Dreams

*

Whereas the previous two nights had been pure bliss, this one promised to be the exact opposite.

It started with a nightmare that he was used to by now. The one where he was still stuck in the pod on the nautiloid, trapped behind cold, dark glass and hammering against it until his fists started to bleed. He saw the round, fleshy door open on the opposite side of the room and three silhouettes moved inside, cautiously eying the hundreds of pods hanging from the walls next to his.

A part of him was aware that this wasn‘t real. He had seen this scene play out over and over, especially during the first week of their travels, but somehow the sight of those pods still caused his insides to twist into an anxious knot. He wondered which of them had held the others - and if they had been screaming their lungs out the same way he did.

The three figures, one of them very small, came closer, passing a row of weirdly shaped, ornamented chairs, and came to a halt in front of that one big pod in the center of the room. Gale wasn’t sure when the dream had started allowing him to see inside that pod, even though its glass front was facing away from him. He didn’t know what the face of the woman inside had looked like, but in his mind, it had always been a blurry mess with wide eyes and the vague shape of a mouth opening for a silent scream.

This time though, he recognized her face. He knew those green eyes, filled with sheer panic, the ash-blond braid, loosely dangling over her shoulder. He could count the freckles covering her nose and saw the sweat glistening on her shaking shoulders as she too, frantically threw her hands against the glass.

Gale tried to yell at the halfling woman who studied the pod and its inhabitant. Then she noticed the console a few feet behind it.

His mind started to spin with panic as he saw her approach it and turn her head to ask her companions a question he couldn’t understand. Her brows furrowed, she chewed her bottom lip.

Then her hand descended on the button in its middle.

Even though he wasn’t able to hear anything else from outside the pod, the woman’s screams and the disgustingly wet sound of flesh being ripped apart somehow made it inside his head - as well as the image of cold, purple flesh replacing soft skin. He saw tentacles burst out from where her mouth had been, the mouth that he was supposed to be kissing for the first time just a few weeks later.

Gale gasped for air. He wanted to claw his eyes out and tried to swallow back the bile that found its way up his throat. The three figures watched the scenery with horror, then averted their eyes and turned around to go back to where they came from, leaving him and all the others behind. Leaving them to their gruesome fate, trapped inside those gods-awful pods on board a crashing ship…

His eyes flung open.

And he realized that he was inside his tent.

It was dark, only a small ray of moonlight falling through the not-fully-closed flap. But he could feel his bedroll against his back and saw the shadow of the woman hovering over him.

Gale took a deep, relieved breath.

She was straddling his lap, propped up on both arms, hands resting on either side of his head. Her braid hung from her shoulder, loose strands of hair dangling over his face. As his eyes adapted to the dim twilight, he noticed the worry in her expression.

“Just a bad dream, love,” he whispered and lifted his hand to tuck one of those strands of hair behind her ear.

Ley closed her eyes and smiled as he reached out for her.

He caught the loose strain and carefully brought it to the side of her face, his thumb about to gently caress her cheek-

But there was nothing in his hand.

He looked at it, slightly irritated, and tried again. Her hair slid straight through his fingers without any resistance.

„Ley..?“ he asked, voice rough and trembling with rising fear.

She looked at him, equally irritated, and opened her mouth, lips forming a silent question. Then her eyes went wide as she realized he couldn‘t hear her.

Gale‘s hand jolted toward her cheek, ghosting through her skin instead of against it and he gasped, slowly becoming aware that he couldn’t feel her weight on his lap either, even though she sat right on top of him.

She leaned down, fingers desperately trying to find purchase on the side of his face, moving straight through his beard and jaw as if they were nothing but an illusion - her lips continuously moving, forming words that didn‘t reach his ears. He saw something glistening in the corner of her eye, realized that she was crying, and felt a thick lump clogging his throat as he too, tried to reach her face, her hand, her body. Again and again.

To no avail.

A moment passed and something changed - her face started to look blurry and her skin seemed to lose its color, slowly changing into a ghostly gray. The edges of her silhouette dissolved into foggy tendrils, lazily swirling through the air like smoke from a campfire.

He let out a hitched breath, no longer hearing anything but his pulse thrumming in his ears. His mind started racing - racing to find a spell that could undo this - to fix this, something, anything to fix this.

There were sounds outside the tent, sounds from several pairs of feet approaching. Probably the others coming to check on him. When the flap was ripped open, a gust of wind blew inside…

And she was gone.

Gale sat up and stared at the nothingness before him, the worried voices outside nothing but background noise.

