Title: Matter of Honor

Rating: E

Summary: A familiar stranger visits

Pairing: Vayne/Milletian

Author’s Notes:Spoilers for the ending of G22.One of the earliest fics I made of Vayne so his characterization might seem off nowadays post g25 era, but I decided against making adjustments. Is nice to look back on my earlier portrayal of him.

He came after the rain began, a solid shadow that appeared on Elodie’s doorstep like a large raven finding shelter for the night. It was a common occurrence by now, enough that she was moving to welcome him even before Beimnech could knock on the door. The wind attacked her as soon as the door was swung open, by throwing cold raindrops onto her face, but it wasn’t enough to hide the cloying, slightly metallic scent that rose from his armor. Elodie stopped short as she recognised the smell, and her fingers tightened on the door handle she had not yet let go of.

"Why," she demanded bluntly.

Beimnech didn’t move; he was little more than a blurred silhouette in the night’s rain. "Why what, small one?"

"Why did you come here?"

It was hard to tell, but Elodie imagined there was a slight smile on his face. "I thought we were past you asking that question."

"You know what I mean!" she shouted. The white, long-sleeved nightgown she was wearing was getting spotted with rain, making her shiver, though she refused to yield the space she took up in the doorway.

‘Deep breaths,stay calm, don’t let him rile you up,’ "Why come here after you’ve—" she broke off.

There was a roll of thunder somewhere overhead. "After I have finished a task commanded by my order you mean?" finished Beimnech. "I would have gone home, but it’s rather far from where I was and the weather is obviously unpleasant. This was closer."

Elodie clenched her fists, "I don’t care. You’re not coming in here with blood on your hands."

"Oh?" The tone of Beimnech’s voice was accompanied by a questioning lift of his eyebrows. "Interesting….. You’ve always allowed me to enter your home before despite knowing who I am, invited me in even, so whether I actually have blood on my hands or not should be beside the point. Or….”, here he narrowed his eyes, “..... are you the type of person who blinds themselves to what they don't want to know, as long as there is no material evidence before them?"

Elodie flinched as his barb hit home and deep. "Y-you’re being inconsiderate ..." she retorted, but it was only reflex; there was no way Elodie would let Beimnech remain out in such bad weather, and they both knew it. She moved aside.

Immediately Beimnech stepped through, water dripping from the hem of his cape to gather into little puddles on the floor. Elodie ignored the mess as she shut the door and moved away where finally, in the light spilling from the kitchen, she could properly see him.

Elodie’s breath caught. Beimnech had just finished taking off his muddy greaves and was removing the long dark cape he always wore. Water dripped over his face, trailing down his cheek and catching the light. His hair was soaked and slicked over his skin like fresh strokes of paint. Below that, Beimnech’s eyes were focused on the act of folding his cape; one grey with the intensity of glowing silver, the other blistering red. Elodie wanted him to look at her, but then she saw his hands, methodical in their movements, and the right one sheathed in dark blood. She turned away.

"You could at least have cleaned that off before coming here," she said bitterly, gritting her teeth.

He continued folding his cape without looking at her, "My apologies.~ I shall remember for next time."

There was a wet metallic sound and Elodie looked back to find that Beimnech had taken off his gauntlets along with his chest plate, which were now tucked under his arm.along with the cape ‘The kill must have been just minutes ago,’ she thought, feeling sick as she realised that the right sleeve of his tunic was soaked in blood up past the elbow, and there was more across his chest, bringing back painful memories. Then again …

"May I use your washroom?" asked Beimnech, interrupting her thoughts.

Elodie nodded. She averted her eyes as he walked past her, heading down the hall. Then again, despite the blood, it was impossible to deny the physicality of the man, blatant beneath the rain-drenched tunic that clung to him like a second skin… she nervously licked her lips.

While she had always been drawn to Beimnech mentally and emotionally, physical attraction was something she had only begun to explore properly in recent weeks and she had little idea how it should be handled. She was certain, however, that there was definitely something very wrong about wanting him when the man had just finished a kill, and it disgusted Elodie that she could still find the man so compelling in such a state. She should have just told Beimnech to go home.

