The North (Closed)

[heartofcourage]

Riley let out a soft squeal as he took over, making promises with darkly sensual words. When she came, she clamped her thighs against his wrist and shook beneath him, her eyes begging him for mercy. Her fingers curled tightly in his tunic as she bit on her lower lip to silence her cry. It came out as a stuttering whimper for his ears only.

 

[KieranSoares]

Riley could already feel him hard against her hip as he leaned over her, but seeing her struggle to contain her pleasure only seemed to fire him up more. He didn't give her much time to recover, pulling her into his lap and encouraging her to ride him as he hungrily- even desperately- trailed kisses over her shoulders and neck with the occasional nip. Between each kiss, he growled encouragement in Greek. Even if she didn't understand most of it, it sounded intensely sexual and she caught the occasional word that would've made anyone blush.

 

[heartofcourage]

Riley gasped as Andre pulled her into his lap, the blankets pooling around them as he kissed along her exposed body. She only needed to pull his trousers down around his hips to mount him. As he slipped into her body, she groaned and pulled again on his hair, her head tipping back to expose more of her throat to him.

She muttered what little in Greek back to him that she knew, clinging to her husband. Her kisses were desperate and needy, each of them fighting for their lives in the moment.

“No, no, no…” She whispered, slowing her hips as she felt him tensing. “No…not yet.”

Riley panted as if she had just run an incredible distance as she stared into Andre’s eyes, connecting with him. Her fingers tracing over his cheek, stroking his roughened chin.

“My husband.” She whispered in Erygonian. “My love.”

 

[KieranSoares]

Andre was spellbound as Riley slowed and tried to make the moment last a little longer, leaning into her touch as his cub-blue eyes grew hazy with pleasure and adoration. As she held his gaze, she felt that familiar wash of warmth through her mind and body, her husband's abilities stirred and helped them to connect on a level that non-Callers could never imagine.

"Ri," he sighed lovingly, holding her tightly to his chest as they stilled and he was still buried between her thighs. Hearing her claim him, his lovestruck expression turned to a warm smile and he pressed his forehead to hers, another pulse of that emotional warmth spreading over them both. She could feel his dedication to her, a fathomless devotion of a kind only reserved for her and only able to be expressed in moments like this. Nothing else was on his mind but his wife and her pleasure.

 

[heartofcourage]

He had the ability to make her mind spin. She melted for him as he showed his devotion through that special connection that only they could share. She kissed him passionately, sighing as she started to ride him yet again. Her motions were deliberate and meant to drive him wild. She would always want to drive him wild.

"Don't pull away." She murmured against his lips, her words feverish and frantic. "I want to feel you."

 

[KieranSoares]

Andre's grip on her thighs tightened as they flexed, and soon he laid back and pulled her against his chest. Leveraging his back against the pallet beneath them, his hips rose to meet hers in a rising pace. A moment later, she felt his fingers lace through her dark mane as he bit down firmly on her shoulder and locked his hips against hers with her encouragement. His free hand dug into her thigh and he muffled his grunts of release against her fur.

 

[heartofcourage]

Riley let out a yelp as he bit her shoulder hard, marking her all over again before he spilled into her. She whimpered and surrendered herself, releasing with him at the same time as she lay on him. Panting, she pressed her forehead against his chest and stilled in contenment.

 

[KieranSoares]

It took Andre a long time to regain the presence of mind to pull a blanket over them both, and another moment to chuckle at them both, whispering, "Let's hope we didn't wake anyone up." His fingers stroked down her back through her fur, quietly basking in her love and the comfort of her weight against him. Feeling her shiver and his seed leaking from between her thighs, he pressed a kiss to her temple and teased softly, "I thought we said we weren't going to be so reckless. Or am I really so irresistable?"

 

[heartofcourage]

"We're young and dumb. Let's leave it at that." Riley murmured as he stroked his fingers through her fur. "I love you." She tilted her head to kiss him, settling down on their cot with a content grin on her face.

 

[KieranSoares]

The next morning, after making sure he and Riley had a moment to dress, Andre woke the dragons and they rose to stretch and shake off water pooled on their wings and scales. It was a chilly spring morning, the petrichor of rain and wet earth being blown by a light breeze. They were almost entirely surrounded by heavy fog rolling in off the ocean, to the point that the dragons had to spend time reorienting themselves to find which direction was which. They'd be able to fly just fine above the mist once everyone was ready.

"I'll pack up camp," Andre told Riley as he gathered up items into their saddlebags. "And I'll have breakfast out in a minute." He grabbed a canteen to fill his kettle again, wanting to make tea to help keep them warm on the flight.

 

[heartofcourage]

Riley dressed in her usual armor, adding a heavy cloak to her shoulders to fight off the chill as she walked over towards Orion and her grandfather. They were working the same as Andre to get settled in the chill and pack up their camp. She pitched in quietly, helping Owen to roll his bedding away and getting it buckled into Orion's saddlebags.

"Uka, what's happened?" Riley asked him softly, knowing that she wouldn't get any information out of her mother, but her grandfather might be a different story. "I've never seen Ma like this before."

 

[KieranSoares]

While Owen usually pulled his own weight just fine, he was a bit slower that morning, distracted and unfocused. When Riley spoke to him, he had to process her question for a moment, and took even longer to speak at all.

"Royer has been torturing her from afar with another Caller... And then he sent someone to meet her that might destroy the relationship we worked so hard to rebuild after how I treated her as a little girl," Owen explained softly, his eyes downcast. "I'm afraid your mother might think I abandoned her just because she was born human... That I've been lying to her all this time and hiding things she should've been told. And truth be told... I can't blame her. There's plenty I've never shared with anyone since returning home. But it wasn't meant to hurt her."