His hand was trembling as it reached for the side of his face where she had touched… or rather not touched him, then down to where she had not been sitting. He brought his face to where she had not been smiling down at him, shakily breathing in the air that now filled the Ley-sized hole in the middle of his tent and…

Woke up as his head bumped hard against the back of the seat.

He blinked and tried to find back into the here and now. There was the scent of leather and wood, blinding sunlight fell through the small window of the coach and he heard wheels creaking as they came to a halt. And there was the warm feeling of a hand resting in his, fingers intertwined with his own.

Gale looked to his side and smiled as he saw her fast asleep. The day had been incredibly long. Just as all those days before, even after the elder brain had been defeated and after they had dealt with all the chaos that ensued in the aftermath.

They had been on the road for weeks now. Exhaustion had been taking hold of both body and mind. It was the deep, relentless kind of exhaustion, the sort that tends to get heavier with every passing day. Over the last week, Ley had started to struggle with the constant rocking and bumping of their cart, fighting with nausea and dizziness. This morning, when they had finally reached Waterdeep, he immediately called a slightly more comfortable coach, and she nodded off the second she sat down in the cabin.

And now the coach had come to a halt, which could only mean one thing.

He leaned over and pressed a kiss to her cheek, then her nose and her lips. She slowly opened her eyes and her pupils grew wide as she saw the excitement in his expression. Her mouth opened as if to ask a question, but the words seemed to be stuck in her throat.

It didn’t matter. He didn’t need words to know what she was about to ask.

Instead of answering, Gale grinned and kissed her again. A second later, he opened the door and climbed outside. With a few steps, he was on her side, opened the door there, and reached for her hand to help her out. She jumped, her feet landing close to his and he caught her with open arms.

Home, he thought, we’re finally home. 

That small, simple word had been dominating his thoughts for the last weeks, and he knew it had been the same for her. They had been talking about little else for quite a while now. And still, every time he heard her say it, heard her speak of their home and all the things they would do once they had settled in, his heart felt like it wanted to jump out of his chest.

When they approached the small metal gate, he noticed she was trembling. Whether that was from fatigue or in anticipation of what lay behind those walls, he could not say. So he just tugged her closer and led her through. They dragged themselves up the stairs, eyes fixed on the door, clinging to one another as their tired feet stumbled over the steps.

He heard her giggle with excitement and grinned as he took down the wards. Then, he opened the front door. Ley wanted to move, but held her in place, dragged her closer, and pressed a long, passionate kiss to her lips. A blissful smile brightened her face when they parted again. Gale reached for both her waist and her backside and with what little strength he had left, lifted her off her feet.

Had he died at that moment, he would have died as the happiest man in Faerûn.

She gave him a beaming smile and threw her arms around his neck. Her thighs clasped around his hips, making it easier to hold her, to carry her inside like a groom would do with his bride. Of course, there had already been a proposal, but they hadn’t even thought about rings and invitations, not to speak of a ceremony fitting both thei-

Something cracked beneath his fingers.

And her smile froze.

Gale paused and carefully set her down, eyes searching her face, her expression one of both confusion and worry. Vague memories flushed into his mind - a mindflayer pod filled with screams, a tent filled with nothing - and his heart sank into his stomach. His hands were still holding her waist when he heard another crack.

It was a faint sound, like century-old parchment crumbling and falling apart.

An ice-cold fist closed around his chest.

Tiny fissures ran over her chin. They were thin at first, like cobwebs, then grew bigger, as if her skin was made of dry clay. His fingers tried to find purchase on the fabric of her cloak, but it dissolved under his touch, its shreds floating away like ash in the wind.

He screamed, no longer recognizing his own voice, and jolted forward to reach for the side of her face. It crumbled as soon as his hand met her cheek, big chunks fell off and evaporated immediately.

Gale desperately tried to cover her with his fingers, to hold her skin together as it broke into pieces, but nothing helped, nothing prevented her from falling apart, all the bits that made her… her - blown away with the cold breeze that suddenly filled the room.

After a few seconds, she was nothing but a pile of dust on the floor.

He fell to his knees and stared at his fingers.

Then everything went dark.

Gale kept slipping from nightmare to nightmare, trapped behind shut eyes, unable to snap the cord that tied him to the dreaming world.

*

Ley frowned as she watched the hectic movement of his eyes below half-closed lids.

This had been going on for a while now and, considering the tadpole-connection and the earlier run-in with the mindflayer in the astral prism, she was not sure if waking him up was a good idea.

There was a chance that whatever horror was unfolding in his mind right now also affected the others, and she was trying to think of scenarios where that could be of importance to their mission. Then again, the prism was supposedly safe now, the gith assault had been dealt with and their objective was clear as daylight - no need for further instructions from the guardian.