The windows rattled in the wind. It roused Elodie out of her stupor and she shivered, mechanically moving to fetch a towel to clean up the mess on the floor. It gave her something to do, something to focus on other than the knot of tension that was growing in her gut. On hands and knees she got down, wiping up the rain and mud that Beimnech had brought in with wide measured strokes as if she could wipe her emotions away. She imagined that the scent of blood lingered in the water, which only prompted her to think of Beimnech more. The thought made her feel unclean. Almost as if in some perverse way she was taking pleasure from the death Beimnech had just brought …

Elodie’s fingers clutched the soggy towel. She couldn’t help it; unbidden she wondered about the person whose blood was on the old king’s hands tonight, man or woman, if family and loved ones were crying over him or her. Beimnech had been right – if there wasn’t any proof before her, Elodie could just close her eyes to all the lives her lover had destroyed. A harsh truth for sure, and one she had been desperately trying to avoid …

With sudden determination Elodie made her decision. As soon as Beimnech was finished she would tell the man to leave. It would be more than simply easing her mind, she told herself, as she got up from the floor and put the towel away. it was also a matter of honor, to show him that there were limits to what Elodie could be expected to tolerate. She headed towards the washroom.

The sound of falling rain murmured through the walls like a whispering crowd, but threaded through it was something more focused: the sound of water flowing from a tap. Warm yellow light angled out into the dim hall from the half-open washroom door, and Elodie paused at its edge for a moment to take a deep breath and steel herself for confrontation and look inside. She stopped at the sight before her.

Beimnech, shirtless and with his back to her, was apparently washing something in the basin, dressed only in his mostly dry black pants. Dried blood still streaked much of his right arm and chest; a newer trail of it, however, had worked its way down to his wrist to drip onto the floor. It was fresh blood, bright beneath the yellow bathroom light and still very wet, scenting the air with a hint of iron. Suddenly it struck Elodie that maybe the bloodstains weren’t all from the victim, a realisation which altered her perception of the world and overrode all other concerns she had. Without thinking she pushed the door open and stepped inside.

"What happened?" she asked worriedly.

Beimnech slightly turned his head to meet Elodie’s gaze, but didn’t stop his washing or fully turn around. Elodie knew better than to think that she had caught him by surprise, if she had she would probably be shoved up against the wall by now with Beimnech’s hand around her throat. But apparently Beimnech was used enough to her presence to know that Elodie wasn’t going to attack him while his back was turned.

"Do you really want to know?" with that he went back to his washing, giving it his full attention

"You’re hurt." Anxious, Elodie went to his side, tiles cold beneath her bare feet. Now that she was closer she could see what Beimnech was washing in the basin was his tunic. The blood was hardly noticeable on the mostly black fabric but she saw how spots of red seeped through, making the water turn pink. Elodie’s attention, however, was fixed on his injury, a deep stab-wound in the flesh of his upper right arm that was maybe a half an inch long. Hesitantly she reached out to touch the skin around it as if to confirm its existence .This was Beimnech, the Lord of Fomors, and such a thing wasn’t supposed to be there.

"H-how did that happen... never mind, I’ll get some bandages." Pulling away, Elodie moved to open the cupboard below the basin where she kept a simple medicine kit, only to be stopped short as Beimnech grabbed her wrist.

Elodie glanced up, startled. Beimnech was watching her with smouldering intensity.

"You didn’t answer my question," the man said softly, mismatched eyes never moving from her’s. "Do you want to know what happened?"

Elodie swallowed. No, she did not want to know, but she couldn’t get her tongue to say it. Beimnech’s hand was cold and wet, mostly cleansed of the blood that had coated it, save for what was caught under his fingernails. He held her right hand uncomfortably close to his waist. At this close range it was impossible for her to continue pretending that she didn’t see Beimnech’s body or that she was unaffected … the image of him pushing her to the floor suddenly appeared in her mind and she bit her lip, trying to still the tiny fluttering sensations in her chest.

“Please let go of me…”, she made to pull away but his grip was tight.

She wondered if Beimnech could see the conflict in her face. Most likely yes; he leaned in close, his smile growing wide when Elodie didn’t answer his question. "Well then," he said, pressing her palm to his chest. "Why don’t I show you."

