans up to brush a kiss against his rain-damp cheek. When he draws back, his gentle touch on Cardan’s jaw still lingers, but his voice is dry with amusement.]
You are also the only one I would trust to carry me off into the woods in the midst of a rainstorm.
no subject
Anyone with taste, anyway, he appends snidely in Carissa Altieri's direction.
He doesn't expect the second pronouncement; it's all he can do to keep his expression steady, though his pleased flush will surely give him away regardless. It's strange -- he would have thought that proximity would have made it easier to control himself, but more and more of late, he finds that he is unable to hide his emotions from his husband as much as he'd like.
The grin he flashes at Liem is a little savage. ] Careful, husband. You'll inflame my fey appetite for kidnapping Ironsiders.
[ But he doesn't put Liem down, still. ]