She brought a hand to his forehead and winced as cold sweat met her skin.

Under that, he felt warm. A bit too warm for her taste. His eyes were flickering from the left to the right, lips parted, breathing hitched and unsteady, and when she looked down, she saw his hands clutch into the bedroll.

Enough of this.

With a small sigh, she shuffled forward, gently pressing her sternum against his shoulder, and nuzzling her face into the crook of his neck. She reached up and brought her hand to his cheek, carefully running two fingers over his beard.

Ley was close enough to feel his heartbeat hammer through his chest and pressed a soft kiss against his jaw, her hand turning his face toward her ever so slightly.

“Honey,” she whispered against his skin and his eyelids fluttered in response.

Not enough, she thought and lifted her head to kiss the corner of his mouth. Her lips lingered there for a moment, as she waited and hoped for his pulse to slow down, his breath to steady. It didn’t. If anything, he seemed even more tense than before and she wondered if maybe she was making things worse.

She chose to ignore that thought and leaned up, carefully nudging his face down a bit, and pressed a long kiss to his forehead, then his temple, his cheek, and finally his mouth. The last one as tender and insistent as she could manage, considering her current, slightly awkward position.

He sighed against her lips and she smiled.

“Not again…” he mumbled.

She raised an eyebrow.

Excuse me?

He whispered a few more words, but she couldn’t quite make out their meaning. Then he turned his face away from her.

Ley couldn’t help but feel a little bit hurt.

He might not know who I am, she thought. Her mind wandered to Mystra for a moment and she shuddered.

On a whim, she reached for one of his hands and brought it up to her face. She kissed his fingertips, then placed them on her cheek, his thumb lingering on her mouth.

“Gale, it’s me… I’m right here,” she said quietly and that was when his eyes reluctantly started to open.

The light of the full moon was shining through the thin tent walls and allowed her to watch him as he blinked, visibly disoriented and slowly finding his way back into the waking world. It took a moment until he was able to properly focus his gaze and when he finally did, his expression was empty, almost as if he didn’t really want to look at her. 

“You’re just another one, aren’t you?” His whisper was barely audible.

She stared at him, baffled and not sure how to respond.

“Was there anything in particular that I did to deserve this kind of rudeness?” She replied after a moment, raising an eyebrow and throwing him a quizzical look.

A few seconds passed.

Then his pupils grew wide and it seemed like had just realized that it was in fact his hand, that lay against the side of her face. Carefully, as if afraid he might break her somehow, he ran his thumb over her lower lip. It took another moment for him to notice that his face was only an inch from hers and he closed the distance, inhaling sharply as he nudged her chin upward to kiss her.

Ley was not sure she liked what was happening. Gale being this tentative, this hesitant, was completely out of character.

“Intense dream, I take it?” She asked quietly as their lips finally parted.

He let out a pained scoff and rolled to his side to fully take her in.

“Intense… feels like a colossal understatement,” he replied.

Gale’s eyes roamed her face, and his fingers wandered over her cheek, repeatedly tucking stray hairs behind her ear. There was something deeply desperate in the way he looked at her. She noticed his pulse was either picking up its pace again or had not slowed down at all.

She removed her hand from his and brought it to his chest instead, fingers pressed against the fabric of his sleeping shirt, drawing small circles above his heart.

“Talk to me,” she whispered.

He let out a hitched breath, closed his eyes, and leaned back in to kiss her. After what felt like an eternity, he withdrew, his face resting close enough to her own that she could feel his nose nudge against hers.

“You were dying,” he finally said, voice low and a bit hoarse. “No, that doesn‘t do it justice. You were…”

She felt his brown eyes resting on hers and his other arm, which had so far been half-buried underneath him, moved up her chest, fingers shaking as they slid over the fabric of her top.

“… You were being undone, erased from existence, again and again. Dissolved to nothing but dust in my hands. As if you had never been real in the first place, a thing from a dream. A wonderful dream - but just a dream nonetheless, and I didn’t… I couldn’t….”

Ley heard the tremble in his voice and silenced him by pressing her lips against his, decisively and not letting go even as he huffed and attempted to pull away.

Instead of making further attempts to escape her, he melted into the kiss and sighed as her tongue carefully slid between his lips and into his mouth.

He framed her face with both hands, fingers frantically running over her cheeks, her ears, and through the hair behind them. Shifting his weight on one elbow, he rolled on top of her, hands not leaving her face for a second. He returned the kiss with equal ferocity, the sheer force of it pressing her back flat against the bedroll.

“I need…” he panted as he pulled back to breathe.

She smiled and before he could finish the thought, her fingers found their way to the hem of his shirt.