Before Elodie could protest, Beimnech swung her around so that she was trapped against the basin. As an afterthought Beimnech turned off the tap, leaving only the muted sound of rain and wind to fill the silent spaces. "You’re the victim," said Beimnech with a smirk, "and I’m me, of course. It’s late at night and you’re hurrying to your superiors when I come to find you. You don’t know who I am, but the moment you see me you know that you’re about to die."

She couldn’t help it; immediately her imagination jumped to throw at her the image of some harried soldier or spy wanting nothing more than to get somewhere safe. Being already prey of the lord of fomors, it was easy for Elodie to picture the scene in her head, how the victim would freeze at the sight of Beimnech, the smile the man would be wearing, the terror that would spread over the victim’s face. Her hand clenched; beneath her fingers his skin was cold, always so cold, still damp from the rain.

"To your credit, the moment you realise what’s going on you don’t panic or immediately try to run," he continued, and the person in Elodie’s head shifted from some bespectacled soldier to an older, intelligent, authority figure. "What I don’t know is that you have a concealed dagger on your person, one that you can use with some degree of skill. The moment I get in close—" here Beimnech moved her hand, so as to make her mime reaching for something at her left hip, that she whipped out and slashed quickly through the space between them, "—you attack me with it and force me back. Does it make sense?"

Elodie nodded numbly, right hand held in mid-air out to her side as if she really had just drawn a dagger and sliced through the air in front of her. She stared at Beimnech’s arm and the bloodstains there, as in her mind the authority figure became an athletic man crouched in a defensive pose, with focused eyes and dagger at the ready. Beimnech stepped away from her a little, still not letting go of her wrist.

"I’ve backed off. I underestimated you, you’re one of the rare few who I haven’t killed immediately and are putting up a fight. An interesting situation, but not enough to worry about. Now that you’ve lost the element of surprise, you don’t stand a chance." His lips curved into an unpleasant, horrible smile. "What’s more, you know it."

Elodie tried to pull her wrist out of his grip. "S-stop, I don’t want to hear this—"

She gasped as Beimnech suddenly spun her again so that she was facing the basin with the edge of it digging painfully into her stomach.

"You’ve turned to run," he whispered into her ear, fingers squeezing her wrist as he held Elodie’s hand against the basin’s edge. Elodie froze as Beimnech pressed up against her, feeling the water that still clung to the man’s body soak into the back of her nightgown.

"You run fast, and I let you get ahead of me. You probably think that I can be outrun." An amused chuckle. Elodie felt his chest shiver against her back, his body holding her in place. "Unfortunately it’s beginning to rain, which means I want to finish quickly. So I only let you run for a little while. Then I give chase, but I don’t catch up from behind. Instead, I attack from the front."

Terror and desperation as hopes of escape disappeared … Elodie could see the roles of Beimnech’s story being played out before her in her mind, the anticipatory gleam in Beimnech’s evil eye, a predator coming for the kill, the mute fear in her own face as the prey.

"E-enough," she whispered , trying to ignore the way her pulse was racing as if her veins were the strings of some instrument Beimnech had struck. "Enough! Don’t tell me anymore—"

She broke off as Beimnech spun her again so that they were facing each other. "The rain has started to fall," he continued, and he spoke so quietly that Elodie could hear the storm outside. "It’s heavy, which means that by the time you see me I’ve already closed in." Languidly Beimnech dropped her wrist and trailed cold fingers up her chest, the contact light and painfully tangible through her thin gown like falling snow. She inhaled sharply .

Oh, it was wrong, so wrong, how could she listen to this and still enjoy his touch. And Beimnech’s smile widened as he brought the palm of his hand to rest over her heart. The man was obviously playing with her, Elodie realised angrily, wanting to shoot out the laughter that was dancing in those mismatched eyes— "Your ribs splinter easily. I can feel your lungs constrict around my hand, and the warmth of your flesh—"

"Shut up," Elodie gritted out.

"—your blood soaks my armor, more than the rain can wash away—"

"Shut up—"

"—but you had good reflexes, bringing your weapon up to stab me in the arm just as I kill you. However it’s too little too late, and you’re already dead—"

"I said shut up!"