 

[heartofcourage]

"That rider is your daughter then?" Riley asked him, feeling the sadness and anguish coming from him in waves. "She looks just like Ma, only around my age. I was there at the meeting, but she didn't elaborate anything except that I was to bring you back to England."

"Uka, I won't pretend to know how she feels, but I know that she loves you and needs you." Riley said softly. "She wouldn't work so hard to protect you if she didn't."

 

[KieranSoares]

"I know she does... which makes it much easier to hurt her using my past." Owen shook his head slowly. "She wouldn't have sent you two so fast if she doubted it anymore. That alone tells me I managed to leave behind two more people, even if I didn't think one would ever be born."

Owen looked over to Riley, explaining quietly, "When I was a slave in Portugal, our masters forced slaves to pair up, and they'd be sent to the deeper mines and worked to death if they didn't have children quickly. I was a house slave for the owners until I got burned in a fire, and then I wasn't beautiful enough to work where the owners could see me. I was sent to the mines and paired with a Wolf. We agreed to look after each other, and... well, we had no choice but to become mates if we wanted to live. And a few months in, after she was already pregnant... we began to really care for each other. Even... love each other. But she wasn't doing well, and the doctors were certain the baby wouldn't make it. That was enough for the owners to blame me for not being young or strong enough to have healthy children, and they sold me off. I never saw her again, and... I never imagined that child would live."

 

[heartofcourage]

"Ma would never blame you for that." Riley said softly as he explained the situation to her. "Never. She knows how it is in the mines. She knows how difficult things can be and you have to do things to survive."

Riley quietly wrapped her grandfather in a tight hug, nuzzling against his neck in a familiar manner that many were members of her family did. They connected by scent, comforted each other with that simple motion.

"She needs you to be strong." Riley murmured. "I need you to be strong for her. She's in a terrible way."

 

[KieranSoares]

"I know," Owen murmured, his head pressed to her shoulder as he wrapped his arms around her shoulders. "She's been struggling... If Royer keeps throwing that other Caller at her..." Owen pulled back to look Riley in the eye, "If they keep attacking her, the other Callers of this family need to take on some of that burden. My greatest fear is that they'll attack her or impede her in the worst moment, making her vulnerable to attack or capture."

 

[heartofcourage]

"Uka, I'm not one of Ma's riders and I can't tell you what to do...but when you see this other rider today...I think you know how important it is to try and bring her to our side." Riley said softly. "Soma and Andre and I will help Ma be supported, Uncle Kell is making sure that she is safe while Da is distracted, but she needs all the might that she can get."

 

[KieranSoares]

"If this Blair Dyne is my daughter... Regardless of what she might think of me, I will do everything in my power to avoid a direct conflict with her. If she's mine... The very least I owe her is keeping her from being a casualty here. Because even if she did clash with your mother and overpower her, the Ghis Clan would tear her apart. It would be best for all our dragon kin as well if a member of our bloodline wasn't against them. Blackstones used to shred through dragons mentally and physically... I don't want to see that happen again."

 

[heartofcourage]

"Come on. Let's get you some breakfast." Riley said with a smile towards her grandfather, knowing that he prepared to do his best for the family no matter what. "We have a long flight ahead of us."

In England, Fiona woke slowly to the sound of the camp swinging into life around her. She was surprised she had even slept at all, but it had still claimed her all the same. Her brain felt terrible and blurry, a pounding headache settling behind her eyes and making her feel ill. She barely moved under the blankets until she heard Sam, turning to push herself up onto her elbows and holding her head in one hand.

"I need...something from my pack." She whispered, unable to think clearly enough to even know which painkiller she should ask for.

 

[KieranSoares]

Sam was sitting up beside Fiona when she spoke, and he nodded before rising to fetch her pack for her from where it was stowed to the side of the tent. He brought it back for her, murmuring quietly, "Y'don't look so good, love... What're you feelin?"

 

[heartofcourage]

"I feel like...they're ripping my brain out." Fiona muttered, digging through her medical kit until she found an herbal mixture that Alex had made for her that would kill her headache and perhaps even dull a few other senses for a while. "Or tearing my soul out. I'm not sure which, but it fucking hurts and I would love to run the bastard through with my sword."

In pain, she often said vicious things that she didn't really mean.

 

[KieranSoares]

Sam brought her a canteen as she dug out the medicine. "Then I don' suppose a doctor could really help. Any way the other Callers could?" He suggested softly, ready to let her fellows know right away. He knew Fiona didn't show pain easily, and for her to turn vicious because of it meant it was serious.

 

[heartofcourage]

"What are they going to do about it, Sam? Turn this around back at them? Then they would be a target and I'm not willing to let anyone else deal with this." Fiona asked as she took a healthy swig from the canteen and then shook her head, handing it back to him. "Bring me the spirits in your bags. I want something stronger than bloody water."

 

[KieranSoares]

"Absolutely not," Sam protested. "Not with that medicine an' especially not when they're actively focused on you. I need you clear-headed, love."

Sam had never denied Fiona a drink before, but he knew she could sometimes overdo it when she was stressed.

 

[heartofcourage]

Fiona glanced up as Sam told her no, their eyes meeting as she considered his refusal. He was doing it to protect her but it made her irrationally angry.

“Fine.” She muttered. “Fine…”

She pushed herself out of bed, gathering herself in silence as she prepared for the day. It wasn’t a day she looked forward to, even more so now that she had Samuel to be angry with. She gritted her teeth and forced herself into her heavy leather armor, not having the energy to deal with her hair. The heavy length of her long white blonde hair was enough to even make her head pound as she just sat there on the side of the cot, staring aimlessly into the distance.