A soft laugh escaped his throat. An odd sound after hearing so much sorrow and pain in his voice before. One hand flew down to grasp hers, holding it in place. He shook his head and she raised an eyebrow.

Without further explanation, he pulled her up to sit in front of him. He smiled. Both hands found their way back to her face and gently cupped both sides, turning it upward so he could look into her eyes. Nimble fingers resumed their travels over her cheek and temple, digging into her hair as both thumbs continuously stroked over her ears and along her jawline.

For a moment it seemed like he wanted to say something, but then decided against it. Instead, he lowered his mouth to hers and kissed her again, this time surprisingly gentle.

Something in the way he held her there sent her mind reeling. It felt like every move was carefully planned and executed. Like every touch had meaning. Ley froze in place, hands slowly sinking between her knees to rest on the bedroll.

“Allow me to take care of you, love,” he whispered into her ear before pressing another featherlight kiss to her lips. “Please.”

Her heart skipped a beat. She didn’t know what to do with the sincerity in his voice - and the way he said please sent a small whirlwind of butterflies through her stomach. So she just looked up at him expectantly, listening to the sound of her heartbeat as it thrummed through her ears.

The smile didn’t leave his face as he reached behind her and plucked the small tie from the tip of her braid. His fingers ran through her hair, unraveling her blond mane so it fell over her back and shoulders.

Gale took both her hands and led them to his mouth, kissing her knuckles without taking his eyes from her. Then he lifted them above her head. When he reached down to the hem of her top and pulled it up, her hair was slightly in the way, but he wasted no time and combed through it again after letting the small piece of cloth drop to the side, bringing every strand back to where it was supposed to be.

She expected his hands to find their way to her breasts, or his mouth to descend on her neck - but instead, his eyes just wandered up and down her body, gleaming with something between adoration and… desperation.

An overwhelming need to touch, and to be touched, bubbled up in Ley’s chest.

She reached out to throw her arms around his neck, but he caught her midway and brought them back to her sides. He chuckled and pressed a soft, reassuring kiss to her lips.

For a second she wondered how he planned to rid her of her remaining clothes without breaking this eerie, yet oddly comfortable moment they were having, but then she felt his hand move to the small of her back, holding her whilst the other gently tipped her onto the bedroll. Without a word, and without taking his eyes away from hers, he dug his fingers into the waistband of both her leggings and her smalls, then pulled them off in one, swift move.

Naked, and feeling somewhat exposed next to Gale still being fully dressed, she laid there, feeling his gaze roaming her body yet again.

And again, she expected him to move, expected him to reach for her knees and part her legs or at least lean down to kiss her.

But he didn’t.

He moved to her side, reaching down and carefully pulling her back up, back into a kneeling position. For a moment, he pressed her body against his, gently kissing her temple and she felt the evidence of his arousal against her side. Then he withdrew, and her skin was cold where his hands had left it.

She remained like that, everything above her knees held upright, and waited for him to move, accepting the fact that this was his game now, somehow needed to undo whatever horrors had played out behind his eyes.

Without making a sound, Gale moved behind her. He brought his knees to either side of her legs, body held up the same way, his frame towering above hers. She felt his warm breath on her back as he leaned in and nudged her hair to one side. He ghosted kisses along the other, over her shoulder, and up her neck. Gentle hands roamed her arms, her chest, her waist - fingers trying to cover every bit of skin at once. He pulled her closer, tugged her firmly to his chest.

“I love you,” he whispered and kissed her earlobe, then sucked it between his teeth and gently bit down.

Ley couldn’t help but let out a small sigh. Gale gave an approving hum and smiled against her skin.

One arm reached around her chest and he caught her hands with his, then gently pressed them between her breasts. It was a weirdly soothing feeling, being fully wrapped into his embrace, unable to move forward or backward. She felt his heartbeat against her back, steady and much calmer than her own.

With one swift move, he dragged her to his lap.

The side of his face nuzzled against hers, now having every part of her in his sight. She could feel his breath on her skin, a warm breeze that wandered over her neck and then lower. When it brushed over her nipples, they hardened almost immediately.

A soft moan escaped her lips and she let her head fall to his shoulder.

Gale nudged his nose against her temple, his beard grazing her cheek, and planted a trail of light, almost chaste kisses down the side of her face. His free hand moved up, meandering from her hip over the soft skin of her belly and to the breast that was not currently covered by his other arm. He cupped it gently, thumb stroking over the soft skin, then starting to draw slow circles around her painfully hard nipple.

She inhaled sharply and leaned into him, back arching and chasing the sensation. He grinned and carefully flicked his thumb over the sensitive bud and she inadvertently rolled her hips against his lap, unable to hold back a low groan.