Elodie shoved him away with all the force she could muster. Beimnech took two or three steps backwards, leaving her leaning against the basin, breathing heavily with the smell of blood filling her nose and imagining the last images the dying victim would have seen, the hand sunk deep into her body, the smile on Beimnech’s face through the rain, the wet fingers that slipped from the knife’s handle leaving the blade embedded in his arm. Her heart was pounding and she was, to her magnifying horror, aroused.

"Get out," she hissed. "Get out of my house."

"You don’t mean that." Beimnech raised an eyebrow. "Besides, I’m wounded, soaked to the skin and bloodstained – surely you wouldn’t send me out into the night storm in this state?"

"Then clean yourself up first," spat Elodie viciously.

"Only if you help me."

Elodie glared. "Fine." Glowering, she bent down to fetch the medicine kit from beneath the basin. "I’ve run out of disinfectant so that’s too bad for you, but as soon as we’re done you’re leaving…." She turned around and trailed off.

Beimnech stepped deliberately out of his pants and pushed them to one side with his foot. He never took his eyes off Elodie as he did this, and it took all she could do to keep her grip on the medicine kit.

"What are you doing!?" she demanded.

There was a dark smile playing about his lips. "You said that you’d help me get cleaned up."

Elodie stared without comprehension, first at the expression on Beimnech’s face, then the set of his shoulders, the muscles of his chest, further down … her gut clenched into a tense knot. Intimately acquainted with Beimnech’s body as she was, she had never looked upon the man so openly, not in darkness, even less so in light. The impulse to touch returned, strong as the pull of an ocean tide, as she imagined all that Beimnech’s body promised her – and just like that, understanding dawned. Elodie’s hands clenched down on the medicine kit.

"You’re being unfair," she softly whispered.

"And you’re being a hypocrite,” he retorted. “But I’ll tell you what." Beimnech’s smile grew wider and, if possible, more unpleasant. "Get through this with what’s left of your dignity intact and I’ll leave without protest."

Elodie’s eyes narrowed, "And if I don’t?"

The smoldering expression that came over Beimnech’s face made her shiver. "Well," he said softly, voice heavy with underlying meaning, "I wouldn’t be leaving then, would I."

Elodie didn’t answer immediately. She knew full well what game Beimnech was getting at, and had a bad feeling about her chances. Briefly she wondered if she could simply put her foot down and insist on Beimnech leaving now, but one look at him told her that not only was that a bad idea, it was a hopeless idea that would achieve nothing other than pain and humiliation and more than likely break out into a fight. Something she wanted to avoid in her current condition. At least with Beimnech’s proposal she had something resembling a chance, instead of no chance at all. She swallowed the lump in her throat.

"What do you want me to do?"

Beimnech chuckled darkly, before slowly stepping across the small expanse of tiled floor towards her, moving with the easy confidence of one who is perfectly comfortable in his own skin. It was completely unfair,she thought, as he stopped bare inches from her. For most people, nudity made them appear vulnerable, but with Beimnech it seemed to express a different sort of strength and power. He still looked dangerous completely nude.

"What do I want you to do? Hmm…." he repeated, the words low and amused. He bent down to put his lips right by her ear. "I want you to get wet."

Before Elodie could say anything, Beimnech took hold of her arm and pushed her roughly towards the shower. Elodie struggled more out of habit than anything. She dropped the medicine kit onto the floor and it burst open, throwing its contents everywhere as she barely picked up her feet in time not to trip over the ledge.

"Beimnech!"

Beimnech looked infuriatingly smug. "Be careful," he said, "you might slip."

Elodie tried to glare but was too busy trying to find her balance as she was manhandled into the shower stall like an offender into a jail cell. Quickly Beimnech stepped in behind her, sliding the curtain shut before turning around. Elodie turned red, her shower didn’t have much floor-space, which meant that the two of them were pressed uncomfortably close against each other. She tried to tell herself that it wasn’t important, after all, Beimnech had been a welcome invader of her bed for several weeks now. But then he reached around her to turn on the water and suddenly convincing herself it’s not important became exponentially harder.