“Music to my ears,” he whispered and coaxed a second one from her with another flick of his thumb. She was melting like wax under his hands, her whole body aching with desire - and he knew it.

Gale’s mouth found her exposed throat and she felt his smile as he carefully nipped at a spot right below her chin, sucking at the skin hard enough to leave a mark.

Ley felt the heat pool at her core, then suddenly became aware of the fact that she was pressing herself against his still-clothed lap. She wanted to move forward, away from the fabric, but he caught and pulled her back immediately. Something about the way his hand clutched around hers and the way his mouth flew back to the side of her face, lips frantically clinging to her earlobe, made her heart ache.

This was as much about closure as it was about desire, she realized. Still, her head was starting to spin, and her need to be touched - properly touched - was becoming close to unbearable.

“You might have to remove some of those layers if you don’t want things to get messy,” she said with a shaky voice. He simply chuckled in response.

His free hand left her breast and trailed down between her legs, along the insides of her thighs, and then cupped the part of her that needed him most. She waited impatiently, squirming and writhing and hoping for his fingers to finally delve deeper. Instead, his mouth trailed up and down her neck, kissing and sucking at her skin. His hand remained where it was, ever so slightly stroking over the soft hair between her legs.

After what felt like an eternity, his middle finger finally wandered lower and nudged her open, diving inside just enough to test the waters. She couldn’t keep her hips from bucking up, sliding it against her throbbing, hot wetness.

Gale let out a deep, rumbling hum, immediately adding a second one, and pushed both of them further inside. Her walls instinctively clutched around them. Ley moaned against the side of his face, hips moving outside of her control, desperately chasing his touch.

His fingers ran through her folds, collecting every drop on the way to her most sensitive part. Her legs moved on their own, shamelessly spreading even wider as he started applying pressure in a slow, steady rhythm. Still immobilized by his other arm, hands trapped in his tight grasp, she arched her back, trying to meet his hand as he worked it inside her.

Then he pulled away again, and a needy, disappointed whimper fell from her lips.

He smirked against her ear and brought his hand to his face, studying the glistening slick on his fingers like the subject of a particularly fascinating experiment.

“Not sure I see the problem,” he said, voice low and raspy, then brought them to his mouth to suck them clean.

Fine, she thought. Messy it is then.

Her lips curled into a vicious grin. She pushed back and vigorously rolled her hips into his lap. There was no doubt about the state of his own arousal, pants spanning over his erection in a manner that seemed almost painful. Before he could react in any way, she pressed herself against him, hard enough to make sure he felt her scorching heat through the fabric.

A loud groan escaped his throat. The sound rang in her ear and vibrated through her skull. She grinned even wider and leaned against him, bending backward to bring her breaths and hardened nipples into his view. With a wanton moan and another roll of her hips, she worked herself into his lap again, feeling his cock twitch underneath her.

“Someone’s getting impatient…” He laughed, voice rough and shaky.

She managed to get two more thrusts in before he seized her, arms now clasped around her chest and her waist. He held her in place, pressed against his lap, and hummed against her shoulder, not moving an inch. Her heat was still pulsing and throbbing against his hardened member.

“Someone… asked for permission,” she sighed, trying to fish anything that might resemble a coherent sentence from the depths of her lust-clouded mind, “to take care of me if I recall correctly… And I’m beginning to doubt they’ll-”

His hips pushed up, pushed her back into that upright position, his body following as she moved. She felt his teeth at one of those especially sensitive spots beneath her ear and moaned reflexively, leaving the sentence unfinished.

“You were saying…?” He whispered, then continued gracing her neck with gentle, yet determined love bites.

Ley tried blinking away the blurry fog that obscured her vision. His left hand was still clutching both of hers, effectively rendering her immobile. The right one found its way to her waist, then wandered down one side of her rear, carefully kneading into her skin as it went. She felt him move and realized he was, very slowly, working his length up and down her backside.

And the bastard still dared to be fully clothed.

“...doubt they’ll make good on their word…” Her voice was barely audible.

Gale paused for a moment, then chuckled into her ear.

“I see…” he replied.

The hand on her ass moved lower and found her entrance. She almost cried out as two fingers pushed deep inside her. Another slid up towards her clit. He started to work them in and out of her at a pace that sent her mind reeling. Her knees felt weak and had he not held her, she probably would have crumbled under his touch. His long digits pumped into her with increasing vigor, deep enough she could feel his knuckles press against her skin. All the while, his mouth continued its ministrations at her neck, fervently sucking and nipping at all those little spots he had memorized over the last weeks.

“Gale…” Her words blubbered out between uncontrollable moans. “Gale, your clothes…”

He brought his mouth to her ear again, humming against it and sending vibrations down her spine that made her shiver.

“Not quite yet, love…” His tone was unbearably smug. “I’m afraid you’ll have to come at least once. No compromises this time.”

Something between a gasp and a disappointed sigh fell from her lips. She tried to push back, push against his hand and his lap, but he just grinned and tugged her closer to his chest, nudging her back into position immediately.

Through the sound of her own, choked moans and her thrumming heartbeat, Ley heard Gale mumble an incantation and felt something touch the soft skin of her belly. He removed his index finger, leaving her overstimulated bud unattended. Her hips bucked upward, trying to chase it. Then, there was the tingling sensation of an additional set of fingers, slowly trailing down her abdomen. It took her a second to realize that he had summoned a mage hand.

It stroked her inner thighs and the soft skin deeper inside, slowly massaging its way to where she needed it. She wanted to scream at him for being so cruel, for being so terribly, excruciatingly patient.

The two fingers inside her started to press against her walls, stretching outward, now more resemblant of his own girth. She panted and closed her eyes. A second later, the mage hand finally delved between her folds, index and middle finger starting to work her clit, adjusting their pace to the rhythm of Gale’s hand.

Ley melted into his embrace, her hands now desperately clinging to the one he held them with, trying to find purchase, trying to prevent her from falling. She felt him press open-mouthed kisses against the side of her face, felt the prickling sensation of his beard scratching against her skin, a sensation she would probably never get enough of.

When she opened her eyes, sight blurry and barely able to focus, she saw him staring down at her, taking in the full view of her bare breasts, the spectral fingers working her sweet spot, and her shaky hips, frantically trying to chase his hand every time it pulled back. His lips were slightly parted, heavy breathing interrupted by soft sighs. He noticed her gaze resting on him and smiled at her, the affection in his expression somehow not invalidated by the rhythmic pumping of his fingers.

“This is more than I could ever wish for…” He said, his voice sounding almost choked. “Seeing you like this… Seeing all of you in front of me, having all of you in my arms, in my hands…”

There it was again. The desperation. The need.

“I’m right here, Gale… right next to you,” she whispered, nudging the side of her face against his, internally cursing the fact that this position did not allow her to kiss him properly. “And I don’t intend to leave.”

Gale’s eyes brightened up with something between relief and pure adoration.

He leaned lower to add another finger, now spreading her walls wide enough to match him. Then she felt his lips brush against her ear.

“I love you, Ley.”

Something inside her head short-circuited.

“I love you,” he whispered again, repeating it over and over again like a prayer as he pressed her to his chest and pumped three fingers deep inside, again and again.

A hoarse whimper fell from her lips as they found the perfect angle, found the tender, spongy spot within her walls and he smiled, humming against her skin in response.

Her head dropped to his shoulder again, face buried at the side of his neck as she sobbed and moaned, grinding her hips against the steadily increasing pace of his hand. Within a few seconds, she lost all control over her body and turned into a writhing, twitching mess.

He let go of her hands, reaching for her breast instead, gently squeezing the soft flesh and the painfully hard nipple. She didn’t know what to do with her own, so they just remained where they were, pressed to her chest as wave after wave of pleasure rolled over her. Ley could no longer hear, could no longer see - could do nothing but cry out his name as she fell apart in his arms.

“Good girl…” he sighed, his shaky breath betraying the soothing tone of his voice.

He held her close, slowly rocking back and forth as she came down from her high and after a little while, the mage hand evaporated into thin air.

She tried to blink away the dizziness and noticed that he must have at some point gotten rid of his clothes. For a second, she tried to figure out the how and when, then remembered there was probably a spell for that. Wizards… She thought and reached for the hand he had placed on her breast. He withdrew from between her legs to grasp the other one and squeezed them both, the touch still gentle, though maybe a tad more possessive than normal.

Gale pressed his face against her temple, his breathing heavy and unsteady, and she felt him starting to slide his length back and forth over her folds.

“Does anything hurt…?” He whispered. “Is this too much?”

The struggle to keep his composure was clearly audible. Ley chuckled and laid both her hands on his, kneading both their fingers into the soft flesh of her breasts. He exhaled sharply. She wanted to speak, wanted to answer the question and tell him that if anything it wasn’t enough. But her voice was not yet hers again, so she just smiled and pressed her back against his chest.

Her legs were still trembling as she angled her hips and clasped her thighs together, closing them around his painfully hard cock. He winced at the touch, and she rocked against him, the friction enough to coax a loud groan from his throat.