Cold water hit her neck. Elodie shivered, partly from the temperature as the thin fabric of her nightgown became plastered to her skin, partly from the way he pressed against her as he adjusted the hot water faucet. She had to tilt her head back a bit to look. Beimnech’s dark hair was dripping wet just like when she had opened the door for him to come in, only this time he wasn’t wearing anything at all …

Elodie turned away, trying to calm her breathing. Much as she desired him right now, to give in to him at this moment would be to condone what he had done, and for that reason alone she was determined to resist. The more sensible part of her brain dryly pointed out that if she was so determined to resist she should get out of the shower, however the less than intelligent part of her didn’t want to give Beimnech the satisfaction of running away.

Or so she told herself.

She cleared her throat, refusing to look at him. "Wouldn’t it be better if I dressed that wound first?"

"It’s not as bad as it looks," was the dry reply from him.

The air was beginning to fill with steam now, a damp mist of swirling white that blurred all lines. Elodie glanced out of the corner of her eye and was abruptly caught by the sensual pleasure that spread over Beimnech’s face as the rapidly warming water ran over his skin.

‘He must have been cold’, she realised distantly, enraptured by the sight, but then Beimnech opened his eyes and the fleeting tenderness in his face was gone.

"Aren’t you going to get the soap?" he asked.

"A-ah …" she turned and ducked down out of the water’s spray, looking for the object in question. Somehow it had made its way onto the floor so she bent down to retrieve it... and abruptly paused. Around their feet swam thin, graceful red lines that slowly stretched out to slip down the shower’s drainage hole.

Strong fingers grasped her arm. They pulled her roughly upwards, through the shower’s spray and onto her feet. Gasping, Elodie shook water out of her soaked hair to find Beimnech’s unreadable face inches from her own. Deliberately he pressed her hand to his chest and the bloodstains there. His mismatched eyes never blinked.

"Clean it off."

It wasn’t a request, it was an order.

Elodie swallowed nervously, but it was too late to try and get out of this now. " O-okay...," she said, pushing her soaked hair back trying to keep it out of her face. Still she could feel rivulets dripping down into her eyes; there was no way she would be able to see what she was doing. She took hold of his arm and gently tugged.

"Come over here."

Without waiting for an answer she stepped around him, pushing him back into the shower's spray. To her surprise Beimnech made no comment about being handled so, probably because there was little point. Being taller he could block the force of the water without getting it in his eyes, and she could focus better on the task at hand. Beneath her palm.

Beimnech raised an eyebrow at her. Averting his gaze, Elodie took a deep breath. Best to start at the shoulder, she decided, at least that was something less intimate. She tried not to give too much thought to their position, and nervously began to rub the soap over his skin where arm met torso in small, hesitant circles, painfully aware of his eyes following her every move.

She moved slowly, partly to try and avoid the stab-wound, partly due to the soaked nightgown that weighed her down. Once she had worked up enough of a lather she began to spread it down over Beimnech’s blood-streaked arm like a painter applying a layer of thin white. All too quickly the white turned a shade of pale pink.

‘Blood shouldn’t come off this easily’, she thought numbly. It should stain, it should scar just as the knowledge of it does, not be wiped away like this. A trail of soap slipped into Beimnech’s wound, eliciting a sharp inhaled breath as if burnt.

Elodie immediately jerked her hands away. "I’m sorry!"

"It’s all right." Like a cat after a false alarm, Beimnech relaxed, the sudden hyper-alertness sinking out of every part of him except his eyes which never moved from her. "Go on."

Elodie looked skeptical. "Are you sure you don't want me to bandage your arm first?"

"It's fine. Keep going."

Obedient but unconvinced, she reached out to touch him once more, taking extra care around the stab wound. By now the water had soaked her nightgown enough to the point that it was a real weight on her movements, and the wet cotton rubbed uncomfortably against her nipples. Elodie endured it. She worked the soap methodically down his lower arm, tracing the rise of muscle, rubbing the ball of her thumb into the crook of his elbow to remove a more stubborn spot before following the long outline of bone down to the wrist, erasing all blood along the way. She cradled Beimnech’s hand in her own as one by one, she took each of his fingers together to clean the blood and dirt from beneath the fingernails.