“Careful, love,” he hissed, “or this might end before we even get started. And I’d rather-“

Another roll of her hips and he moaned - a needy, wanton sound that cut his sentence short. When he tried to continue, his voice was low, close to a whisper.

“I’d rather come undone inside you, if you’ll allow me…”

Too many words, wizard, she thought. Stop talking, take what you need.

Ley took his hands from her chest and brought them lower, slowly wandering down the curve of her waist. When they reached her hips, she stopped and pressed them into the soft flesh, hard enough to feel his fingernails dig into her skin and she hummed contentedly. Then she released him from the tight clutch of her thighs and spread her knees apart.

There was a slight, discontented growl as she moved and pulled away from him. Another, louder one, as he saw her lean forward, away from the warmth of his chest and she felt his hand twitch under hers as if he wanted to reach out and pull her back.

Her right hand tightened around his once more, urging him to keep it in place, then slid further down, slowly trailing over the side of her rear and underneath it. She arched her back as far as she possibly could and turned her head, catching a glimpse of his face - he stared down at her hand, completely transfixed. As she angled her hips and brought them back again, her fingers dug into the soft skin of her backside, pulling it up and to the side.

Just enough for him to see the tip of his cock push against her pulsing, hot entrance.

The sound that fell from Gale’s lips no longer resembled a human voice.

His body jerked forward, his grip instinctively tightening, eyes captivated by the sight of her clutching around him as he slid between her folds. There was no resistance, wet as she already was, when he pushed his full length deep inside, immediately finding her sweet spot again.

She groaned, loudly and lewdly.

His gaze flicked up to her face. He was panting, eyes dark with desire. 

“Look at you… Dear gods, just look at you…” He gasped and pulled back, then vigorously drove himself inside her again.

He picked up the pace, the sound of skin meeting skin mixed with deep, fervent moans that fell from both their lips.

Ley closed her eyes.

With every thrust of his hips, she sunk lower and lower. Her head was spinning, the heat already pooling at her core again. Her hand fell from her backside, trembling as she reached for the bedroll to catch herself.

There was a desperate moan, coming from somewhere above her and she felt hands move up her belly, dragging her back up and tugging her to his chest. His arms closed around her, their embrace tight and incredibly warm.

She felt his heartbeat drum against her back, felt his hot, hectic breath all over her skin.

He was everywhere. Against the side of her face, nipping and biting her shoulders, sucking at her neck whilst he kept rutting into her with reckless abandon. One hand reached around her head and cupped her cheek, trying to turn her face toward him. He pressed wet, open-mouthed kisses to her temple, her jaw, and the corner of her mouth but their position didn’t allow for more.

Gale groaned into her ear - a frustrated, needy sound from deep within his throat - then tipped her forward and down to the bedroll. For a moment, her face was buried in the sheets, his body weighing heavy on hers before he rolled her to her back. A hand cupped the back of her head, surprisingly gentle, and then his mouth descended on hers, devouring her like a starving animal.

She melted into the kiss and clawed at his back, digging her fingers into his backside to urge him closer.

Within less than a second, he was back between her legs, his other hand behind her knee, pushing it upward.

She panted against his lips, her breath mixing with his, and reached down to guide him back inside.

He didn’t have her patience, instinctively bucked into her hand before she could bring his tip to where it was needed, and a choked gasp escaped his throat when he could finally bury himself between her folds again.

He licked inside her mouth and moaned, the sound vibrating down her throat as he continued to pound inside her. The movement of his hips became more and more erratic and the hand behind her knee gripped her tighter with every thrust.

Ley threw her arms around his neck, trying to pull him impossibly close.

Her walls clutched around him and her legs started to tremble.

It was almost too much, the heat of his skin, the weight of his body pressing her into the bedroll, being filled so relentlessly and thoroughly. Everything she felt was Gale. He was inside her, his arms wrapped tightly around her petite frame, both hands holding her firmly in place.

She could taste the salt on his skin and his tongue as it twirled around hers. Her ears were filled with their combined heartbeat, thrumming away through both their chests and his heaving, unsteady breath - interrupted by wanton sighs every time his hips met her skin.

“Please, love…” His words echoed through her skull, even though they were little more than a whisper. “Come for me… Please, I need you to come for me…”

A myriad of sensations rolled through her, prickling and thrumming and building up inside her core, forming into something pulsing, something hot that flooded through her body, washed against the borders of her mind, walking the slippery slope between pleasure and pain.

But it didn’t quite reach.

Ley kept writhing and panting with anticipation, a small whimper fell from her lips, helpless and wanting. Some part of her knew that this might very well become unpleasant in a few moments, so she opened her eyes and brought her hands to the side of his face.