When that was done, she began to make her way upwards once more, attacking any stains she had missed. She had to pull a little to get to the underside of his arm, and Beimnech allowed this manipulation, watching her all the while as she did so. Elodie tried to ignore the scrutiny and instead concentrated on her task, the water falling about their feet, the coolness of his wet skin …

She half-closed her eyes, remembering nights when she had lain awake tracing the criss-cross scars on his chest, and felt shivers beneath her palm that resonated with the tremor within herself as the soap's blood-tinged lather slipped and dripped through her fingers to the floor where it drained away into the dark.

The air was heavy. As if in a trance Elodie let her hands travel where they liked, closing her eyes as she followed the water's flow over muscle and bone moulding the object of her desire. Memory flickered: the first time Beimnech had taken her, how nervous she had been, too terrified and too shy to even lay a hand on him, letting him do as he wished. Some of those inhibitions had been lost in the weeks that followed, but even then, Elodie had never imagined taking liberties with her lover's body to this extent.

From the beginning their parts had always been so defined: mine is the first move, yours the reaction; I lead, you submit. Initiative and aggression, those belonged to Beimnech, and Elodie had been comfortable with that arrangement, preferred it, even. This role reversal was strangely surreal yet exciting for her; she was touching, exploring his body at her own free will and feeling subtle responses like a blind person feeling silk. Even more astonishing was that he allowed her to do so. A satisfied shudder tingled through her fingers, almost intriguing in a way that demanded deeper investigation, one she furthered by lingering over hip and thigh….

Muscles bunched beneath her palm. "You're aroused," said Beimnech, seemingly offhand but there was a roughness in his words.

Elodie’s eyes flew wide open. Felt all at once with the slickness in her nether regions and immediately ducked her head to hide her face only to realise the development was far from one-sided.

"So are you," she retorted, satisfaction giving her the motivation to look up and glare at him. Beimnech didn't reply to this, though the glint in his good eye as he very deliberately roved over her body was enough indication of where his thoughts were at the moment. It made Elodie flush, and briefly she was tempted to throw the challenge aside and just remove her nightgown … she viciously crushed that temptation. She would not give in first; she had so little of her pride left and what few scraps were left to her she was desperate to keep.

Heaviness in her breathing. For a moment Elodie closed her eyes, steadying herself and focusing her thoughts in an attempt to set her arousal aside at least for now, a difficult task even if she did feel horribly constrained in her water-drenched gown. Maddeningly, Beimnech didn't seem to be undergoing the same struggle; from the man's smile he seemed perfectly in control of himself as usual, and she felt her anger flare up. She was painfully aware of the power he held over her and was determined to fight it this time on principle if nothing else, but it was completely unfair that she couldn't affect Beimnech in the same way …

A sudden impulse struck her, a heady flutter of annoyance and daring, and before she could think about it she decided to act. She reached down and took hold of his length.

The reaction was immediate. Immediately Beimnech tensed, the rhythm of his breath hitching as his gaze flattened and locked onto her face. For her part, Elodie felt her ears and cheeks burn. Part of her was panicking, mortified at such lewd action and fearful of any retaliation, but it was too late to back out now.

Heart thudding in her ears, she began to stroke him, keeping her eyes on Beimnech’s with what she hoped was an expression of defiance, daring him to do something even as she bit her tongue. Water above them, water around them making Elodie’s grip slide around throbbing flesh … her breathing grew rougher, echoing his’s, both of them hopelessly aroused yet she didn't dare look away from the other's rigid face as she worked him up, noting the way even the evil eye seemed to glow as Elodie’s hand clenched him nervously.

Though really, the whole thing was a stupid situation because it was painfully obvious that they both wanted the other yet out of sheer pride or stubbornness each refused to give in. However, given the aching urgency of her own need Elodie had the horrible feeling that inevitably she would be the first to give in—

A low growl was her only warning. Suddenly she was shoved backwards against the wall of the shower space, head slamming against the wall before her mouth was claimed in a harsh kiss. Momentarily stunned, she struggled a little, trying to regain her balance again on wet tiles. However, once she had done so, she reached up to grip the back of Beimnech’s neck – ‘finally!’ – and kiss him back with equal violence.

There was heat all around them as his body pressed roughly against hers, a knee pushing to rub between her thighs, and she gave a loud moan that echoed throughout the washroom as she buried her fingers in his hair and grinded down on him. Her movements were somewhat hampered by the fact that her nightgown was still plastered to her skin. That had to be remedied, and soon.

Apparently Beimnech agreed; breaking off the kiss, he slid his hands down her chest, giving her breasts a squeeze in the process, and moved down her towards her stomach and hips.

"You skipped dinner again, didn’t you," he said critically.

"I … I wasn’t hungry," Elodie replied vaguely, not good at lying. She could feel his hands through the thin fabric; they pressed into her as if she were clay before a potter about to craft a masterpiece.

"You’re hungry now." he smirked, tugging her nightgown up to go over hear head. "And don’t you try to deny it."

Even if she had wanted to deny this, she couldn't have as her nightgown was sharply pulled over her head. This was achieved with some difficulty since the water-logged cloth insisted on clinging to her like a second skin, and for a moment she was forced to stand limp like a captured and killed animal as she was stripped.

Eventually, though, the dress was off and dropped unceremoniously in a corner with a soggy slap and their kissing could be resumed. At the same time there were hands working at the front of her bloomers, and Elodie shuddered as he reached inside to firmly rub his fingers against her folds while she greedily licked and bit at the skin of his throat in anticipation.

Elodie heard him swear under his breath as he tried to peel her underwear downwards with little success. Impatiently, she half let go of her embrace to help in the struggle and bent down to fully pull her underwear off, over her ankles, before finally kicking them away to a corner in the shower. Right there it seemed that Beimnech’s patience had run out.

Once again for maybe the fifth time tonight, Elodie found herself spun around and gasped as she was shoved face-first against the wall of the shower by Beimnech’s weight. Hastily she lifted her hips and braced her arms up against the wall, pulse quickening even more as she awaited what she knew would be next. That was all the preparation she got before he pushed into her.

Damp breath on the back of her neck. Squeezing her eyes shut against the initial pain, Elodie gasped, bending with Beimnech’s drive and shuddering as she was roughly filled. An arm bent around to possessively circle her chest and support her weight while she stood on tip toes now, and then a second, harder thrust that made Elodie whimper. Trying to keep her balance even with Beimnech mostly supporting her with his hold was a real challenge, but she was barely aware of it as a quick rhythm was established, her body forced to move according to the demands of the other's thrust and need, demands she was desperate to meet.

Dizzily, Elodie rested her forehead against her forearm , feeling and revelling in the way he stretched her and moved within her, the sound of his harsh breathing in her ear. Beimnech’s free hand moved down to stroke her clit in tandem with his thrusts, making Elodie begin shuddering even more than she already was.

Unconsciously she moaned, fingers scrabbling uselessly against the wall, and in response she felt Beimnech’s other arm, the one holding her torso, reach up to cover her hand in his, a sudden tender warmth compared to the kisses being pressed against the nape of her neck but oh so welcome …

They were moving faster now, water making their bodies slick, Beimnech plunging even deeper into her as the hand between her legs stroked her faster.Her shallow panting misting against the wall as the excruciating pleasure built up …

She suddenly felt him stiffen, breath hitching sharply in her ear, and then she could only shiver with the warmth spreading through her body as she felt him come inside her, but there was still her own need to face. Although Beimnech had relaxed, he was still mercilessly stroking her and nipping at her neck, commanding her release.

It was too much to hold, too much to keep silent and with a fractured cry she arched her head back over his shoulder, violently jerking once more into his hand and trembling as it ended, brilliant, resonant, and all too soon.

Water dripped down her skin. Still braced with one hand against the wall, she opened her eyes, chest slowly heaving against Beimnech’s arm as she regained her breath only to catch it briefly again in her throat as he suddenly pulled out of her. The withdrawal hurt somewhat, more than it usually did, but it was countered by hands around her waist sliding to grip and feel her tremors.

‘Remember’, Elodie told herself as she caught sight of her clothes, ‘laundry’ , and then she was being gently but insistently drawn back under the shower's spray. After running for so long the water was lukewarm at best, and she tiredly rested her head against his chest as the water ran over them.

Once again she was being touched, soap-filled hands running over her body, returning the favour she had performed earlier. The humid air smelt of iron; there was blood running down Beimnech’s right arm again.

"You need to bandage that," Elodie said softly.