“Don’t wait, honey… Just let go, I don’t think I…” She whispered with a shaky voice, fingers frantically trying to find purchase in the hair behind his ears. “I can’t… it’s too much, it’s too-“

Gale’s lips found hers before she could finish the sentence, the kiss slow and gentle.

He instantly slowed his pace to a bare minimum and shifted his weight off her body, taking pressure from her hopelessly overstimulated clit. The tight grip on her leg loosened and his hand found its way between her thighs, fingers not trying to find their way inside, but cupping her instead, shielding the pulsing, sensitive bud between her folds. He hovered over her, propped up on his right arm, his hand still caressing the back of her head, and he kept pumping into her ever so slowly.

“Is this better…?”

She felt his forehead nudge against hers.

His eyes searched her face, searched for any sign of discomfort. “Say the word and I’ll stop.”

A quiet chuckle escaped Ley’s throat.

She still couldn’t wrap her mind around the fact that somehow, within all this world-ending madness she had fallen into, she had managed to land in the lap of someone so considerate, so selfless when it came to… well, to everything.

Her thumbs ran over the side of his face and she smiled up at him with an expression of utter adoration. Then, she pulled him in for a slow, passionate kiss.

“You are wonderful,” she mumbled against his lips, and then, much quieter, “I love you, Gale.”

And with that, she wrapped her legs around him and nudged him closer.

It was different this time. The sensation of being crushed under a wave of pleasure had turned into something so much gentler. There was a feeling of being safe, of warmth emanating from her core, filling her up completely.

Gale didn’t take his eyes off her, kept searching for any expression that could be interpreted as pain, even as his own breathing got heavier and heavier.

She sighed soft sounds of pleasure against his lips, her breath became shaky and her trembling fingers started to claw at the back of his head, pulling at his hair. Her head fell backward as his hand slid down to her neck, carefully lifting her throat to his mouth. Nipping and sucking at all those spots he had mapped out since their first night together, he trailed kisses down her neck and her collarbone.

Normally, her eyes fell shut when she reached the breaking point, couldn’t help but shy away from his gaze during that moment of absolute vulnerability. This time though, she wanted to see him. And needed him to see her as well. She pulled him from her throat and pressed her forehead to his again, gaze fixed on his.

The urge to kiss him was nigh on unbearable- But she didn’t dare take her eyes off his. He watched, his expression soft and loving as she began to shiver and her lips started to tremble. Her heels pressed against his lower back and she gasped as his thrusts became slightly faster. There was a feeling of warmth, unraveling behind her naval and rolling through her body like a tidal wave. She heard her own voice, heard herself babble incomprehensible nonsense before she could do nothing but moan at his mouth, drowning in those endlessly deep, brown eyes and the blissful smile that graced his face.

Gale couldn’t help it, his lips found hers and he sighed as her walls clenched tightly around him, her nails digging into his scalp. He greedily swallowed every moan and whimper that tried to escape her throat.

He followed right behind her, eyelids starting to flutter just as the final waves of pleasure washed over her. His hand stayed in place between her legs, trying to shield her from the stuttering thrusts of his hips. He buried his face in the crook of her neck, groaning into her skin as he chased his own release. She held him close, ran her fingers through his hair, and kissed his ear, whispering praises and words of love as he came undone inside her.

A moment passed, both of them panting and trying to catch their breath.

Then, Ley threw her arms around his neck and rolled them both to the side.

She kissed him, slowly and tenderly, then nudged her nose against his.

"I love you," she whispered. 

He smiled at her as they lay there, faces mere inches from each other and glistening with sweat.

"I love you too, Ley," he replied, pressed a kiss to her nose and then, with an exhausted huff, rolled on his back and dragged her with him. There was a small, prickling sensation running over her skin as he mumbled an incantation and the prestidigitation spell did its work.

“Think you’ll be able to sleep now?” She asked and nuzzled into his embrace, one hand resting on the mark of the orb.

“Not sure I have a choice,” he sighed, voice low and heavy with exhaustion, then pressed another kiss to her temple. “You make a habit of wearing me out, it seems.”

She reached over his chest and for his hand, pulled it closer, and entwined her fingers with his. Then she pressed her lips to his knuckles.

“I’m right here, you know,” she said quietly. “In case there are any more bad dreams.“

When she looked up, he was already fast asleep, his breath steady and peaceful.

Ley smiled and chuckled against the skin of his chest.

She thought about trying to stay awake, to see if the nightmares would get a hold of him again, but she couldn’t keep her eyes open for more than a few seconds until she too sunk into sleep's warm, soothing embrace.