"I know." Strong hands trailed down her spine, finger running over the scar, making her shiver at the sensitivity. "You already told me."

Elodie closed her eyes. Without resisting she let him continue washing her, more intimate than sensual, white lather flowing away with the water until eventually there was nothing left. Nothing, that is, except the odd drops of crimson at their feet.

The water stopped. Beimnech had switched it off. Drowsily, she watched as he slid the shower curtain open, and then he was exiting the shower entirely. Elodie followed after him; she felt strangely detached, though she still automatically murmured a thank you as he handed her bathrobe. She put it on slowly, watching as Beimnech wrapped a spare towel around his waist before heading over to the medicine kit she had dropped.

The kit's contents were strewn everywhere, but the antiseptic wipes and roll of bandages were easy enough to retrieve. With an expertise that recalled to her mind the man she had first fallen in love with, Beimnech wiped the blood from his wounded arm and wrapped it. Cutting and tying off the bandage, however, proved tricky to do one-handed, especially when the scissors were lying against the wall not far from her feet. Elodie picked them up and went to help.

"Here, let me." Gently she took the roll from him and snipped it off, letting it fall to the floor again as she tied off the ends of the bandage. She took care not to make it too tight. "Done."

"Thank you." Briefly Beimnech flashed a smile at her before experimentally flexing his arm. "Feels good; the wound should heal over in a couple of weeks. I'll have to avoid exerting and re-opening it, though."

Elodie did not return his smile. Now that it was quieter she could hear that outside the night was silent.

The rain had stopped.

"You should go now," she said quietly.

There was a short pause. "I beg your pardon?"

"The storm has finished; it's not raining anymore. You can leave."

An unreadable look moved over Beimnech’s now unsmiling face. "After what just happened—"

"What happened...,” Elodie said firmly, “..is that you kissed me first. That means I win, and you said that if I got through this with my dignity intact you'd leave. What's more, you said you'd leave without protest."

There was a long silence, one during which he stared down at her with the closest look of sheer disbelief that Elodie had ever seen on his face. In return she met it as best she could, mauve eyes tense but resolute, though inwards she couldn't help but feel afraid of how he was going to respond …

One by one seconds ticked away as they faced each other, increasing her anxiety. And then he smiled. "I did say that, didn't I," he said. Suddenly he chuckled under his breath. "Well, no point arguing, then."

Elodie blinked, startled, as Beimnech began to walk away to retrieve his pants. "You mean you're going?" she asked disbelievingly.

"I know when I've outstayed my welcome." The black pants went on, the white towel went on the bathroom floor. "Though, really, given that you obviously enjoyed what you had of my presence you'll forgive me for having thought otherwise."

She felt her face heat up. "It's a matter of honor," she retorted defensively.

"I know, however considering you and I both know that I'll eventually come back again, for the rest of my belongings if nothing else, I'd say there is really no point in this case. But I suppose whatever makes you feel better."

These words made Elodie glare, but before she could say anything Beimnech strode over and caught her in a swift, punishing kiss that ended too quickly for her to properly react. "I expect my cape cleaned for the next time I visit, all right?" he whispered into her ear before giving it a nip.

Angered, Elodie turned away and did not reply as she was let go. Still, however, she couldn't help but watch as he put on his tunic and began to slowly re-assemble himself into his armor. The man was surely tired and he faced a cold trip home in a damp, musty armor, but if this irritated Beimnech any he wasn't showing it.

Certainly she wasn't going to let on how much she herself was starting to feel guilty. For her, victories in Beimnech’s games were few and far between, and as petty as this one was it was hers and she was going to see it through. Like a shadow she followed him out of the washroom back to the dimly lit living room. Already Beimnech had put his greaves on and was swinging the door open, letting in the wind. Not once did he look back as he prepared to leave.And then, just before he disappeared, Elodie’s resolution faltered.

"Beimnech."

There was a pause. Beimnech was half-turned towards her. She nervously cleared her throat. "Next time … clean yourself up properly, okay?"

A small smile. Then, without further ado, he stepped outside and disappeared into the night as swiftly as he had come, leaving her with only her pride for comfort as she waited for tomorrow.

Elodie found her pride cold. There wasn't anyone around to admit this to.

~

Fin